Canada – thanks to just one of its 10 provinces, which holds 97.5% of national oil reserves – is among the world’s top five oil producers. But residents of that far western province, Alberta, have been increasingly frustrated by decades of environmental and green energy goals and regulations that, they say, have constrained the use of and benefits from the natural resource at their disposal.

Still, on Monday, Albertans declared a clear “no” to the notion of seceding from Canada in a referendum (on whether to hold a future binding referendum on separation). The 3-to-1 result bolsters Prime Minister Mark Carney’s stated goal of making Canada a “global energy superpower” as well as the cause of national unity – for now.

It also underscores the ongoing task of defining (or redefining) what it means to be Canadian in a geographically vast and increasingly diverse nation.…