Well said Jared!!! It’s a cowardly lot of shysters. The disgraced Dr Modry with his leg extension surgeries and literally robbing money from his own family he was charged with caring for, the scamming Jeff Rath who overcharged his legal costs by 5 times and was successfully sued for doing so, and the crook David Parker who committed the largest privacy breach in Albertas history. Literally boasting about treasonous dealings with the American government to ‘loan’ the project $500B to break up Canada. Strange given how it’s supposed to be such a windfall for all those who separate.
But sure, put your faith in these guys who are too fearful to run a party and a legitimate campaign in an election.
Whining isn’t leadership and it’s nothing to build a province on.
I'm still waiting for "Lead, not Leave" to provide credible evidence that Ottawa will actually address any of Alberta's issues. What we see in reality is a lot of talk and out year conditional promises. There are actions that could be taken immediately, repealing various Liberal laws that impede Alberta. None of them have happened. Just talk.
The Pathways program is still a nonnegotiable aspect of natural resource exploitation.
There are still rules and regulations in place that are designed specifically to prevent pipeline construction.
There are still impediments in place designed to impair the foreign investment required to explore and exploit our natural resources, essentially locking them in the ground .
There are still nine robed wizards in Ottawa that make up out of thin air rules to prevent pipelines and foreign investment.
There remain the de facto vetoes offered by the Prime Minister to BC Indigenous groups.
Good points all to which you could add a system which disproportionately gives voters in the Maritime provinces and NL far too many seats in the HOC and a senate which is appointed, subject to partisan views and displays a geographical bias based on the number of senators from respective provinces. Neither ever receives much mention or discussion regarding meaningful change that would see at least some respect paid to “representation by population”.
Its a northern tanker ban. A huge distinction that the separatists keep ignoring. Its not blanket ban on all tankers. Hundreds go into Vancouver every year FFS. If they build your lovely pipeline down to Delta (by Vancouver for those that dont know), its irrelevant that there are no tankers way up north.. I am pretty certain by now it isn't about building a pipeline because you are pretty sure to get one, maybe two. But, here we are still going on about it.
Tanker bans in that northern area have been there since the 1970s. Trudeau codified it on law in 2019 but it has been a no go zone for anything over 12000 metric tons since the 70s. It’s not a new thing . It’s very narrow up there to get into the port and a bitumen spill there is high risk and I don’t know why after 50 years people can’t accept that . Vancouver takes hundreds of oil tankers a year , there is plenty of opportunity if you add capacity out that way . It doesn’t have to be in a hard to get to port up in the north . I’m pro pipeline , but I also understand why that area was taken out of play decades ago .
It seems to me that you're forgetting the word you used... "credible evidence that Ottawa WILL actually address" and you're expecting people to provide evidence that Ottawa HAS ALREADY fixed everything.
I don't know if the attempt to kill Alberta's industry with export restrictions was the biggest issue, but it was certainly the loudest issue. And the evidence is right there, it's just not done yet because it's a big job.
But fair enough, you're also looking for legal changes in Ottawa. Okay.. which laws specifically?
I believe Bill C-48 is the tanker moratorium. With respect, you're suggesting the equivalent of British Columbia dictating to Alberta that you'll have a sales tax like the BC PST. You're moving from "we should be allowed to operate our industry and export our product" to "Alberta should dictate to BC what environmental risk is acceptable on the BC coast and BC just has to accept Alberta's decision on what environmental risk is acceptable.
It's reasonable to insist on the ability to export a product we import on the east coast. At the same time, equality means equality... not Albertan supremacy.
On the second, you're talking about the Canadian energy regulation act that the oil industry didn't like? Yes, that is being overruled by more recent bills from Ottawa. So .. good news, you already have that.
The industrial carbon tax isn't specific to Alberta or your industry. And it remains popular in Canada. Democracy means that you can't always get what you want. Make a better case to convince other Canadians. You don't have a "we're being picked on" case on this one.
Of course Canadians waters are Canada's jurisdiction, not BC's, so your tanker point is simply wrong. Bill C-69 is still in effect, so I'm not sure what "being overruled" means.
And your point about the carbon tax illustrates the whole issue. Of course the this that Alberta objects to are popular elsewhere in Canada. That's why they are being imposed. And the only way to change that is to leave, because Canada won't listen as to why they are dumb, harmful, or unfair.
This is just "what's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine" because the coast is both land (BC) and ocean (federal). Alberta has a legitimate point that the coastal provinces can't landlock the interior, but that doesn't translate into Alberta determining which areas of British Columbia are sensitive and which aren't.
You've moved past a fair and reasonable desire not to be landlocked and into other wanting others to subordinate themselves to Alberta.
You're just not going to get that and quite frankly I think most Albertans recognize that they have every right to insist on a pipeline to the coast and zero right to kvetch about not liking the part of the BC coast the pipeline goes to.
You're not going to get that unreasonable supremacy within Canada.
If you became a separate country you'd be a landlocked foreign country and you'll get even less from BC.
If you decided to throw your lot in with the US and they accepted you, you'd be subordinate to Washington with the same situation... able to export your oil to the US taking US terms.
I'm not even Albertan, but this is really my whole point. Alberta pays $20 billion a year to the rest of Canada and gets whatever they get now, and that simply won't change.
"Lead not leave" should be renamed "Shut up and stay", because that's all that's on offer. The idea of change is just a pretence.
That's the thing.. It's not reasonable for BC to block exports. That means we build enough capacity in pipelines to do that. It's similarly not reasonable for Alberta to insist that Alberta alone may determine the route and where risks are reasonable.
Although it remains odd that we export and import the same product while global trade breaks down.
Perhaps the concept of environmental risk per c48 should be reassessed in light of the change in perspectives with the welcome departure of convicted activist Guilbeault, the insufferable Wilkinson and of course "the science is settled" Trudeau. Just as in the reassessment of climate change today using different criteria than were applied in the decade of hysteria centred around Thunberg and her ilk, the safety and likelihood of a serious tanker incident given advances in tanker design and operability requirements of the past several decades and the lack of a single significant spill from tankers plying that route daily since the exxon valdez ought also be reviewed. And as to your assertion that meaningful changes were made to c-69, that remains to be tested through its application to a large complex project. I'd bet it won't be the chosen southern route, as all hat and no cattle is likely a fair representation of that MOU.
So, you’re looking for the repeal of laws that seek to protect the environment. That’s absolutely fine, of course. A diversity of political opinion is healthy. It’s worth noting that these laws were not instituted to spite Alberta. They apply across the country.
I wrote more above, but one is being overruled already. The tanker moratorium though? You're demanding that Alberta decide what goes on in Alberta and also Alberta decide what goes on in BC. You're going to need to talk to BC about that.
Stop using argumetum ad hominem to cover the weakness of your argument.
The Line has decided to block secessionists from appearing in the podcast/newsletter, but has no compunction whatsoever in taking weak, pathetic drive-by potshots at others in an attempt to build silly little straw men to assassinate.
It is your business and how you choose to run it is yours and yours alone.
Banning folks and then taking cheap shots at them is so very CBC of you.
I think you missed the point of the article. And I also think at one time there was brief discussion of interviewing a separatist but it was decided against because it’s like having a discussion with an q-anon follower. Non-sensical and doesn’t lead anywhere.
I also don’t think that giving airtime to people who are just looking to air grievances actually accomplishes anything. Their path to separation is to form a party and stand properly for election. Separatists are so quick to use Quebec as an example when it serves them but can’t do the very basic thing Quebec separatists learned to do years ago which was to make themselves a party and participate in the democratic process. Not try and takeover an existing party.
I enjoy the way federalists are willing to employ every legal trick to shut down a referendum, but pretend that using the citizens' referendum mechanism designed for just this purpose is somehow illegitimate.
What I heard was “wah!wah!wah!” No solutions from this quarter. Good at griping! Anything anyone says won’t change your mind. You are ‘peeing in the wind’
"They built alliances and persuaded their neighbours of a better way"? Well, as Tommy Douglas put it, a long time ago....
"Canada is like an old cow. The West feeds it. Ontario and Quebec milk it. And you can well imagine what it's doing in the Maritimes."
So just how open to Albertan persuasion do you really, honestly, believe those neighbours to be?
"Sometimes built fences when disagreements were insurmountable". I am curious if the "Lead not leave" contingent have any thresholds in mind at which point they would concede disagreements are insurmountable?
As to "all hat and no cattle", well, what an elegant description of a country that tolerated a virtue signalling debutante as PM for 10 years, still cannot establish free trade between provinces, still has on the books laws that so constipate economic development that government establishes a special projects office to avoid its own rules, continues to have the worst growth prospects in the G7, and on and on and on.
Great, another article lecturing Albertans rather than acknowledging their very valid concerns.
You guys really are doing your best to sneer this situation away.
Meanwhile, this leapt out at me:
"Then comes the carpetbagging huckster, rolling into town with a freshly-pressed suit, polished grin, and a wagon full of miracle cures."
Because that is almost EXACTLY what happened to Canada electorally sixteen months ago, and Canada (and The Line) bought what the flim flam man was selling - hook, line and sinker.
Funny that you would use that particular analogy to try to convince Albertans that Canada has their best interests at heart.
Are you sure insults are the best way to go? I mean, you could refute their arguments. How about why C-69 and C-48 continue to be great for Alberta O&G? Or the benefits of the annual MOU signing ritual? Why carbon capture is going to work this time?
Actually, in all seriousness, insults are probably the best federalist approach. They know that if they can make secession "icky" in the public mind, they will win. Project fear creates anger, and there's no actual hope of improvement within Canada.
If the separatists are like a bad Western, the federalists are like Waiting for Godot. Which is a great play, but I'd much rather watch it than live it.
These aren't really insults. They're an intervention. Just like dealing with a drug-addicted family member or friend, it's necessary to get them to see what they're doing even if it's painful for them to acknowledge.
Then why not argue the pros and cons of staying in Canada? The Line's entire stay campaign is based on feelings and now class differences and not on rational argument.
The rational argument is that Canada might cut off its nose to spite its face, and inflict serious harm on Alberta, despite the fact that this would harm Canada more. This is a perfectly rational argument, and a good one.
Lower taxes. Control over spending. Control over immigration. Control over legislation. No C-69. Reduce all impediments to economic expansion. Ability to negotiate a pipeline with BC. I put that last one there so you could ignore the rest.
I'm not sure why Mr Wesley had to open his opinion piece with a bit of a swipe at Stampede "You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose)." The joy of Stampede is that everyone gets to participate. As it was put nicely in an opinion piece in the Herald today: "The festival doesn’t replace your identity. It adds a layer on top of it, and somehow the layer fits everyone." We're not posing Jarred. Jen Gerson put it well herself, "The Stampede works because it eagerly embraces the city’s heritage, in a way that everyone — multi-generational Albertan, new immigrant, or even tourist — to take part in and share in the fun on an equal basis". And as the Herald opinion piece nicely stated "... you are invited to be Calgarian, whatever your origins, for 10 days. You get to be a cowboy — Calgary flavour." You may call it posing, but if everyone gets to pose and participate and smile, regardless of their partisan opinions, then that's a good thing... and maybe even a little bit unifying.
"They promise a place where Albertans can finally be surrounded only by people who agree with them, governed only by people who flatter them, and protected from the hard realities of living in a big, diverse country." seems to capture the end game these alleged patriots. Only serious about separating honest Albertans from 1) their money for own purposes, and 2) the maturing and respected country they are an integral part of and for most of us, our birthright as fiercely proud and loyal Canadians whose forefathers sacrificed for our future.
Perhaps they could set aside their cowboy cosplay and lay out a reasonable set of asks and changes that could be the basis for overdue structural and constitutional discussions. Until they do I have no time for their hokum!
You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose). But I have noticed separatist leaders are particularly fond of the costume.
END QUOTE
Well said. As a former Albertan who was born there and spent half his life in the province, I never once donned the hat and boots to "pose", as you put it.
I've noticed, though, that Danielle Smith has been indulging in a lot of cow girl drag of late...
Wasn't it just yesterday that The Line was waxing poetic about what a great civic festival Stampede was... and how Canada NEEDS more events like this?
Now one day later, numerous comments are directed at the hats and boots ubiquitous to Stampede.
I moved to Calgary later in life, but it took me exactly ONE Stampede to figure out that the hats and boots aren't "posing" - they are a visual sign of civic engagement.
@GS; @Applied Epistimologist: You are misrepresenting what I wrote, and the original point being made by the author. Possibly because of his attack on the separatists, or possibly not.
That you are missing the point, however, is painfully obvious.
The author CLEARLY looked down his nose at those who stoop to playing along with Stampede, when he said "You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose)"
...and you piled on, also using the word "posed" and adding "cowgirl drag"...
Your sneering condescension came through loud and clear, there was NO misunderstanding.
...and my reaction has/had NOTHING to do with separatism.
@gs: The only thing I despair are p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n-s who don the garb, despite not actually being people who work the ranches. And, of course, those who try to cultivate a "close to the real people" vibe to push certain agendas.
As for "cowgirl drag", clearly my comment was explicitly directed at Danielle Smith. I wrote her name, as you recall.
I did not accuse you or anyone else on these pages of such things, nor did I indulge in any ad hominem attack.
Your mischaracterization of what I wrote is most unfortunate.
IMO many of the grievances aren’t actually legitimate. They’re one sided and real for the people who care, but they aren’t electorate wide (not once the facts are actually laid bare, like equalization - it doesn’t actually hurt AB even though lots of politicians have made hay with it.)
so billions of $s go out every year to Quebec and The Maritimes and NONE to Alberta under a federal government program called Equalization when everyone pays into the program. your ok with that? How about underrepresented in the House of Commons? Also in the Senate? Grievances are legitimate -you won't offer changing anything so we are going to divorce Ottawa.
Sure there are hucksters and carpetbaggers everywhere. So the Rottawa ones are somehow selling salvation and the Alberta ones damnation? Seems like this discussion is all tuque and no poutine.
I think the argument is whether the collar is comfortable or not. It depends on whether you’re a wolf or a dog.
Thanks for that. My father taught all,6 of us boys the same. Hard work does pay off,then hold your head high on your way home at the end of the day. Get up in the morning,and do it all over again. I agree with you,seperatists should form a party,go to the Leg. Push your agenda. Easy to quit,harder to ‘work’ it out
You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to stay. Canada was structured to favour Quebec and the founding provinces and exploit the West and that structure remains today. I was born 82 years ago in this rich and beautiful country but unless our self-serving politicians and the elites in Central Canada can compromise Canada will not hold over the next 82 years.
Well said Jared!!! It’s a cowardly lot of shysters. The disgraced Dr Modry with his leg extension surgeries and literally robbing money from his own family he was charged with caring for, the scamming Jeff Rath who overcharged his legal costs by 5 times and was successfully sued for doing so, and the crook David Parker who committed the largest privacy breach in Albertas history. Literally boasting about treasonous dealings with the American government to ‘loan’ the project $500B to break up Canada. Strange given how it’s supposed to be such a windfall for all those who separate.
But sure, put your faith in these guys who are too fearful to run a party and a legitimate campaign in an election.
Whining isn’t leadership and it’s nothing to build a province on.
I'm still waiting for "Lead, not Leave" to provide credible evidence that Ottawa will actually address any of Alberta's issues. What we see in reality is a lot of talk and out year conditional promises. There are actions that could be taken immediately, repealing various Liberal laws that impede Alberta. None of them have happened. Just talk.
All hat indeed.
The tanker ban is still in place.
The Pathways program is still a nonnegotiable aspect of natural resource exploitation.
There are still rules and regulations in place that are designed specifically to prevent pipeline construction.
There are still impediments in place designed to impair the foreign investment required to explore and exploit our natural resources, essentially locking them in the ground .
There are still nine robed wizards in Ottawa that make up out of thin air rules to prevent pipelines and foreign investment.
There remain the de facto vetoes offered by the Prime Minister to BC Indigenous groups.
AP, you make a very good point.
Good points all to which you could add a system which disproportionately gives voters in the Maritime provinces and NL far too many seats in the HOC and a senate which is appointed, subject to partisan views and displays a geographical bias based on the number of senators from respective provinces. Neither ever receives much mention or discussion regarding meaningful change that would see at least some respect paid to “representation by population”.
Nicely stated, Peter.
Its a northern tanker ban. A huge distinction that the separatists keep ignoring. Its not blanket ban on all tankers. Hundreds go into Vancouver every year FFS. If they build your lovely pipeline down to Delta (by Vancouver for those that dont know), its irrelevant that there are no tankers way up north.. I am pretty certain by now it isn't about building a pipeline because you are pretty sure to get one, maybe two. But, here we are still going on about it.
I accept your facts.
If the ban is irrelevant, why not remove it?
The tanker ban was put in place specifically to prevent the possibility that pipelines could be built in that direction.
I don’t care if Canada builds one, or two, or ten pipelines in the future; what concerns me is the acceptance of the great lie.
Tanker bans in that northern area have been there since the 1970s. Trudeau codified it on law in 2019 but it has been a no go zone for anything over 12000 metric tons since the 70s. It’s not a new thing . It’s very narrow up there to get into the port and a bitumen spill there is high risk and I don’t know why after 50 years people can’t accept that . Vancouver takes hundreds of oil tankers a year , there is plenty of opportunity if you add capacity out that way . It doesn’t have to be in a hard to get to port up in the north . I’m pro pipeline , but I also understand why that area was taken out of play decades ago .
I defer to your wisdom.
Thank you for the reply.
It seems to me that you're forgetting the word you used... "credible evidence that Ottawa WILL actually address" and you're expecting people to provide evidence that Ottawa HAS ALREADY fixed everything.
I don't know if the attempt to kill Alberta's industry with export restrictions was the biggest issue, but it was certainly the loudest issue. And the evidence is right there, it's just not done yet because it's a big job.
But fair enough, you're also looking for legal changes in Ottawa. Okay.. which laws specifically?
C-48, C-69, industrial carbon tax could all be repealed in short order. That would be credible evidence that progress is possible.
I believe Bill C-48 is the tanker moratorium. With respect, you're suggesting the equivalent of British Columbia dictating to Alberta that you'll have a sales tax like the BC PST. You're moving from "we should be allowed to operate our industry and export our product" to "Alberta should dictate to BC what environmental risk is acceptable on the BC coast and BC just has to accept Alberta's decision on what environmental risk is acceptable.
It's reasonable to insist on the ability to export a product we import on the east coast. At the same time, equality means equality... not Albertan supremacy.
On the second, you're talking about the Canadian energy regulation act that the oil industry didn't like? Yes, that is being overruled by more recent bills from Ottawa. So .. good news, you already have that.
The industrial carbon tax isn't specific to Alberta or your industry. And it remains popular in Canada. Democracy means that you can't always get what you want. Make a better case to convince other Canadians. You don't have a "we're being picked on" case on this one.
Of course Canadians waters are Canada's jurisdiction, not BC's, so your tanker point is simply wrong. Bill C-69 is still in effect, so I'm not sure what "being overruled" means.
And your point about the carbon tax illustrates the whole issue. Of course the this that Alberta objects to are popular elsewhere in Canada. That's why they are being imposed. And the only way to change that is to leave, because Canada won't listen as to why they are dumb, harmful, or unfair.
This is just "what's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine" because the coast is both land (BC) and ocean (federal). Alberta has a legitimate point that the coastal provinces can't landlock the interior, but that doesn't translate into Alberta determining which areas of British Columbia are sensitive and which aren't.
You've moved past a fair and reasonable desire not to be landlocked and into other wanting others to subordinate themselves to Alberta.
You're just not going to get that and quite frankly I think most Albertans recognize that they have every right to insist on a pipeline to the coast and zero right to kvetch about not liking the part of the BC coast the pipeline goes to.
You're not going to get that unreasonable supremacy within Canada.
If you became a separate country you'd be a landlocked foreign country and you'll get even less from BC.
If you decided to throw your lot in with the US and they accepted you, you'd be subordinate to Washington with the same situation... able to export your oil to the US taking US terms.
I'm not even Albertan, but this is really my whole point. Alberta pays $20 billion a year to the rest of Canada and gets whatever they get now, and that simply won't change.
"Lead not leave" should be renamed "Shut up and stay", because that's all that's on offer. The idea of change is just a pretence.
Riiight.
Piss on BC's prerogatives, but woe betide any who would impinge on Alberta's.
Gotcha.
That's the thing.. It's not reasonable for BC to block exports. That means we build enough capacity in pipelines to do that. It's similarly not reasonable for Alberta to insist that Alberta alone may determine the route and where risks are reasonable.
Although it remains odd that we export and import the same product while global trade breaks down.
Perhaps the concept of environmental risk per c48 should be reassessed in light of the change in perspectives with the welcome departure of convicted activist Guilbeault, the insufferable Wilkinson and of course "the science is settled" Trudeau. Just as in the reassessment of climate change today using different criteria than were applied in the decade of hysteria centred around Thunberg and her ilk, the safety and likelihood of a serious tanker incident given advances in tanker design and operability requirements of the past several decades and the lack of a single significant spill from tankers plying that route daily since the exxon valdez ought also be reviewed. And as to your assertion that meaningful changes were made to c-69, that remains to be tested through its application to a large complex project. I'd bet it won't be the chosen southern route, as all hat and no cattle is likely a fair representation of that MOU.
So, you’re looking for the repeal of laws that seek to protect the environment. That’s absolutely fine, of course. A diversity of political opinion is healthy. It’s worth noting that these laws were not instituted to spite Alberta. They apply across the country.
C-69 and C-48, for starters. Then clarity on the FN consultation process.
I wrote more above, but one is being overruled already. The tanker moratorium though? You're demanding that Alberta decide what goes on in Alberta and also Alberta decide what goes on in BC. You're going to need to talk to BC about that.
This is a pretty poor take on the situation.
Keith Wilson is not a cosplaying cowboy.
Stop using argumetum ad hominem to cover the weakness of your argument.
The Line has decided to block secessionists from appearing in the podcast/newsletter, but has no compunction whatsoever in taking weak, pathetic drive-by potshots at others in an attempt to build silly little straw men to assassinate.
It is your business and how you choose to run it is yours and yours alone.
Banning folks and then taking cheap shots at them is so very CBC of you.
I think you missed the point of the article. And I also think at one time there was brief discussion of interviewing a separatist but it was decided against because it’s like having a discussion with an q-anon follower. Non-sensical and doesn’t lead anywhere.
I also don’t think that giving airtime to people who are just looking to air grievances actually accomplishes anything. Their path to separation is to form a party and stand properly for election. Separatists are so quick to use Quebec as an example when it serves them but can’t do the very basic thing Quebec separatists learned to do years ago which was to make themselves a party and participate in the democratic process. Not try and takeover an existing party.
I understand completely the point the article failed to make.
I enjoy the way federalists are willing to employ every legal trick to shut down a referendum, but pretend that using the citizens' referendum mechanism designed for just this purpose is somehow illegitimate.
Keith Wilson is now a Q-Anon?
What I heard was “wah!wah!wah!” No solutions from this quarter. Good at griping! Anything anyone says won’t change your mind. You are ‘peeing in the wind’
You know, I understand what you are saying.
Alberta in particular, and the West in general, have some very legitimate grievances that have been ignored for decades.
What I keep hearing is “oh, that is delusional. Be a good Canadian and just fall in line.”
"They built alliances and persuaded their neighbours of a better way"? Well, as Tommy Douglas put it, a long time ago....
"Canada is like an old cow. The West feeds it. Ontario and Quebec milk it. And you can well imagine what it's doing in the Maritimes."
So just how open to Albertan persuasion do you really, honestly, believe those neighbours to be?
"Sometimes built fences when disagreements were insurmountable". I am curious if the "Lead not leave" contingent have any thresholds in mind at which point they would concede disagreements are insurmountable?
As to "all hat and no cattle", well, what an elegant description of a country that tolerated a virtue signalling debutante as PM for 10 years, still cannot establish free trade between provinces, still has on the books laws that so constipate economic development that government establishes a special projects office to avoid its own rules, continues to have the worst growth prospects in the G7, and on and on and on.
That would be the crowd that took two weeks to switch from fawning over Trudeau to admitting he was a disaster.
Great, another article lecturing Albertans rather than acknowledging their very valid concerns.
You guys really are doing your best to sneer this situation away.
Meanwhile, this leapt out at me:
"Then comes the carpetbagging huckster, rolling into town with a freshly-pressed suit, polished grin, and a wagon full of miracle cures."
Because that is almost EXACTLY what happened to Canada electorally sixteen months ago, and Canada (and The Line) bought what the flim flam man was selling - hook, line and sinker.
Funny that you would use that particular analogy to try to convince Albertans that Canada has their best interests at heart.
Are you sure insults are the best way to go? I mean, you could refute their arguments. How about why C-69 and C-48 continue to be great for Alberta O&G? Or the benefits of the annual MOU signing ritual? Why carbon capture is going to work this time?
Actually, in all seriousness, insults are probably the best federalist approach. They know that if they can make secession "icky" in the public mind, they will win. Project fear creates anger, and there's no actual hope of improvement within Canada.
This comment actually captures a LOT of what has been wrong in Canada politically.
Canadians have become accustomed to voting based on emotions rather than on policy
or facts
or logic
or on what would actually benefit them economically
Canadians are reflexively polite and you can't be polite if you go against the grain of the in group and call our hypocrisy.
You're right.
If the separatists are like a bad Western, the federalists are like Waiting for Godot. Which is a great play, but I'd much rather watch it than live it.
These aren't really insults. They're an intervention. Just like dealing with a drug-addicted family member or friend, it's necessary to get them to see what they're doing even if it's painful for them to acknowledge.
Then why not argue the pros and cons of staying in Canada? The Line's entire stay campaign is based on feelings and now class differences and not on rational argument.
If you've been following this site or listening to their podcasts for any length of time, you're going to have heard plenty of that.
The rational argument is that Canada might cut off its nose to spite its face, and inflict serious harm on Alberta, despite the fact that this would harm Canada more. This is a perfectly rational argument, and a good one.
But Albertans might not find it compelling.
Wait…what?! Remind me again the rational argument for AB secession?
(Sooooooo many unanswered questions… despite repeated requests)
Lower taxes. Control over spending. Control over immigration. Control over legislation. No C-69. Reduce all impediments to economic expansion. Ability to negotiate a pipeline with BC. I put that last one there so you could ignore the rest.
The first one proves it’s fiction lol. No separatist will dare answer the cost question.
Best of luck with the negotiation…
I assume AB is taken over by the shithole country to the south?
Tell me why the taxes wouldn't be lower. Argue, don't just feign intellectual superiority.
I dunno who this Wesley fella is but you can tell he's got no idea how much hard work goes into maintaining a grievance farm.
Have you any idea how many comment sections there are?
You think this epistemology just applies itself?
No sir.
I'm not sure why Mr Wesley had to open his opinion piece with a bit of a swipe at Stampede "You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose)." The joy of Stampede is that everyone gets to participate. As it was put nicely in an opinion piece in the Herald today: "The festival doesn’t replace your identity. It adds a layer on top of it, and somehow the layer fits everyone." We're not posing Jarred. Jen Gerson put it well herself, "The Stampede works because it eagerly embraces the city’s heritage, in a way that everyone — multi-generational Albertan, new immigrant, or even tourist — to take part in and share in the fun on an equal basis". And as the Herald opinion piece nicely stated "... you are invited to be Calgarian, whatever your origins, for 10 days. You get to be a cowboy — Calgary flavour." You may call it posing, but if everyone gets to pose and participate and smile, regardless of their partisan opinions, then that's a good thing... and maybe even a little bit unifying.
Some people like to play dress up. Not for me. Grasping at straws to call it ‘maybe unifying.’
Thank you Jared!
"They promise a place where Albertans can finally be surrounded only by people who agree with them, governed only by people who flatter them, and protected from the hard realities of living in a big, diverse country." seems to capture the end game these alleged patriots. Only serious about separating honest Albertans from 1) their money for own purposes, and 2) the maturing and respected country they are an integral part of and for most of us, our birthright as fiercely proud and loyal Canadians whose forefathers sacrificed for our future.
Perhaps they could set aside their cowboy cosplay and lay out a reasonable set of asks and changes that could be the basis for overdue structural and constitutional discussions. Until they do I have no time for their hokum!
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You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose). But I have noticed separatist leaders are particularly fond of the costume.
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Well said. As a former Albertan who was born there and spent half his life in the province, I never once donned the hat and boots to "pose", as you put it.
I've noticed, though, that Danielle Smith has been indulging in a lot of cow girl drag of late...
Wasn't it just yesterday that The Line was waxing poetic about what a great civic festival Stampede was... and how Canada NEEDS more events like this?
Now one day later, numerous comments are directed at the hats and boots ubiquitous to Stampede.
I moved to Calgary later in life, but it took me exactly ONE Stampede to figure out that the hats and boots aren't "posing" - they are a visual sign of civic engagement.
Canadians, especially Albertans, aren't allowed to have a traditional dress. Next you will start claiming they are an ethnos.
Next, people will be calling Stampede a culture festival for flyover country white people
This is something I did not intend it to be.
@GS; @Applied Epistimologist: You are misrepresenting what I wrote, and the original point being made by the author. Possibly because of his attack on the separatists, or possibly not.
That you are missing the point, however, is painfully obvious.
Hey, if you regularly wear the hat and boots because they suit your normal daily activities, then good for you.
But they are still the folk costume of Albertans, and wearing them is tradition and heritage, not posing.
The author CLEARLY looked down his nose at those who stoop to playing along with Stampede, when he said "You won’t find me doing the annual pilgrimage or donning the hat, buckle, and boots (my grandfather taught me well enough not to pose)"
...and you piled on, also using the word "posed" and adding "cowgirl drag"...
Your sneering condescension came through loud and clear, there was NO misunderstanding.
...and my reaction has/had NOTHING to do with separatism.
@gs: The only thing I despair are p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n-s who don the garb, despite not actually being people who work the ranches. And, of course, those who try to cultivate a "close to the real people" vibe to push certain agendas.
As for "cowgirl drag", clearly my comment was explicitly directed at Danielle Smith. I wrote her name, as you recall.
I did not accuse you or anyone else on these pages of such things, nor did I indulge in any ad hominem attack.
Your mischaracterization of what I wrote is most unfortunate.
Thousands puts on a cowboy hat and go to the Stampede. You and Jared stay home and feel morally superior.
why not try to address our grievances instead of being a pinhead and just giving us a bunch of cowboy cliches.
IMO many of the grievances aren’t actually legitimate. They’re one sided and real for the people who care, but they aren’t electorate wide (not once the facts are actually laid bare, like equalization - it doesn’t actually hurt AB even though lots of politicians have made hay with it.)
so billions of $s go out every year to Quebec and The Maritimes and NONE to Alberta under a federal government program called Equalization when everyone pays into the program. your ok with that? How about underrepresented in the House of Commons? Also in the Senate? Grievances are legitimate -you won't offer changing anything so we are going to divorce Ottawa.
You aren't going to do anything except embarrass your grandkids.
yeap don't address the grievances.....attack the messenger! Unbelievable
So, tell us why they aren't legitimate.
Sure there are hucksters and carpetbaggers everywhere. So the Rottawa ones are somehow selling salvation and the Alberta ones damnation? Seems like this discussion is all tuque and no poutine.
I think the argument is whether the collar is comfortable or not. It depends on whether you’re a wolf or a dog.
Thanks for that. My father taught all,6 of us boys the same. Hard work does pay off,then hold your head high on your way home at the end of the day. Get up in the morning,and do it all over again. I agree with you,seperatists should form a party,go to the Leg. Push your agenda. Easy to quit,harder to ‘work’ it out
Jered Wesley, what happens when there is no one left to lie to?
You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to stay. Canada was structured to favour Quebec and the founding provinces and exploit the West and that structure remains today. I was born 82 years ago in this rich and beautiful country but unless our self-serving politicians and the elites in Central Canada can compromise Canada will not hold over the next 82 years.
Absolutely LOVED this dispatch. "All hat, No Cattle" is right