Christina waldner
Rocky View Publishing
Airdrie resident Karen MacDonald said the referendum for independence in her homeland of Scotland turned out to be far more emotional for her than she expected.
“It actually threw me off guard. I felt quite emotional about it,” she said. “I really wanted to be back home, to be part of it and to vote ‘yes.’ It was quite tough being here, to be honest.”
“It’s deep-rooted. I think it’s a patriotic thing. It boils down to Scot(tish) pride, for me.”
“I remember when I was 16, there was a referendum in 1979. Back then I wanted independence and my vote has never swayed and I’m now 51,” she added. “A lot of the decisions we make in life are sometimes from the heart. When it comes to Scottish independence, my vote has always come from the heart, whether that’s right or wrong.”
Scotland voted on whether or not to separate from the United Kingdom (UK) during a referendum held on Sept. 18. The wording of the referendum was “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
At the end of the night, 55.3 per cent of Scots choose to stay in the UK. According to The Scotsman newspaper, voter turnout was extremely high with 84.6 per cent of residents casting a valid vote.
According to MacDonald, the main reason for the referendum was a desire by many Scots for more autonomy from the British government.
Scotland has its own parliament that is headed by a first minister but the country does not have the ability to control its own destiny; instead much of the decision making is done in Westminister, the seat of the English parliament, according to MacDonald.
“The Province of Alberta has more control over our finances and the rest of it than in comparison to Scotland, and we’re only a province,” she said.
“All the Scottish finances and the rest of it are controlled by Westminister. Westminister has the control of the purse strings. We’re just there dangling, waiting for the scraps.”
MacDonald said she was disappointed the ‘no’ side won, but she understood how many older Scots might be hesitant to take such a big step.
“There was a lot of fear mongering, to be honest,” she said.
“I think if the ‘yes’ side had got out there a little bit more, done a bit more door knocking and been a bit more precise on (the important issues like) the currency - what was that going to look like – and the same with the pensions. I think they needed to get out and talk to the seniors a bit more. The older generation was the ‘no’ camp.”
While she holds duel citizenship, Scottish and Canadian, MacDonald was not able to vote in the referendum because voters needed to be residents and living in Scotland for two years to be eligible to vote.
The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) currently governs the country, and has been headed since 2004 by Alex Salmond who holds the position of first minister. Salmond announced his intention to step down after the referendum was defeated and MacDonald said she expects Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to take his place.
MacDonald said she doesn’t expect the independence movement in Scotland to die.
“I’m the first to tout collaboration, working together, but if it’s not working, it’s time to call it a day. Especially if it’s one-sided, which it has been for many years,” she said.
