oh oh!! Separation perhaps…??

A few years ago I was castigated by a bright, eastern Canadian friend for my warnings about the rising tide of sentiment in the West towards separatism. I was told, in no uncertain words, that such talk was irresponsible, if not incomprehensible. My reply was: that’s been the typical eastern (or more accurately, central) Canadian attitude since I can’t remember when. Well, now we have a clearer understanding of my original warning. While there was a fervent push for a positive request for an acknowledgement of the desire to remain within Canada, the provincial government ignored that option and facilitated a different request: to withdraw the province of Alberta from the Canadian federation.

I do not want to gloat and say I told you so; because that simply won’t help any of us. I won’t even try to explain one more time to my central Canadian colleagues (I’m not sure I have many friends left there) why there is this growing anger against the Laurentian Elite (TOM). Nobody has listened sufficiently in the past to alter behaviours or attitudes; why would anybody listen now (at least until the official vote cometh)? So, instead I am going to write to my western friends and colleagues and raise some questions I hope they will take time to answer for me (yes I still have my Alberta citizenship including access to the health system there, though no longer my AB driver’s license; and, my professional corporation is still registered & headquartered in Edmonton, and I continue to hold my EE CFL Season’s tix!) {By the way, as a sidebar to this, I recently wrote a series of letters to various individuals throughout the CFL railing against the new Commissioner’s recommendations for massive rule changes. Within a day of receiving their letters, the two Alberta teams responded. As I often find, Albertans do act more quickly!!}

Anyway, back to my intended target. Here are my questions:

Part A:
• for those of you who wish separation so as to become the 51st State what makes you think that you will jump the significance queue ahead of Montana or Wyoming or Colorado or even Oklahoma? Do you have anything that the USA wants that they can’t supply themselves?
• And in the case of oil, which the States is already self-sufficient in, don’t you realize that with only one market (the USA as you know there will be no requirement for Canada to give you access to TransMountain without significantly increased tolls) the price for Oil Sands products will diminish notably!
• You are currently upset with the amount of money going to Ottawa; how are you going to feel about even more going to Washington where you will have, at best two senators (granted, elected) and at best half-a-dozen Representatives (elected every two years) and you will be shouldering a portion of an even greater federal government debt that is likely to cause a devaluation of the US dollar within a decade.
• Furthermore, if you think Ottawa is remote, ask the people of Montana, or Idaho or Oregon how close they feel to their federal capitol!
• Currently Albertans are approximately 12% of the total Canadian population; joining the USA, Albertans would then be 1% of the total American population – anyone want to guess how significant USA leaders would consider that 1% of newbies?

Part B:

• for those of you who just wish to separate so as to become your own country have you considered where you would fit within the larger global scheme of things?
• you would join the ranks of countries the size of Iceland, Belize, Montenegro, Brunei, Guyana (all considered mid-low population) – how much clout on the world stage will you have?
• who would control your currency? Danielle Smith? The Provincial Treasurer?
• who would control your defences? Remember you would lose ALL your current National Defense locales in terms of equipment & personnel (e.g. no Cold Lake, no Namao, no Wainwright…)
• who would control your Passports? The Provincial Secretary?
• what would be your new Supreme Court? And in the evolution to your new status how much influence might the Canadian Supreme Court have?
• where would the money come to replace federal support for your universities and colleges?
• how would your Alberta Pension Fund work (because you have not yet gained any assurance of how much you will get back for opting out – and you might not get anything because all those monies have to be held for current Albertans who paid into the funds)
• how would you secure your borders? More specifically how will you deal with transportation networks that currently go through the province including the Trans-Canada Highway, the Yellowhead Highway, the Alaskan Highway, and the highway linking with Hwy 1 in the NWT, the CN & CP railways? How do you continue the services at YYC & YEG as well as any federally owned/controlled airports? Will you need toll-booths at your borders? Will you need significantly higher airport fees for all your airports that would now be international in scope?
• how quickly can you create, staff and allocate a provincial police force? And how do you deal with the federal prisons (including Bowden Institution, Drumheller, Edmonton Institution for Women, Grand Cache and well as the Regional Psychiatric Centre & the healing lodge Pe Sakastew Centre)
• what will happen to the management as well as access to the various National Parks located within the current provincial borders? Might the courts agree that those that abut either BC or NWT or the USA may remain Canadian possessions thus re-configuring your borders?
• and no matter which is your preference, how are you going to deal the three major Treaties that impact Alberta? Treaty 7 & Treaty 4 covers Southern Alberta, but Treaty 6 also impacts parts of Saskatchewan and Treaty impacts parts of BC, Saskatchewan & the NWT; all of these were established before the province was created, only Treaty 10 was established in 1906 which covers border regions of Alberta & Saskatchewan – these agreement are binding federal treaties between the Crown and First Nations, rather than with the provincial government(s) and their precedence could upend many local legal issues (there are 48 First Nations across the province within these several treaties).

Just something to start thinking about when you contemplate even signing a petition in favour of separation. Don’t count on everyone being cooperative should you succeed — this would be a divorce (& trust me, divorces only make lawyers richer, not families happier). It’s a long and winding road, and it might not even lead to your door…

P.S.
These are questions that ought to be asked also of the PQ in Quebec. Only major variations – electric power for oil, 3% of USA population (but check out Louisiana to see how well le français is doing there), and there is a provincial police force; also the Treaty issue is even more complex as there are several modern ones. There is also the possibility that the city of Montéal and the extreme south-western part of the province between the St. Laurent & Ottawa rivers might win the right to stay out of a separated Québec.

In reflection,
g.w.