EDMONTON: Canada`s oil-rich province of Alberta began voting on Monday on whether to hold a binding referendum on splitting from the country, with Prime Minister Mark Carney warning a separatist win would trigger crippling uncertainty amid a crisis in US relations.

Polls indicate less than a quarter of people in the western Canadian province support independence.

But attention hasfocused on turnoutin the days before the vote, and whether a motivated separatist camp could defy the polls, helped by complacency on the federalist side.

`Canada is worth fighting for,` Carney said in a post on X, days after he warned people that `turnout will determine the outcome` of the vote.

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, has called the referendum `a dangerous bluff` as US President Donald Trump wages a trade war and levels annexation threats aimed, the prime minister says, at breaking Canadian resolve.Alberta has the world`s fourth-largest proven oil reserves and the province`s independence push has drawn sustained interest from Trump`s allies.

Elon Musk, the world`s richest person and a top Trump supporter, posted on X this month Alberta `should separate`.

Separatist leaders have also held meetings at the US State Department and met Republican political operatives.

Oil grievances Much of Alberta`s separatist momentum has been driven by anger over Ottawa`s management of the energy sector.

Many Albertans loathed Carney`s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who they accused of trying to suppress oil production to advance his pro-climate agenda.

`If you want me to pinpoint who is responsible for the separatist sentiment, I think it`s Justin Trudeau,` Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told a podcast this month.At a separatist rally in Edmonton on Saturday, 61-year-old Sandy Martel said people connected to the oil industry feel `robbed, cheated (and) mistreated`. `It`s time to stand up and say stop,` she added.

`Huge uncertainty` Smith, Alberta`s premier, says she wants the province to remain in Canada, but said she had called the referendum to settle a divisive issue.

If a majority votes to separate, she has pledged to move forward with a binding referendum.

If the federalists win, Smith says the secession question should be considered closed.

Analysts have compared Smith`s tactics to those of former UK prime minister David Cameron, who had hoped to resolve the debate over Britain`s European Union membership with a vote.

Carney led the Bank of England through the turmoil that surrounded Brexit, and issued a warning to Albertans about that experience last week.-AFP