REGINA – Many people in Saskatchewan with ties to Scotland will be paying close attention to the referendum on whether to sever the country’s long ties with the United Kingdom.
Scottish expats in Regina who can’t vote remain opinionated.
“People of Scotland they are going to vote ‘yes’. That’s what I say anyway,” said Paul Nairn, a Scotsman who has been living in Canada for eleven years. “For them to get their independence, it will be a lot better for their economy.”
A generational divide means support for the status quo is largely people over 60, while the ‘yes’ camp is driven by younger voters.
“For a long time, I was quite an adamant ‘no’, very against it. But as time went on and I read more stuff, I basically changed. I voted ‘yes’,” said Graham Hosie, a Scotsman on vacation in Canada. He was able to vote before he left last week. “It’s the most I’ve seen people engaged with politics in my country in a long time.”
Scotland’s independence is a hot topic for people with family ties.
“One fellow I was talking to was on the ‘yes’ side, my cousins are on the ‘no’ side. I have another cousin that I’m sure is on the ‘yes’ side,” said Joan Rosnes, store clerk at Ceilidh Surprise. Her parents immigrated to Canada from Scotland before she was born.
Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina, said the Scottish referendum, with its similarities to the Quebec referendum, resonates with Canadians.
“We know exactly how both the Scots and the non-Scots feel in this situation because we’ve lived through two referenda ourselves on a very similar issue,” said McIntosh.
The vote is expected to be extremely close: “I think it will probably be a no vote but not by a huge amount,” said McIntosh.
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