Why do we have Alberta Separatists???

Question

Although I don't agree with them, I can at least sympathise with Quebec separatists. They have a unique culture and language that differs from English Canada.

But Alberta separatists are a joke. Are cowboy hats, guns and pickup trucks "unique"??? Maybe to Canada, but Alberta culture is nothing more than a ripoff of a segment of U.S. culture.

And as for all the money they bring into Canada from oil revenues, it wasn't always like that. Before oil was discovered in the 1920s, Alberta had its collective hand out to the rest of Canada saying "please help us."

As for Albertans feeling "Western alienation", well, that comment doesn't hold water with me. I'm from Winnipeg originally and no one there feels "alienated." Canada was built East to West not the other way around. If you can't deal with the fact that Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal get all the glory and recognition, then TOUGH. Your forefathers chose to live out in the middle of nowhere, so don't blame the rest of us.

Answer 1

Because if there is any province in Canada that could survive on its own it would be Alberta. Quebec wouldn't have a chance on it's own, unless France helped it out - wouldn't count on that happening either! Alberta is truly loaded (as long as there is a good demand for oil) - you can say what you want but they don't need the rest of Canada, and that's a fact.

It's not fair per se that Alberta has all the oil to themselves but that's life. Their oil shouldn't be a factor here anyway. Every province in Canada should be treated equally, regardless of their resources.

Albertans do have a point when they say that the country is basically run by a select few in the East, because that is the way it is. Maybe it is a good thing that Canada has a 'Western' Prime Minister now. A smart Prime Minister should reach out to all Canadians and no one in Canada should feel alienated - not even Quebecers (and that's a hard thing for me to say because I don't care for Quebec Separatists at all).

Whatever became of Nunavat, anyway? What must they think about the rest of Canada and how it relates to them? Albertans aren't the 'forgotten' ones at all... go further north then that and then you'll see who the 'forgotten' and 'alienated' ones are.

Answer 2

As a Westerner (from Saskatchewan), I am not particularly alienated, but I do understand why many other Westerners are. Such things hit their peak when economic times are bad, not when they're good (like right now), so I do not take seriously any of the complaining that is presently coming from a small number of cranks.

There is an old saying here in Western Canada: "in Québec, there are a million separatists, each with about 10 bucks. In Alberta, there are 10 separatists, each with about a million bucks." To large degree, fantasizing about Western separatism is a pasttime for wealthy, eccentric Calgary oilmen.

But having said that there is no faster or better way making Westerners crazy with anger then by talking about a rerun of Trudeau's national energy policy from the early 1980s. In a nut shell, it said that energy derived from nuclear plants or hydroelectric dams was special; on the other hand, energy that came out of holes in the ground in Alberta and Saskatchewan was not so special and had to be taxed heavily. Very heavily. So heavily that dozens of companies in the energy and support sectors collapsed and thousands of people lost their jobs. Not because they were in efficient, but because the federal government decided it wanted to favor one part of the country over another.

All of which is a long way of saying that so called Western alienation probably won't amount to much, but if Ottawa makes another hostile move on the Western energy industries, then prepare for the worst. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Answer 3

If we can have people run for the Communist Party, the Marijuana Party, or the Rhinoceros Party, then why can't we have Alberta Separatists? It’s a free country, and if someone wants to develop a party, and try to get elected, then all the power to them. At least they are standing up for what they believe in.