Jen Gerson: The strange truth is that Alberta wants to be more like Quebec
The provinces exist on flip sides of the very same coin; they are each others' dark twins, and Alberta seeks mostly to emulate its French sibling.
No doubt a few "Have-Not" provinces will be eyeing the informal results of Alberta's equalization referendum darkly. The final tally is not expected until next week. It does appear as if the "yes" side will carry the day, although not by as wide a margin as one might have expected given just how unpopular the constitutional program is here in Alberta.
Indeed, while a vote against equalization would have been seen as a repudiation of Premier Jason Kenney's leadership, a moderate vote in favour presents a much greater challenge for him. Now Kenney actually has to do something with this quasi mandate, and it's not entirely clear what that might be. No one — not even Kenney — pretends that the vote will force the federal government to make a constitutional amendment to remove equalization. It's unfathomable that such a concept could gain support in other provinces, especially as federal transfers of gobs of cash is increasingly the only tenuous thread holding the nation together. Instead, the argument goes, the result now gives the premier some kind of ephemeral moral force to make Ottawa re-jig the equalization formula to give Alberta a better deal, or something. Given the province's wealth, it's unlikely that any such formula would turn Alberta into a "Have-Not" province.
Quebec — as the single largest recipient of equalization cash — is often a target of anger in these parts, but I'd encourage any readers from thereabouts not to read too much into this fact. Both Alberta and Quebec suffer from a culture of political grievance that feed off one another. Alberta resents the fiscal balances, often casting Quebec as an ungrateful recipient of the very oil wealth that the latter regards with contempt. And I can only imagine how Quebec must read this; as a signal of its own isolation from Anglo culture more broadly. On both sides, I see politicians who have made a generational art of milking these respective grievances.
So sometimes it's worthwhile to point this out.
Alberta doesn't hate Quebec.
The provinces exist on flip sides of the very same coin; they are each others' dark twins, and Alberta seeks mostly to emulate its French sibling.
Kenney made this point entirely explicitly in the days leading up to the referendum.
"We're using this to get leverage to basically take a page out of Quebec's playbook in having successfully dominated the political attention of the federation for the last 40 or 50 years."
What playbook was he referencing, here?
The answer is obvious; the separation referenda of 1980 and 1995. In fact, the whole logic of Alberta's referenda last night was predicated on a novel reading of the Quebec Secession Reference, in which a clear majority on a clear question must force the federal government to the negotiating table in good faith. The fact that this reference spoke to a secession question — and not a longstanding quibble over an item within the constitution — is a material difference from a legal point of view, but not a psychological one.
The hope is that this referenda will give us somethin akin to the “leverage” Quebec has enjoyed vs. Ottawa since its failed separation referenda; and the disproportionate financial and cultural incentives that followed in the following decades. Essentially, Alberta is asking for the leverage of a true separatist movement without suffering the risk of actually separating. We are play-acting a little Potemkin secession referendum, here. If it falls to me to point out the show is a little childish and even a touch pathetic, well, so be it.
The 2021 referenda serves other, pettier purposes as well. It allows the provincial government to try to tap deep seated populist anger and to channel it into some kind of productive mainstream political goal; it gives Kenney the opportunity to switch the agenda from COVID-mania; and it might also have driven more conservatives to the polls during a municipal election in order to drive up turnout for right-leaning candidates.
On the latter point, this strategy appears to have failed. The first two aren't looking promising, either.
The parallels to Quebec don't end with referenda gambits, either. The recently re-animated "Fair Deal" proposals are almost universally drawn from successes in Quebec. Alberta examined its own police force, pension fund, and taxation remittance scheme — just like Quebec!
Wexit, Alberta's own secessionist movement, evolved into the Maverick Party in time for last month's federal election, and although it failed to win a seat, it did operate with the explicit intention of aping the strategy of the Bloc Québécois. The dream is to ensure that a Conservative majority can only be won with the help of a handful of Western MPs, thus giving the prairies disproportionate influence in Parliament.
Both Quebec and Alberta feel that they are left out of the corridors of power in this country, even when there is ample evidence to the contrary. Both provinces have historically been home to new parties and populist movements. The real difference is that Quebec had the population, resources and the balls to present an existential threat to Canada. Alberta simply doesn't.
But as the Quebec nation stretches the limits of what our Confederation can tolerate and still consider itself a cohesive country, Alberta is riding right alongside in the miniature motorcycle sidecar.
Nobody in Quebec should read any of this as anything short of a love letter. Alberta doesn't hate Quebec; it simply doesn't want to pay the full freight of the bribes required to preserve Quebec’s status, however theoretical it becomes, as a province of a united Canada.
The Line is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Follow us on Twitter @the_lineca. Fight with us on Facebook. Pitch us something: lineeditor@protonmail.com
Alberta wouldn't be so negative on equalization if the receiving provinces would make decisions to expand their own economic development. Perhaps introduce more business friendly policies and perhaps encourage a stronger work ethic. The eastern provinces are seen as thinking they are too good for resource development (such as oil and gas) but more than happy to take money taxed from those industries.
Um. I don't want to say that "Alberta doesn't hate Quebec" is wishful thinking, exactly. But I'd suggest that there's a certain amount of resentment of Quebec in Alberta. Maybe even quite a lot, depending on how the economy is doing. This is unsurprising; there's similar tensions between northern and southern Italy.