Confederation was formulated in the wake of the U.S. Civil War, which saw that nation almost tear itself to pieces in part due to the power of the individual states relative to the federal government. The original BNA Act of 1867 gave the Canadian federal government powers to override provincial legislation, but they became powers only on paper as provinces acquired more constitutional powers through the courts. Now, provinces have veto over projects of national concern, usurping the constitutional power that the federal government has on these matters. Perhaps it is a happy accident that we continue to enjoy a first-world standard of living as the politicians, who are elected by the people of the nation, destroy our wealth-making potential through incessant interprovincial squabbles.
No Provinces do not have veto power over the Federal Government. Provinces do however have the Constitutional power to manage their own resources which was fought for. That was disregarded with Trudeau's Carbon Tax to which is still controversial to this day. Your insinuations are fraught with holes as Trudeau put in the Tanker Ban Bill C48 and the no more pipelines Bill C69, against the recommendations of the Senate, which is again unconstitutional as the Provinces have the right to manage their own resources. When these bills were applied it was to the determent of one Province and one product. Coal, which is BC's largest and far more carbon intense product, is still shipped in massive quantity from B.C.'s port of Vancouver. They even justify in continuing the export to cut world emissions. For each billion of dollars that build the schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, now crumbling in Canada, that has been destroyed through targeted destruction by the Federal Government, China has built one new coal plant to power their regime. So for the 1.6 percent of the entire globes emissions that belong to Canada you best have a better argument than that if you care to save this globe from the catastrophic global warming fiasco.
I am not making a political argument, as you are Marylou. But if you are going to go to "Provinces have the right to manage their own resources", then you are correct to a point. Alberta can develop and extract its resources but transport of the product crosses provincial boundaries. Provinces have no constitutional power to stop construction of things like pipelines, so why do you suppose Energy East died when Quebec merely said "we will not allow that pipeline to come through our province"? How is that not a veto?
I agree with you one hundred percent on that but Quebec and BC are the only ones to do such a thing. In BC's case they drug it out through court battles to which taxpayers had to fund. What they were doing was completely unconstitutional, they knew it was unconstitutional, but continued on anyway and Prime Minister Trudeau allowed them to do so. The old drag it out until its dead is the true intention by both and I will be completely surprised if Tran mountain is ever finished. They have begun the attacks again to which with the attitude of the left and the willingness to destroy our oil and gas sector (note it was Horgan that approved the gas pipeline through BC which was absolutely hypocritical but it benefitted BC and did not need interprovincial approval. They do not need approval by the Federal Government because they have access to tide water. Its only the land locked Provinces who have to fight tooth and nail because they need Federal approval to get anything. So we are at disadvantage already. This should never have been as it gives rights to those with tide water complete advantage to which we as Canadian Provinces should all have the same rights but do not. Again as a Province that produces oil and gas we have certain commitments and with that comes equalization. Due to the financial capacity from the products we have, we pay far more per capita to the Federal Government in taxes than we ever receive back in transfers. That money is then shared with other Provinces that have less in order that all Provinces have equal access to services. So why then is it not the same with access to ports for all Canadian Provinces. You see, the country is not one, it never has been one and honestly it never will be one. Unless all Provinces have more equal say in how the country is governed and have more representation in Parliament it will never be a satisfied country. Its what the East wants and only what the East wants that is of any concern to Parliament, our Supreme Court, or any other institution in the country as it is the easterners that fill those Institutions. The new rule for members to be admitted into the Supreme court was changed recently by Trudeau in that only those who were fluent in both English and French can be selected. Again it means only those in the East shall be admitted to the Supreme Court. So if Canadians do not see the how much every political move is to give all power to the East and none to the landlocked Provinces, your blinded by your own biases. This will never be a country with people in power who are determined to destroy certain Provinces financially and are doing so purposely and pointedly. You do not destroy your own country's resources while bringing in more oil from regimes like Saudi Arabia who have no environmental standards let alone human rights. All this has been done over 1.6 percent of the worlds emissions and because Trudeau is wanting to impress the WEF and the UN. He will destroy this country for that and he is well on his way to accomplishing it entirely. Meanwhile China is building coal fired plants faster than Trudeau can kill our oil and gas sector. It wont make one bit of difference in the worlds emissions at all, in fact they will continue to escalate and the only ones that will be harmed are Canadian's. We will be poorer and less attractive for investment. Unless Trudeau offers big money to outside entities to build his wind mills and solar panels, no one will invest in Canada. No one at all. We are not effective or productive. What we do is export raw materials as it is what we have. Destroy that and we can offer the world services that they already have and can get at a far cheaper price elsewhere. We are losers and that's why even Canadian Banks and investment companies do not invest here or in our great Canadian Infrastructure Bank. Trudeau has made this country billions and billions poorer and that was before the pandemic, and for what? To virtue signal to the UN and the WEF. That is a personal agenda, of the left and its not only pointless its ludicrous. Quebec loves it because they have hydro. Well how about we bring in the same deal that Trudeau senior brought in for the Oil and Gas sector. Lets nationalize it! See what Quebec and BC would say about that? So much for equality eh? Yes it always seems like a great idea until it takes away from those who have so far been unaffected by what has happened. You don't see them destroying Bombardier, look what Trudeau did for SNC Lavalin's 900 jobs. Look at the auto industry in Ontario and the help they receive and yet when its the West very little if anything except more attacks, more legislation and more anger. There is a lot of anger. They just gave Air Canada how many billion? What about West Jet? No Canada is not a country, never has been a country and with the Governments of the day, never will be a country.
The pandemic has exposed all kinds of inadequacies in Canadian strategic planning and Canadian society at large. At some point, some where, Canadians lost the ability to address and even properly discuss state competence. I think it could even be a larger Western phenomenon in which we can drone on and on to others on the world stage about democracy, rule of law and values without ever truly addressing our own competence and whether we actually have the desire to demand and find solutions to our own national problems.
This was an excellent piece. So much of what was presented rings true, most notably our natural complacency in Canada and how that has inhibited true advancements in our approach to public policy and general political engagement by Canadians.
A mature country also do not tear down and tries to rewrite its history. It recognizes and learns from it. It also is willing to have serious and sometimes hard discussions without seeing everything through a kens of political correctness. It doesn't shy away from talking about real solutions even if it involves race issues. We have people that are obsessed with issues like decolonizing universities!
I do agree with what is said in this piece. But to be honest we should leave out a whole bunch of other things that are holding us back as a country.
I fail to see what value confederation has for Alberta. I'm for opting out. If nothing else we'd keep a lot of money in Alberta that now goes to buy votes in Central and Atlantic Canada.
All that money and much, much, much more would go into the costs of setting up and running a sovereign state, with a very small tax base in it. Confederation covers all that (that's its value). A teenager can always move out of his family home but would have to say goodbye to his discretionary spending. Rent and other bills to pay, you see.
Thank you for your reply, Percy. I think, however, you are mistaken. You see, it is not the size of the tax base, but its productivity that counts. Over 60 years, Albertans have paid $650 billion more to Ottawa than we received back in federal transfers or spending. According to the Library of Parliament, the federal government collected $5,096 more per person from Albertans on average in 2017 than its per person spending. In dollar terms, it meant the feds collected $21.6 billion more from Albertans in 2017 than was spent here. So, we need not be concerned with the costs of setting up and running a sovereign state. Clearly, Confederation adds cost, but not value. We would no longer be paying less productive Canadians’ rent and other bills.
Two countries with similar sized populations to an independent Alberta are New Zealand and Singapore – both successful. Frankly, I think our small population size is a feature, not a bug. Also, Alberta as a country would be a magnet for other Canadians (people from all over the world, actually) looking for a low tax jurisdiction with the rule of law, abundant natural resources, cheap and reliable energy, and next door to the largest market in the world. Certainly, any Canadians with initiative would be buying real estate here; Alberta’s population would likely grow once independent.
Often in discussions of Alberta independence, access to tidewater is raised as an impediment. It is because we are part of Canada, however, that access is largely blocked now - we are beholden to other members of Confederation in this regard. As an independent nation, the U.N. Convention on Transit Trade of Land-Locked States would hold sway. This is why landlocked countries such as Austria, Bolivia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Switzerland are successful.
As well, Alberta could choose to try and change provincial-federal relations. But it would need to grow up in terms of consensus-building skills. Sadly, provinces generally are addicted to demanding concessions and bashing feds. That's it. Then there is federal resistance and Alberta expresses shock that confederation doesn't work. We need a new kind of political discourse that doesn't rely on politicians seeking electability based on how well they demonize opponents.
Percy, we have been trying to change provincial-federal relations since 1905 and have very little to show for our efforts. With regards to consensus building, please review the following translation of Premier Kenney’s election night remarks en français to Quebecers:
“Quebec and Alberta have always been natural allies.
Albertans admire Quebecers.
We share common values and believe in a federalism that respects areas of provincial jurisdiction.
Thousands of Quebecers have chosen to make Alberta their home.
I have enormous respect for your Prime Minister, François Legault. I admire the fact that his government is focusing on economic growth, and is committed to eliminating Quebec's dependence on equalization.
Albertans are generous. In good times, we have never hesitated to share our wealth with other provinces.
But times have changed a lot. Alberta is now facing serious economic hardship. We are in an employment crisis marked by high unemployment.
Why these difficulties? Well, one of the reasons is that we can't export our oil to international markets. We need pipelines for the prosperity of all Canadians, including Quebecers!”
Now, contrast the above with the remarks of prominent Quebec politicians:
“Quebec's not into tar sands oil and Albertan pipelines," Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
“There is no social acceptability for oil in Quebec,” François Legault
Meanwhile, sales of vehicles such as trucks, SUVs and pick-ups in Quebec increased by 246 per cent between 1990 and 2017 and gasoline sales jumped 33 per cent during the same period. Every year since 2015, sales of those types of vehicles have overtaken car sales. (from the CBC, December 2018)
I agree that a new kind of political discourse is required. Discourse between the “Nation of Alberta” and Canada would fit the bill nicely.
You're right there, that was one of K's better moments. There has still been a lot in the way petty recrimination, odder still when Kenney expresses frustration at Harper-era policies.
Odd that you would choose to rebut my references to The Library of Parliament and a U.N. Convention by linking to an opinion piece in a U.S. owned newspaper that accepts $ millions in subsidies from Canada’s Federal Government. The Post could not very well say “Yup, Alberta gets a raw deal, and should opt out of confederation”, could they? A comment like that might get them taken off the list of “qualified Canadian journalism organizations”. Nevertheless, Mr. Hopper’s assertions (Alberta is divisible, Brexit only worse, etc.) strike me as reasons for independence, not reasons for continued membership in a dysfunctional confederation.
Anyway, I thank you for that link, and offer you these in rebuttal:
We have a Federal Government who has managed to take away the Constitutional rights of the Provinces to which even the Senate ruled against, for that very reason. Trudeau ignored the Senate and went forward with the legislation anyway. Trudeau removed the regulatory system for all natural resources from a separate entity so it could be politicized and controlled by his Government which therefore removed the resource rights that Provinces fought so hard for with in our Constitution. Not many Canadians spoke out as it did not affect them personally. We have a Federal Government that came out with Islamophobia and then added forced speech laws on top of that which Trudeau did in the name of equity. When anyone spoke out about the measures against the Constitution and that this set a bad president, they were demonized and demeaned. Canadians did not blink an eye. When the Federal Government meddled within our Justice System, the worst possible infraction in any democracy, to save 9000 jobs from a company that was complicit in bribing Libyan Dictators and renting call girls for their pleasure in order to get contracts, not a peep from Canadians. When Trudeau did what ever he could to destroy Admiral Mark Norman for trying to save money and get the ships the navy needed desperately built, Trudeau assonated his character, forced charges against him and left hid bereft with no help in fighting his paid for bureaucracy on farce charges. Had not a fund ,paid for by the Admiral's friends and mostly Conservative Canadian's donations been available, Trudeau and his paid for and supposedly non partial public servants would have jailed the man. The charges against the Admiral were unfounded and dismissed and false. Through financial negotiation and many tax payers dollars the Federal Liberal Government made aa settlement as they were said to have been vacuously contrived for political reasons. Canadians still voted these unliberal, totalitarians back into office regardless he was also caught wearing black face, not once or twice but three times as an adult yet had the audacity to call fellow Canadians racist if they disagree with his policies. Never has any Government been as authoritarian in the history of this country nor so corrupt. Ethics appear to not matter in any way to many Canadians nor does freedom and the democracy that our men and women fought and died for so we could enjoy what they gave their lives for. I have never been so disappointed in a people and a country, as I have been in this new progressive, activist, social justice, and now authoritarian, (don't you dare come out of your homes or you will be jailed) built regime.
The fact is that Alberta and many other regions of Canada would be better off economically and even socially in the US than being part of Canada. Why? Our elites in Toronto and Ottawa, which the rest of Canada serves let us down. We just lack the leadership talent in this country to keep it together.
Confederation was formulated in the wake of the U.S. Civil War, which saw that nation almost tear itself to pieces in part due to the power of the individual states relative to the federal government. The original BNA Act of 1867 gave the Canadian federal government powers to override provincial legislation, but they became powers only on paper as provinces acquired more constitutional powers through the courts. Now, provinces have veto over projects of national concern, usurping the constitutional power that the federal government has on these matters. Perhaps it is a happy accident that we continue to enjoy a first-world standard of living as the politicians, who are elected by the people of the nation, destroy our wealth-making potential through incessant interprovincial squabbles.
No Provinces do not have veto power over the Federal Government. Provinces do however have the Constitutional power to manage their own resources which was fought for. That was disregarded with Trudeau's Carbon Tax to which is still controversial to this day. Your insinuations are fraught with holes as Trudeau put in the Tanker Ban Bill C48 and the no more pipelines Bill C69, against the recommendations of the Senate, which is again unconstitutional as the Provinces have the right to manage their own resources. When these bills were applied it was to the determent of one Province and one product. Coal, which is BC's largest and far more carbon intense product, is still shipped in massive quantity from B.C.'s port of Vancouver. They even justify in continuing the export to cut world emissions. For each billion of dollars that build the schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, now crumbling in Canada, that has been destroyed through targeted destruction by the Federal Government, China has built one new coal plant to power their regime. So for the 1.6 percent of the entire globes emissions that belong to Canada you best have a better argument than that if you care to save this globe from the catastrophic global warming fiasco.
I am not making a political argument, as you are Marylou. But if you are going to go to "Provinces have the right to manage their own resources", then you are correct to a point. Alberta can develop and extract its resources but transport of the product crosses provincial boundaries. Provinces have no constitutional power to stop construction of things like pipelines, so why do you suppose Energy East died when Quebec merely said "we will not allow that pipeline to come through our province"? How is that not a veto?
I agree with you one hundred percent on that but Quebec and BC are the only ones to do such a thing. In BC's case they drug it out through court battles to which taxpayers had to fund. What they were doing was completely unconstitutional, they knew it was unconstitutional, but continued on anyway and Prime Minister Trudeau allowed them to do so. The old drag it out until its dead is the true intention by both and I will be completely surprised if Tran mountain is ever finished. They have begun the attacks again to which with the attitude of the left and the willingness to destroy our oil and gas sector (note it was Horgan that approved the gas pipeline through BC which was absolutely hypocritical but it benefitted BC and did not need interprovincial approval. They do not need approval by the Federal Government because they have access to tide water. Its only the land locked Provinces who have to fight tooth and nail because they need Federal approval to get anything. So we are at disadvantage already. This should never have been as it gives rights to those with tide water complete advantage to which we as Canadian Provinces should all have the same rights but do not. Again as a Province that produces oil and gas we have certain commitments and with that comes equalization. Due to the financial capacity from the products we have, we pay far more per capita to the Federal Government in taxes than we ever receive back in transfers. That money is then shared with other Provinces that have less in order that all Provinces have equal access to services. So why then is it not the same with access to ports for all Canadian Provinces. You see, the country is not one, it never has been one and honestly it never will be one. Unless all Provinces have more equal say in how the country is governed and have more representation in Parliament it will never be a satisfied country. Its what the East wants and only what the East wants that is of any concern to Parliament, our Supreme Court, or any other institution in the country as it is the easterners that fill those Institutions. The new rule for members to be admitted into the Supreme court was changed recently by Trudeau in that only those who were fluent in both English and French can be selected. Again it means only those in the East shall be admitted to the Supreme Court. So if Canadians do not see the how much every political move is to give all power to the East and none to the landlocked Provinces, your blinded by your own biases. This will never be a country with people in power who are determined to destroy certain Provinces financially and are doing so purposely and pointedly. You do not destroy your own country's resources while bringing in more oil from regimes like Saudi Arabia who have no environmental standards let alone human rights. All this has been done over 1.6 percent of the worlds emissions and because Trudeau is wanting to impress the WEF and the UN. He will destroy this country for that and he is well on his way to accomplishing it entirely. Meanwhile China is building coal fired plants faster than Trudeau can kill our oil and gas sector. It wont make one bit of difference in the worlds emissions at all, in fact they will continue to escalate and the only ones that will be harmed are Canadian's. We will be poorer and less attractive for investment. Unless Trudeau offers big money to outside entities to build his wind mills and solar panels, no one will invest in Canada. No one at all. We are not effective or productive. What we do is export raw materials as it is what we have. Destroy that and we can offer the world services that they already have and can get at a far cheaper price elsewhere. We are losers and that's why even Canadian Banks and investment companies do not invest here or in our great Canadian Infrastructure Bank. Trudeau has made this country billions and billions poorer and that was before the pandemic, and for what? To virtue signal to the UN and the WEF. That is a personal agenda, of the left and its not only pointless its ludicrous. Quebec loves it because they have hydro. Well how about we bring in the same deal that Trudeau senior brought in for the Oil and Gas sector. Lets nationalize it! See what Quebec and BC would say about that? So much for equality eh? Yes it always seems like a great idea until it takes away from those who have so far been unaffected by what has happened. You don't see them destroying Bombardier, look what Trudeau did for SNC Lavalin's 900 jobs. Look at the auto industry in Ontario and the help they receive and yet when its the West very little if anything except more attacks, more legislation and more anger. There is a lot of anger. They just gave Air Canada how many billion? What about West Jet? No Canada is not a country, never has been a country and with the Governments of the day, never will be a country.
The pandemic has exposed all kinds of inadequacies in Canadian strategic planning and Canadian society at large. At some point, some where, Canadians lost the ability to address and even properly discuss state competence. I think it could even be a larger Western phenomenon in which we can drone on and on to others on the world stage about democracy, rule of law and values without ever truly addressing our own competence and whether we actually have the desire to demand and find solutions to our own national problems.
We’re a country that hired a drama teacher to run it because his name sounded familiar.
Amen to that!
This was an excellent piece. So much of what was presented rings true, most notably our natural complacency in Canada and how that has inhibited true advancements in our approach to public policy and general political engagement by Canadians.
This subscription has proven to be worth every penny.
A mature country also do not tear down and tries to rewrite its history. It recognizes and learns from it. It also is willing to have serious and sometimes hard discussions without seeing everything through a kens of political correctness. It doesn't shy away from talking about real solutions even if it involves race issues. We have people that are obsessed with issues like decolonizing universities!
I do agree with what is said in this piece. But to be honest we should leave out a whole bunch of other things that are holding us back as a country.
Amen to that.
I fail to see what value confederation has for Alberta. I'm for opting out. If nothing else we'd keep a lot of money in Alberta that now goes to buy votes in Central and Atlantic Canada.
All that money and much, much, much more would go into the costs of setting up and running a sovereign state, with a very small tax base in it. Confederation covers all that (that's its value). A teenager can always move out of his family home but would have to say goodbye to his discretionary spending. Rent and other bills to pay, you see.
Thank you for your reply, Percy. I think, however, you are mistaken. You see, it is not the size of the tax base, but its productivity that counts. Over 60 years, Albertans have paid $650 billion more to Ottawa than we received back in federal transfers or spending. According to the Library of Parliament, the federal government collected $5,096 more per person from Albertans on average in 2017 than its per person spending. In dollar terms, it meant the feds collected $21.6 billion more from Albertans in 2017 than was spent here. So, we need not be concerned with the costs of setting up and running a sovereign state. Clearly, Confederation adds cost, but not value. We would no longer be paying less productive Canadians’ rent and other bills.
Two countries with similar sized populations to an independent Alberta are New Zealand and Singapore – both successful. Frankly, I think our small population size is a feature, not a bug. Also, Alberta as a country would be a magnet for other Canadians (people from all over the world, actually) looking for a low tax jurisdiction with the rule of law, abundant natural resources, cheap and reliable energy, and next door to the largest market in the world. Certainly, any Canadians with initiative would be buying real estate here; Alberta’s population would likely grow once independent.
Often in discussions of Alberta independence, access to tidewater is raised as an impediment. It is because we are part of Canada, however, that access is largely blocked now - we are beholden to other members of Confederation in this regard. As an independent nation, the U.N. Convention on Transit Trade of Land-Locked States would hold sway. This is why landlocked countries such as Austria, Bolivia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Switzerland are successful.
As well, Alberta could choose to try and change provincial-federal relations. But it would need to grow up in terms of consensus-building skills. Sadly, provinces generally are addicted to demanding concessions and bashing feds. That's it. Then there is federal resistance and Alberta expresses shock that confederation doesn't work. We need a new kind of political discourse that doesn't rely on politicians seeking electability based on how well they demonize opponents.
Percy, we have been trying to change provincial-federal relations since 1905 and have very little to show for our efforts. With regards to consensus building, please review the following translation of Premier Kenney’s election night remarks en français to Quebecers:
“Quebec and Alberta have always been natural allies.
Albertans admire Quebecers.
We share common values and believe in a federalism that respects areas of provincial jurisdiction.
Thousands of Quebecers have chosen to make Alberta their home.
I have enormous respect for your Prime Minister, François Legault. I admire the fact that his government is focusing on economic growth, and is committed to eliminating Quebec's dependence on equalization.
Albertans are generous. In good times, we have never hesitated to share our wealth with other provinces.
But times have changed a lot. Alberta is now facing serious economic hardship. We are in an employment crisis marked by high unemployment.
Why these difficulties? Well, one of the reasons is that we can't export our oil to international markets. We need pipelines for the prosperity of all Canadians, including Quebecers!”
Now, contrast the above with the remarks of prominent Quebec politicians:
“Quebec's not into tar sands oil and Albertan pipelines," Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
“There is no social acceptability for oil in Quebec,” François Legault
Meanwhile, sales of vehicles such as trucks, SUVs and pick-ups in Quebec increased by 246 per cent between 1990 and 2017 and gasoline sales jumped 33 per cent during the same period. Every year since 2015, sales of those types of vehicles have overtaken car sales. (from the CBC, December 2018)
I agree that a new kind of political discourse is required. Discourse between the “Nation of Alberta” and Canada would fit the bill nicely.
You're right there, that was one of K's better moments. There has still been a lot in the way petty recrimination, odder still when Kenney expresses frustration at Harper-era policies.
Interesting. But there are a raft of other problems: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/why-alberta-separatism-is-the-dumbest-political-movement-in-canada-today
Odd that you would choose to rebut my references to The Library of Parliament and a U.N. Convention by linking to an opinion piece in a U.S. owned newspaper that accepts $ millions in subsidies from Canada’s Federal Government. The Post could not very well say “Yup, Alberta gets a raw deal, and should opt out of confederation”, could they? A comment like that might get them taken off the list of “qualified Canadian journalism organizations”. Nevertheless, Mr. Hopper’s assertions (Alberta is divisible, Brexit only worse, etc.) strike me as reasons for independence, not reasons for continued membership in a dysfunctional confederation.
Anyway, I thank you for that link, and offer you these in rebuttal:
https://wildrose.party/
https://www.wexitmovement.com/
https://www.maverickparty.ca/
https://haultainresearch.org/
We have a Federal Government who has managed to take away the Constitutional rights of the Provinces to which even the Senate ruled against, for that very reason. Trudeau ignored the Senate and went forward with the legislation anyway. Trudeau removed the regulatory system for all natural resources from a separate entity so it could be politicized and controlled by his Government which therefore removed the resource rights that Provinces fought so hard for with in our Constitution. Not many Canadians spoke out as it did not affect them personally. We have a Federal Government that came out with Islamophobia and then added forced speech laws on top of that which Trudeau did in the name of equity. When anyone spoke out about the measures against the Constitution and that this set a bad president, they were demonized and demeaned. Canadians did not blink an eye. When the Federal Government meddled within our Justice System, the worst possible infraction in any democracy, to save 9000 jobs from a company that was complicit in bribing Libyan Dictators and renting call girls for their pleasure in order to get contracts, not a peep from Canadians. When Trudeau did what ever he could to destroy Admiral Mark Norman for trying to save money and get the ships the navy needed desperately built, Trudeau assonated his character, forced charges against him and left hid bereft with no help in fighting his paid for bureaucracy on farce charges. Had not a fund ,paid for by the Admiral's friends and mostly Conservative Canadian's donations been available, Trudeau and his paid for and supposedly non partial public servants would have jailed the man. The charges against the Admiral were unfounded and dismissed and false. Through financial negotiation and many tax payers dollars the Federal Liberal Government made aa settlement as they were said to have been vacuously contrived for political reasons. Canadians still voted these unliberal, totalitarians back into office regardless he was also caught wearing black face, not once or twice but three times as an adult yet had the audacity to call fellow Canadians racist if they disagree with his policies. Never has any Government been as authoritarian in the history of this country nor so corrupt. Ethics appear to not matter in any way to many Canadians nor does freedom and the democracy that our men and women fought and died for so we could enjoy what they gave their lives for. I have never been so disappointed in a people and a country, as I have been in this new progressive, activist, social justice, and now authoritarian, (don't you dare come out of your homes or you will be jailed) built regime.
The fact is that Alberta and many other regions of Canada would be better off economically and even socially in the US than being part of Canada. Why? Our elites in Toronto and Ottawa, which the rest of Canada serves let us down. We just lack the leadership talent in this country to keep it together.