Canada celebrates its birthday as Mark Carney battles to keep it intact

Canada celebrates its birthday as Mark Carney battles to keep it intactImage source, AFP via Getty Images/ReutersByJessica MurphyCanada digital editorPublished3 minutes agoCanadians are gathering across the country to celebrate Canada Day, commemorating the birth of the nation 159 years ago. But beneath the festivities, twin challenges are testing the country's unity.In the western province of Alberta, a restive separatist movement has gained momentum, and in a few months, Albertans will vote in a referendum on provincial sovereignty.In Quebec, the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois is currently ahead in the polls for the upcoming provincial election. The party has pledged to hold a third referendum on independence by 2030 if it wins."It's a year of pressures on Canadian national unity," said André Lecours, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa.Prime Minister Mark Carney finds himself at the centre of those tensions, seeking to balance competing interests of the provinces while holding the country together. Canada is "worth fighting for", he said last month, promising to campaign for a united country in the months ahead.On Wednesday, Carney will travel to Edmonton, his hometown, in a symbolic visit on the country's birthday, where he is expected to make the case for national unity. Historian JDM Stewart says Canada's vast geography and strong regional identities pose unique challenges."Because it's so big, and because it is so regional, it does create tensions that have been with us since the beginning, and we still wrestle with them today," he says.Quebec, a majority French-speaking province, fiercely protects its identity and its culture as a distinct society, and has twice held referenda - in 1980 and 1995 - on whether to seek independence.Opinion polls suggest support for independence sits around 30%, roughly unchanged over the last few years. Even so, the Parti Quebecois has enjoyed an early...