OTTAWA, Aug. 9 (Xinhuanet)-- At least one-third of Western Canadians think their provinces should consider separation from Canada, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

    In the survey, about 35.6 percent of respondents from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia agreed that "Western Canadians should begin to explore the idea of forming their own country."

    Albertans were most likely to consider independence with 42 percent of supporters. Saskatchewan follows by 31.9 per cent.

    The survey was conducted by Faron Ellis, a political science professor at Lethbridge Community College for "Western Standard", aright-leaning bimonthly news and opinion magazine based in Calgary. In all, 1448 adult western Canadians were polled between June 29 and July 5, 2005.

    Ellis noted that separatist sentiment appeared to run highest among young people -- 37 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 were open to the notion of breaking away from Canada.

    Support was lowest -- 33.7 percent -- among those aged between 45 and 64.

    "Westerners are very frustrated with their position in Confederation," said Ellis.

    He claims the increasing attractiveness of the separation option is the result of a combination of factors.

    Westerners are dissatisfied with Prime Minister Paul Martin's performance in ending western alienation. And they believe other methods of effecting political change have been tried repeatedly with no success. Enditem