The Time is Now

By Leigh Patrick Sullivan

If ever there was the perfect time for an Alberta (or Western Canada) separatist movement, it is now. Adscam, the laughable gun registry, the Human Resources scandal...the list goes on and on. The history of grievances is long and varied. Ask any long-time Albertan about Prime Minister Trudeau and his wonderful National Energy Program from the early 1980's and you will hear scorn. That policy decimated the Alberta economy, causing massive job losses. The plan, as then finance minister Marc Lalonde put it, was basically to take Alberta's oil wealth and spend it as the Canadian Liberal government saw fit.

Policies such as forced bilingualism, liberal immigration, and other social-engineering ideas are far different than what the average Albertan agrees with. Currently, the mess in Ottawa has only highlighted the differences between the East and West. Alberta, for all its wealth, has virtually no say in federal policies. Calls for a fair, balanced Senate have been ignored. The whole culture of Ontario seems to believe that as long as Liberal money is thrown at them, a corrupt federal government is acceptable. The attitude towards the west ranges from Albertans being ignorant rich whiners, to backwater hillbillies who have more cash than sense. This only goes to further deepen the unrest.

The major stumbling block facing the prospect of separation has nothing to do with legalities or the Canadian constitution (the Clarity Act, created because of the Quebec referendum of 1995 laid out how separation can be achieved). The problem is that there are a handful of like-minded fringe parties in Alberta who have yet to unify into a single, strong force. Only by combining resources can the separatist movement present a solid platform, and offer Albertans a real choice for change.

I only hope that these parties get their act together, or else the opportunity to control Alberta's future might pass us by.