By Senator Paula Simons
So I’m calling on us to do something un-Canadian: to put aside our habitual self-deprecation and stand up for the country we love—and reject the idea of a sovereign Alberta whose founding principles seem to be miserliness, xenophobia and transphobia. We need to raise our voices to denounce the dark fantasy of a landlocked, petulant petrostate dedicated to hoarding wealth, denouncing immigrants, denying climate change, spurning vaccines, protecting patriarchy and endangering queer kids. Because Alberta’s current crop of separatists don’t just want to leave Canada. They seem to want to opt out of the 21st century entirely.
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I’m relatively new to Canadian politics, since I’m a relatively new citizen here. So I’m right to say that Quebec and Alberta both want to seperate and be independent countries, or Alberta wants to be part of the US?
Sort of. Québec has pretty much always had a separatist movement as a result of the unique history and culture and, while I think separating would be a disaster for everyone, I can respect it.
Alberta’s separatist movement is a far right idea that’s only recently become a topic of conversation and I am 100% sure it’s being pushed heavily and mainly by the US and the oil industry to try and destabalise Canada. As far as I’m aware, very few people in Alberta actually want to leave
It’s being pushed heavily by a very very small amount of the population. They just get grandiose and outsized attention from social media forums, and the media. They scream loudly, but largely at clouds. The vast majority of Albertans do not want this at all, the problem being (and it’s a larger worldwide pandemic if you will), citizens also have major apathy issues where they just kind of shrug it off and won’t actually do anything about it. Hence the government acting like it is, and cuddling up to these quislings, whom they need desperately in a bid to stay in power.
The entire western world just needs to grow up. Social media, especially Facebook, needs to be set on fire if they will not do anything about the disinformation or the bots. Foreign intervention and interference via social media is a new and very present threat, probably one of the larger macro threats the world faces.
The entire western world? I mean, have you heard what the eastern world is saying and doing? It’s basically the same shit equally—we just hear about it less. Don’t fall for the Lemmy biased “west bad” propaganda… every side is bad.
Yeah I mean I’m here for that, everyone just needs to grow up.
Me? Personally I’m cheering for the comet at this point.
I can get onboard team comet.
Yeah, it’s just US based extremist terrorist groups that feed this bullshit
Neither. Albertans overwhelmingly think the idea is dumb. The far-right party in power, on the other hand…
The Quebec thing is as old as Canada. We basically started as two British colonies, one ethnically American and one ethnically French/Acadian, and we were forced together to fend off the US. The French half, being smaller, was always extra uncomfortable with this, and came very close to voting to leave in the 90’s. Currently the idea of separating is waning in Quebec, though.
Notably, in the “close” referendum, polls at the indicated many (the majority, I think?) of “leave” voters thought they would still be using Canadian money, still be part of the Canadian military, and thought there wouldn’t be a border crossing/customs to travel to other provinces.
Sounds very similar to what’s happening in Alberta, except that it’s not at all close.
There was also the Clarity Act that explicitly requires much more precise language in any future separation referendums. Alberta is explicitly not pursuing a referendum right now, and the cynic in me expects that’s because the Clarity Act would make a referendum result laughable at best. And risk causing a schism in the already-wobbly
Wild RoseAlberta Cons Party.The House of Commons must decide if the referendum question is clear and unambiguous, asking directly about secession. (emphasis mine)
Albertans overwhelmingly think the idea is dumb
Alberta voted 92% for Pierre Poilievre’s party when Canada’s sovereignty was threatened. I’m fed up with these “that’s only a minority” posts.
AB would join the US in heartbeat. This should be the new map of canada:
It’s only a minority.
PP doesn’t say we should join the US himself, why would literally everyone who voted for him?
Certain other provinces aren’t looking so great by that measure. And most of Canada, by land area.
As an Albertan, I would say that there are some people in Alberta that want to be completely independent, some that want to be part of the US, and the majority thinks those people are crazy. Also Diagolon is kicking around, but they’re incredibly fringe and weird.
I can’t speak for Quebec, but I personally haven’t heard much about their separatist movement for a good while.
Albertan here as well and I agree. The are two small but super noisy (and annoying) groups that are for separation.
The average Albertan has no interest in leaving Canada.
I immigrated to Canada a couple of decades ago and picked Alberta as home. If they ever separate I am gone. I wanted to be in Canada and that hasn’t changed. I’ll be actively working to avoid any separation and definitely will also be front line to defend Canada from any outside attacks.
100%. I’m a 3rd generation Albertan and my plan has been to live here the rest of my life. The Alberta separation movement, as far as I see it, is a wild media frenzy pushed on by our fragile premier. Its supported by equally thin-skinned and petulant crybabies with no forward thinking skills, which, again as far as I can tell, is a steep minority.
But if I’m wrong, and this thing gets close to real, I’m gone and my only hope of not being financially ruined by dumping all the equity in my home is that one of these morons doubles down in hopes of knocking down my house to build a mansion for the ‘inevitable flood of wealthy white people’.
We’ll need to stick together and make sure this doesn’t happen.
Absolutely. A part of me hopes the referendum happens so we can get an overwhelming ‘no’ on the record.
The average Albertan has no interest in leaving Canada.
Prove it.
How? Would a poll work?
Why would I have anything to prove to you?
The PQ ( quebec ) always talk about separation this year they do it using right-wing rhetorics which sadly seem to work but it’s never that serious people mostly vote for them because there is no real other choice right now
Only the fascists and the willfully ignorant want Alberta to separate.
Alberta is the wound the US wants to get an opening from. This isn’t just the normal list of grievances, the more you give the more they will take. If it ever leaves, it will join the US. The moment it joins the US, it will act as a list of grievances generator for further territorial invasions. The Alberta First Nations are perfectly well aware that this is just flavor of imperialism hidden as independence, just like Russia did with Ukraine’s oblasts.
We can’t stay just because leaving would cost too much and make the rest of the family angry. If we want to make the case for Canada, we can’t just rebut the economic arguments. We have to stay for love—and the promise of something better.
And the author made the argument for Canada beautifully, but “this idea is stupid and will personally ruin us all” actually gets a lot of nodding heads, even in rural Alberta.
Even if they vote to leave, were just going to re conquer them. Leaving is not actually an option. There are Canadian military bases in Alberta. Without US military assistance they are not getting out.
As I understand it, they also don’t get to take any treaty or federal land with them. And they don’t seem to realize they’d have to take their percentage of the national debt, develop their own currency system, etc. (unless they want to be a US territory, because no way they’ll get to be a state)
And, where the hell are they going to go? Danielle wants private health insurance. Bye-bye 80% of the population who needs health care, and will be losing their homes to get it.
