Scott Sinclair and Peter Guthrie are the heros for patriotic Albertan Canadians. What Sinclair said in the Legislature is nothing short of what those of us who didn't vote for the UCP already know but it's so refreshing to hear those words coming from a UCP MLA.
Take Back Alberta is another extreme right-wing organization that's been pushing separatism as well as all the other extreme Con anti everything agendas. TBA has been muzzled for about a year since David Parker, once President of TBA refused to turn over records of their donations, who donated, how much and how that money was used. Parker stalled Elections Alberta’s inquiry by playing a game of cat and mouse that nearly got him arrested. Parker himself was fined $10,000 and TBA was fined over $100,000 for misusing advertising money to promote the UCP and other political agenda.
Now Parker is back with his sidekick, Benita Pedersen, making podcasts trying to revamp TBA to its glorious former numbers. They're still pushing an agenda to take over all school, christian church, hospital and LTC boards so they can control everything. It's no secret they tried to take over the UCP board with some success, and they installed TBA members in Alberta constituencies where they tried to influence who would run as a UCP candidate. They also tried to make it difficult for some people to vote according to letters to the editor of a newspaper.
This separatist talk isn't funny anymore; it's frighteningly serious. Even if there is a referendum on separation that proves once again the vast majority of Albertans don't want to separate from Canada, it will not be the end of the discussions. The sad thing about this is separation has never been carefully thought through as to what is all involved and will have to be dealt with eventually, even as the % of separatists in Alberta slowly grows.
An excellent overview of the separation movement in Alberta and shining a light on several players and components of this threat.
The UCP moved the goal posts so that the threat became easier for this group of people to tell the majority of Albertans under what jurisdiction they will live under if this minority gets their way.
Excellent article, as usual, but I noticed that you seemed to overlook the Calgary Flames when you wrote "our professional hockey team is called the Edmonton Oilers, for starters". :-)
The Province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of John Campbell, the Marquis of Lorne, who was Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Would an independent statelet want to keep the name of a minor royal in a defunct empire? But Albertastan sounds so tacky. Perhaps honour the new imperial master with a name like Melania or Ivanka? Petrolia would be apt, but it’s already the name of a town in Ontario. And Bitumena sounds like a disease.
Another thought is how much the land area would shrink in feds keep national parks, First Nations reserves, and the two big military training areas they own (Cold Lake and Suffield).
A good primer on the current state of play. Smith is dancing in a minefield.
Alberta would join 44 landlocked countries around the world – though only two in the Western Hemisphere, Bolivia and Paraguay. Kazakhstan is the largest by area, Ethiopia the most populous. More about this at https://www.britannica.com/topic/landlocked-country
Including:
>… Being a landlocked country prompts certain disadvantages which can curtail national income, such as the lack of seaports, coastal trading points, and a large-scale fishing industry. As a result, 32 of these states are designated as landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) by the United Nations; 17 of them are considered least developed. LLDCs have to cover considerable transport costs for merchandise to be sent to and received from overseas markets, thereby discouraging investment, decreasing their competitive edge, and isolating them from international trade. Seaborne trade must transit through other countries, which often involves dealing with inappropriate infrastructure and inconvenient border-crossing procedures. Some LLDCs have managed to achieve a positive balance of trade despite being landlocked, as exemplified by Zambia, due to its mining industry….
Interesting points. Corey Hogan made some good points when he wrote about the myth that if Alberta were a separate nation, the rest of Canada would be OBLIGED to give us pipelines to the coasts under international law: https://www.coreyhogan.ca/p/three-alberta-separatism-myths
Scott Sinclair and Peter Guthrie are the heros for patriotic Albertan Canadians. What Sinclair said in the Legislature is nothing short of what those of us who didn't vote for the UCP already know but it's so refreshing to hear those words coming from a UCP MLA.
Take Back Alberta is another extreme right-wing organization that's been pushing separatism as well as all the other extreme Con anti everything agendas. TBA has been muzzled for about a year since David Parker, once President of TBA refused to turn over records of their donations, who donated, how much and how that money was used. Parker stalled Elections Alberta’s inquiry by playing a game of cat and mouse that nearly got him arrested. Parker himself was fined $10,000 and TBA was fined over $100,000 for misusing advertising money to promote the UCP and other political agenda.
Now Parker is back with his sidekick, Benita Pedersen, making podcasts trying to revamp TBA to its glorious former numbers. They're still pushing an agenda to take over all school, christian church, hospital and LTC boards so they can control everything. It's no secret they tried to take over the UCP board with some success, and they installed TBA members in Alberta constituencies where they tried to influence who would run as a UCP candidate. They also tried to make it difficult for some people to vote according to letters to the editor of a newspaper.
This separatist talk isn't funny anymore; it's frighteningly serious. Even if there is a referendum on separation that proves once again the vast majority of Albertans don't want to separate from Canada, it will not be the end of the discussions. The sad thing about this is separation has never been carefully thought through as to what is all involved and will have to be dealt with eventually, even as the % of separatists in Alberta slowly grows.
An excellent overview of the separation movement in Alberta and shining a light on several players and components of this threat.
The UCP moved the goal posts so that the threat became easier for this group of people to tell the majority of Albertans under what jurisdiction they will live under if this minority gets their way.
#NoToSeparation #AlbertaNever51 #CanadianFederation
Thank you Dave to pull all this information together in one place and I value your perspective.
Excellent article, as usual, but I noticed that you seemed to overlook the Calgary Flames when you wrote "our professional hockey team is called the Edmonton Oilers, for starters". :-)
That’s a good point. I guess my Edmonton bias was showing there. :)
The Province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of John Campbell, the Marquis of Lorne, who was Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Would an independent statelet want to keep the name of a minor royal in a defunct empire? But Albertastan sounds so tacky. Perhaps honour the new imperial master with a name like Melania or Ivanka? Petrolia would be apt, but it’s already the name of a town in Ontario. And Bitumena sounds like a disease.
Another thought is how much the land area would shrink in feds keep national parks, First Nations reserves, and the two big military training areas they own (Cold Lake and Suffield).
If Canada is divisible, surely Alberta is divisible as well? Nothing about what they are proposing is easy or clean cut.
A good primer on the current state of play. Smith is dancing in a minefield.
Alberta would join 44 landlocked countries around the world – though only two in the Western Hemisphere, Bolivia and Paraguay. Kazakhstan is the largest by area, Ethiopia the most populous. More about this at https://www.britannica.com/topic/landlocked-country
Including:
>… Being a landlocked country prompts certain disadvantages which can curtail national income, such as the lack of seaports, coastal trading points, and a large-scale fishing industry. As a result, 32 of these states are designated as landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) by the United Nations; 17 of them are considered least developed. LLDCs have to cover considerable transport costs for merchandise to be sent to and received from overseas markets, thereby discouraging investment, decreasing their competitive edge, and isolating them from international trade. Seaborne trade must transit through other countries, which often involves dealing with inappropriate infrastructure and inconvenient border-crossing procedures. Some LLDCs have managed to achieve a positive balance of trade despite being landlocked, as exemplified by Zambia, due to its mining industry….
Interesting points. Corey Hogan made some good points when he wrote about the myth that if Alberta were a separate nation, the rest of Canada would be OBLIGED to give us pipelines to the coasts under international law: https://www.coreyhogan.ca/p/three-alberta-separatism-myths