An Alberta cafe owner says his business has shuttered after he hosted separatists and lost customers.

John Ewanek says his cafe in Cold Lake, called Beantrees, was already struggling due to inflation.

He says things got worse after he hosted an event earlier this year for a group collecting signatures for a petition seeking a referendum on whether Alberta should quit Canada.

He says that after that event customers who didn't agree with his opinions stopped coming and he eventually closed the business.

Elections Alberta announced last week the petition by the group Stay Free Alberta was successful.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has cited the separatist petition and a competing pro-Canada petition as the reason why she has put a separation question on the province's Oct. 19 referendum.

This report by was first published July 27, 2026.