Very good article Mr. Solberg. So nice to hear someone who has a clear head and is not parroting the “ poor me “ argument that independence is the best and only solution. Canada is a great country and we should all be working together to keep it great.
Blame shifting and scapegoating has been an Alberta Conservative family value for generations. What has been ignored is the vast sums of money which was squandered away on very substantial boondoogles for ages, by none other than the Conservatives in this province. Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings vanished. The oil booms went into a bust, and here we are. Justin Trudeau isn't at fault for Saudi Arabia and Russia deciding they were going to make oil prices collapse the year before he became prime minister. Albertans do not pay more than their fair share of federal taxes, because the federal tax rate is the same across Canada. Currently, there is a rise in oil prices, but that is due to a bloody war caused by the US president, DJT. Leave it to the UCP to flush it down the drain, while the misinformed point their fingers elsewhere. These separatists are very lost.
You're right we don't pay more per person, but somehow the eastern welfare provinces don't seem to understand we receive far less back. At some point, if your brother in law refused to actually get a job and move out of the basement, he needs to be kicked out.
When exactly will the loser provinces fix themselves? They've had 60 years of Albertans paying their bills, and no closer to actual maturity.
I object to the demonization inherent in the epithet "the eastern welfare provinces". This is a huge slop of shit on the heads of tens-of-millions of people and it is not fair.
Alberta is extraordinarily rich (even though successive UPC and Conservative governments have been imprudent in their management of those riches). As such, it pays more in taxes.
End of story.
That does not justify ugly mischaracterizations of most of the rest of Canada.
Alberta isn't rich. Far from it. When you have decades of utter fiscal mismanagement from a longstanding Conservative government, who turned Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings into squat, from epic boondoogles, it's the furthest thing from rich.
AC, you object to the term "eastern welfare provinces" so please enlighten me.
Are any of those provinces west of Manitoba?
Are any of those provinces not on national welfare, i.e. equalization?
Are any of those jurisdictions not provinces?
So, if you cannot argue any of those words then the overall term is correct - with the exception, I suppose, that Manitoba is not usually considered the "east."
I suggest that you simply don't like the truth: all those provinces are on welfare and have not taken real steps to get off that welfare.
I object to the premise. It is, as I've suggested elsewhere on this comment thread, a trope to demonize "the other" (in this case, the "non-Albertans who oppose the push to break Alberta way from the rest of Canada").
As such, the use of the premise is meant not to enrich or encourage debate, but to invalidate or "cancel" altogether the validity of the position advocated by opponents of Alberta separatism.
That's not even happening. On the other hand, Alberta had over 50 years (by now) of Conservative governments, who turned Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings into nothing, by doing the most priciest boondoogles, one right after another, year after year, which squandered a very vast sums of money . Then, the citizens lie, and blame another government for this, that being the federal Liberals, and when the oil prices collapse, and the money dries up, they have a pity party. This time, we have an increase in oil prices, due to a bloody war, caused by DJT, and the UCP will try and boast about their fiscal acumen, when they have none. Besides this, we have the UCP, who have a government that is mirroring fascism. In Alberta, the electorate did it to themselves. It's time to for Albertans to grow up, and accept responsibility for their own political ignorance.
It's not even happening. Here's the reasons for that. Saudi Arabia and Russia decided they were going to make oil prices plummet, the year prior to Justin Trudeau becoming PM. Those two countries reduced oil prices by three quarters. Besides that, Alberta has had over 50 years of Conservative governments who squandered away Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings on so many boondoogles.
Fascism. Where to begin with that and the UCP? Picking on minorities, and those who cannot defend themselves, such as the handicapped. Supporting the interests of a select group, while ignoring the wishes and needs of many. Scapegoats, such as immigrants. A lust and a desire for absolute power and control. Striking down those who oppose the UCP's very poorly thought ought policies, such as teachers. Having a propaganda outlet, which is her radio talk show. Shutting down debate. Look how short the Alberta Legislature sits. Gerrymandering electoral boundaries to favour the UCP candidates. Having a vice grip control over municipalities, boards, and others. Wanting a police state. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.
Ah. The shifting goalposts. You originally said Albertans aren't being mistreated by a federal government, and are defending that position by invoking...Saudi Arabia?
Wild, man.
Literally none of what you mentioned in the second half of your diatribe are hallmarks of "fascism"... Did you save any of your selective outrage for a SC that says one day there is no right to strike, and the next day says there is?
Those who espouse ideology that is properly described as "fascism" invariably reach for propaganda tools such as the following to advance their agenda:
* Scapegoating.
In places like Nazi Germany, this was focused on demonizing the Jews, gay people, Roma and so forth. In the modern-day USA, it has been manifest in diatribes from Donald Trump and his supporters against immigrants (including those who came in via regular channels, and those who entered the United States as irregular migrants, i.e.: not through regular border crossing and without proper documentation). Most notable in this context has been Donald Trump's out-and-out racist attacks on Americans of Somali origin.
* "Revolutionary Image".
What is the push for a separate state than a revolutionary act of destruction? In this case, the object hated by advocates of Alberta separatism is the confederation of Canada. Fascist ideologues often work to discredit the existing order as "decadent" (which, in the present context, could include tropes such as "they, i.e.: the rest of Canada, subsist on welfare funded by Alberta").
* Appeal to "Christian doctrine"
This is not universal amongst fascist movements, past and present, but it has been a thread that keeps popping up, often in juxtaposition against the secularism of mainstream, especially liberal-democratic, political movements. For example, Tim Stephens, an evangelical pastor in Calgary, is known for having linked "support for independence [with a] deep spiritual longing on the part of some [Alberta] Christians".
* Popular violence
I do not believe that violence is the main goal of most Alberta separatists. However, I will observe that the Convoy Movement of 2022 certainly contained within it groups that advocated "accelerations" political doctrine focused on overthrowing the existing political order. While most of this played out in Ottawa, we cannot forget that there were some in Southern Alberta organizing to mount violent attacks on symbols of authority at border crossings and elsewhere.
* Appeals to Cultural Myths
If there is one thing that Alberta separatists like to play up it is the belief that "Ottawa" (or, more recently, the rest of Canada) works to frustrate Alberta's interests. This is less fact than it is mythos, built up over decades, in part by on-the-make politicians who have acted to reinforce certain popular narratives. It doesn't matter that, at best, the myth is only half-truth. The aim is to play up the importance of loyalty to one's own group, and the demonization of perceived enemies who are allegedly working against the group. It is not rational, but it is appealing to many.
- - - - - - -
I think that one might say a thing or two about the Alberta separatist movement that, at the very least, raises questions that link back to this (incomplete) list of features characterizing fascist movements, past and present.
I know that this won't be a popular post, but I think that many people in Canada, including many in Alberta, worry about this.
Ah! The denial. Can't accept that decades of fiscal mismanagement by the provincial Conservatives in Alberta put us in this big mess. Where is Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings? When oil prices take a nosedive, due to complacency of a belief in a permanent oil booms, the scapegoating and pity party begins. Anyone who can't accept these realities is basically lying.
Oof. Imagine thinking sending $600 billion to Ottawa to die in the last 40 years has no effect on Albertans. How's about the eastern loser provinces send that money back, and we'll debate economic positions.
Oh wait. That money is gone with no effect on economic growth in those provinces? Color me shocked.
Anon, you - and others in this thread - are arguing, among other foolish things that we in Alberta are choosing separatism because we are enjoying very high oil prices.
Wrong!
Many of us have been separatists for years, if not decades. We have lived through price booms and price busts; that is what you do when you sell a fungible commodity. The point is that we have learned to do those things.
Oh, and just a f'r instance about price collapses. Think back to, oh, was it 2014? GM announced that it would close an Oshawa plant ONE YEAR HENCE, i.e. giving notice and that 2,500 workers would be laid off IN ONE YEAR. The National did it's next day broadcast from Oshawa; there were Parliamentary debates; the headlines about the "crisis" were endless. Contrast that to 2014-2015 when over 100,000 oil workers lost their jobs in Alberta. Reaction from our worsers (definitely not our betters) in Central Canada: nada; nothing; ho hum; your fault for depending on a commodity.
Yes, we depend on a commodity (but we are widely diversified even though Central Canada and Central Canadians just refuse to believe it) but we know how to live through it. Painfully, but successfully.
So, this foolishness about current oil prices promoting separatism? Just that: foolishness. Check back and you will find that this current move to hold a referendum has been ongoing for some time, much, much pre-dating current oil prices.
Your comment simply shows that you have no knowledge of we in Alberta.
Unfair treatment and abuse? That would be self inflicted by many years of gross fiscal mismanagement by the provincial Conservatives in Alberta. Again, where is Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings? The fact is that many Albertans can't handle the truth.
I rather suspect you are a disgruntled dipper who was shocked-SHOCKED!- to discover the Albertans didn't care to be lectured by leftist blowhards. But there you have it.
Random thoughts: we in Alberta make the most most money so we pay the most taxes so while I'm not happy with Equalization it's not the my biggest beef. My bigger beef is the structure of the government system which is stacked against us, misallocation of Senate seats, multiple structural privileges given to Quebec, since most of Western Canadians cannot speak any or acceptable French we are denied access upper level government or major government supervised companies. Until these inequities and the long list of other structural inequities are accepted as a major unfairness to AB and the west by Central Canada and actions are taken to resolve I/we will never feel good or accepted as a equal partner in the country we call Canada.
Hypocrisy? It exists in Alberta in bulk. Can't be griping about democracy not existing at the federal level, while it certainly is lacking in Alberta with the UCP. Imbalance of power? Such as rural ridings in Alberta having more political power than urban ridings do, despite urban ridings having more population. Gerrymandering ridings, USA style, to grab more power. Shutting down the Alberta Legislature so it hardly ever has sittings. Panels that have a fixed agenda. Behaving like bullies to municipal leaders, teachers and others, who show legitimate distrust of the UCP. Using the Notwithstanding Clause in an undemocratic way, to kibosh the rights people have. Silencing the Auditor General. Making weak excuses to delay the provincial election. Shameful!
I see many (all?) easterners still subscribe to Clifford Sifton's vision of "Canada":
"We desire, and all Canadian Patriots desire, that the great trade of the prairies shall go to enrich our people to the East, to build up our factories and our places of work, and in every legitimate way to our prosperity."
When exactly will the eastern welfare provinces grow up and carry their own weight?
Thanks for the honesty. Here's another piece of honesty; the LPC got rid of JT because he hurt their reelection chances, not because they did not love him.
The biggest takeaway from this article is that most of us Albertans have no 'personal' reason to leave Canada. A toxic self-defeating culture has too much sway right now . Far more than it deserves.
This piece is mostly hot air that dodges the real grievances separatists raise and the structural rot in Canada.
You can't coast on past wins forever while telling people "it's not that bad." Harper's era is ancient history at this point. Trudeau Sr.'s NEP already proved Ottawa can kneecap Alberta energy whenever it suits the Laurentian elite. Solberg's claim that Trudeau's damage wasn't "typical" of the Alberta-Ottawa relationship is nonsense.
The "still one of the most admired countries" line is pure cope. Foreign polls chase vibes and maple syrup branding. They ignore Canada's free fall: happiness ranking dropped to 25th in 2026 (worst ever), housing is the most unaffordable in the OECD, healthcare ranks near the bottom among developed nations with chronic wait times and bed shortages, and cost-of-living pressures have crushed young Canadians.
Telling Albertans to feel grateful for what they have is condescending bullshit. Alberta's 2024 GDP per capita sat at about $71k, the highest in Canada, sure, but it trails Texas ($79-85k range), North Dakota ($94-100k), and lags the US average while energy peers grew faster under fewer federal handcuffs.
Alberta set oil production records in 2025, but we're still stuck selling most of it discounted to the US because pipelines to better markets got delayed for years by Ottawa and green activists. TMX helped narrow the WCS-WTI spread some and boosted non-US shipments, yet the discount persists and revenues could be far higher without the chronic takeaway constraints. We could sell at world prices to Asia instead of subsidizing American refiners.
Federal-provincial "cooperation" sounds nice until you remember Albertans have poured hundreds of billions net into Confederation over decades: $244 billion from 2007-2022 alone, billions yearly into equalization with zero back—while getting lectures about unity and decency. The warmth-of-the-people stuff is irrelevant when policy screws the resource base that funds it all.
Tall poppy syndrome in full effect. Alberta's success inside Canada is real, but pretending endless net transfers, regulatory and market access sabotage are just minor flaws worth defending with Olympic cheers and passport hypotheticals is weak.
Separatist frustration isn't baseless fantasy. It's a rational response to repeated evidence that Ottawa treats Alberta like a cash cow that should shut up and pay.
Trudeau's NEP didn't kneecap anything. In 1975, the Vietnam war ended, after 20 years, and a glut of oil resulted - worldwide. Ottawa doesn't treat Alberta like a cash cow. In this province of Alberta, Conservative governments, did one pricey boondoogle, after another, time and time again, for a long time, evaporating Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings. Danielle Smith must have taught people the art of lying, because she always blames someone else for the failures of the UCP. As I recall in this province, we happened to have a premier, Jim Prentice, who instructed us to take a look in the mirror.
Canada is the only one of the top 10 oil producing countries in the world who has ever talked about cutting oil production. Let us stop this fantasy that Canada is somehow a world leader in combatting climate change(which I believe is real). Let us pump lots of oil in the next few decades until the world as a whole decides to really act on climate change . In the meantime, a strong Alberta in a united Canada!
The UK and several subnational governments in the United States have all pledged to reduce oil and gas extraction levels.
What's more, all countries that signed up to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 were required to undertake actions to reduce anthropogenically generated greenhouse gas emissions. These pledges were made more extensive by the Paris Accord of 2015.
Signatories of these treaties included major fossil fuel powers such as:
It's a harsh but of reality, but the Saudi Arabian government said a decade ago that they wanted higher cost oil producers to get out of the market. That would mean Canada.
To Monte and Jen: Please check the political chessboard. Any secession referendum is the Albertan Knight's move to assert Section 92 provincial rights onto the Core Centre Squares, as successfully demonstrated by the impious Quebec Bishop. Lack of subsequent action to build trans-national pipelines and west coast tanker ports would put the exposed Laurentian Elite into immediate checkmate. It's a proven feint that will ultimately unify the country by wresting control from the PMO Rooks who guard Ottawa's insular ramparts.
I'd respectfully suggest that increasing AB's oil and gas exports is not progress. If we truly care about future generations of Canadians we will hasten the transition to electrification and reduce our production of, and reliance upon, energy drivers that increase emissions.
Climate change caused by the increased level of anthropogenically generated greenhouse gas emissions is NOT an "imaginary problem".
It might help to get out and read more. Not to mention engage young people who have to live in a world made more difficult by past generations' failure to grasp the nettle when it comes to this issue.
The "issue" is high energy costs and the de-indutrialization of Canada, while the greenie weenies promote all-electrification whilst simultaneously crying in their granola about the thought of...more electric generation....
The issue is the surge in average global temperatures, which has verifiably led to a huge increase in the frequency of extreme weather events.
Among other things, these have led to awful wildfires and floods in Alberta and elsewhere in the country on a scale that your father and mine (I grew up in the province) did not have to contend with.
Yes, other factors were at play, such as:
* erroneous forest management policies that failed to consider the importance of natural seasonal burns, and
* boneheaded land-development policies that led local and provincial regulators to afford developers access to land for housing in well-understood watersheds that are extremely vulnerable to flooding.
Nonetheless, climate change caused by human activities is undeniable, and it's becoming more and more severe.
We send 5 billion a year to New Brunswick in order to greatly subsidize the Irving Empire, the largest private land owners in North America. They pay 3.50 stumpage fee then charge the province 3.90 to "manage" the provincial forests. a 2000/acre tax on their 2.5 million acres of privately owned forests would reduce federal transfer payments to NB to zero. They also have similar holdings right across the border in Maine and yet Maine's GDP is 20k more. The only difference is jurisdictional governance. The Family Compact is alive and thriving...
Very good article Mr. Solberg. So nice to hear someone who has a clear head and is not parroting the “ poor me “ argument that independence is the best and only solution. Canada is a great country and we should all be working together to keep it great.
“Canada is a great country for welfare provinces to never have to grow up.”
Fixed it for you.
Ugly and inaccurate.
You're half right...
Corporate welfare province, like Alberta?
Are we now arguing what provincial governments do with the money their citizens pay in taxes?
Blame shifting and scapegoating has been an Alberta Conservative family value for generations. What has been ignored is the vast sums of money which was squandered away on very substantial boondoogles for ages, by none other than the Conservatives in this province. Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings vanished. The oil booms went into a bust, and here we are. Justin Trudeau isn't at fault for Saudi Arabia and Russia deciding they were going to make oil prices collapse the year before he became prime minister. Albertans do not pay more than their fair share of federal taxes, because the federal tax rate is the same across Canada. Currently, there is a rise in oil prices, but that is due to a bloody war caused by the US president, DJT. Leave it to the UCP to flush it down the drain, while the misinformed point their fingers elsewhere. These separatists are very lost.
You're right we don't pay more per person, but somehow the eastern welfare provinces don't seem to understand we receive far less back. At some point, if your brother in law refused to actually get a job and move out of the basement, he needs to be kicked out.
When exactly will the loser provinces fix themselves? They've had 60 years of Albertans paying their bills, and no closer to actual maturity.
More ugly and inaccurate propaganda.
Care to share which part is inaccurate? Or is it more accurate to say the facts hit you right in the feelz?
I object to the demonization inherent in the epithet "the eastern welfare provinces". This is a huge slop of shit on the heads of tens-of-millions of people and it is not fair.
Alberta is extraordinarily rich (even though successive UPC and Conservative governments have been imprudent in their management of those riches). As such, it pays more in taxes.
End of story.
That does not justify ugly mischaracterizations of most of the rest of Canada.
Alberta isn't rich. Far from it. When you have decades of utter fiscal mismanagement from a longstanding Conservative government, who turned Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings into squat, from epic boondoogles, it's the furthest thing from rich.
Alberta isn't rich because Albertans have had $600 billion extracted for the grifting of welfare provinces...
AC, you object to the term "eastern welfare provinces" so please enlighten me.
Are any of those provinces west of Manitoba?
Are any of those provinces not on national welfare, i.e. equalization?
Are any of those jurisdictions not provinces?
So, if you cannot argue any of those words then the overall term is correct - with the exception, I suppose, that Manitoba is not usually considered the "east."
I suggest that you simply don't like the truth: all those provinces are on welfare and have not taken real steps to get off that welfare.
I object to the premise. It is, as I've suggested elsewhere on this comment thread, a trope to demonize "the other" (in this case, the "non-Albertans who oppose the push to break Alberta way from the rest of Canada").
As such, the use of the premise is meant not to enrich or encourage debate, but to invalidate or "cancel" altogether the validity of the position advocated by opponents of Alberta separatism.
This isn't my first debating rodeo, Ken.
Do the eastern welfare provinces accept money extracted from Albertans to pay their basic expenses?
Yes.
Is that welfare?
Yes.
Is it endless, with no attempt by the welfare provinces to extricate themselves from this economic situation?
Yes
You don't have to like the facts, but the facts don't care about your feelz.
How's about you bring some of this confiscatory taxation energy to the eastern welfare provinces and chivvy them to do better?
What money from Albertans?
These are not “facts”. They are carefully curated (and misrepresented) propaganda talking points. We’re done “talking”.
So, to confirm, Albertans can handle being punched in the face repeatedly by a rapacious central government, so we should continue to do so.
Not the most compelling argument.
That's not even happening. On the other hand, Alberta had over 50 years (by now) of Conservative governments, who turned Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings into nothing, by doing the most priciest boondoogles, one right after another, year after year, which squandered a very vast sums of money . Then, the citizens lie, and blame another government for this, that being the federal Liberals, and when the oil prices collapse, and the money dries up, they have a pity party. This time, we have an increase in oil prices, due to a bloody war, caused by DJT, and the UCP will try and boast about their fiscal acumen, when they have none. Besides this, we have the UCP, who have a government that is mirroring fascism. In Alberta, the electorate did it to themselves. It's time to for Albertans to grow up, and accept responsibility for their own political ignorance.
That's not even happening? What color is the sky on your world?
The charge of fascism carries no weight anymore- you people have used it to describe everything you don't like far too often.
It's not even happening. Here's the reasons for that. Saudi Arabia and Russia decided they were going to make oil prices plummet, the year prior to Justin Trudeau becoming PM. Those two countries reduced oil prices by three quarters. Besides that, Alberta has had over 50 years of Conservative governments who squandered away Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings on so many boondoogles.
Fascism. Where to begin with that and the UCP? Picking on minorities, and those who cannot defend themselves, such as the handicapped. Supporting the interests of a select group, while ignoring the wishes and needs of many. Scapegoats, such as immigrants. A lust and a desire for absolute power and control. Striking down those who oppose the UCP's very poorly thought ought policies, such as teachers. Having a propaganda outlet, which is her radio talk show. Shutting down debate. Look how short the Alberta Legislature sits. Gerrymandering electoral boundaries to favour the UCP candidates. Having a vice grip control over municipalities, boards, and others. Wanting a police state. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.
Ah. The shifting goalposts. You originally said Albertans aren't being mistreated by a federal government, and are defending that position by invoking...Saudi Arabia?
Wild, man.
Literally none of what you mentioned in the second half of your diatribe are hallmarks of "fascism"... Did you save any of your selective outrage for a SC that says one day there is no right to strike, and the next day says there is?
Those who espouse ideology that is properly described as "fascism" invariably reach for propaganda tools such as the following to advance their agenda:
* Scapegoating.
In places like Nazi Germany, this was focused on demonizing the Jews, gay people, Roma and so forth. In the modern-day USA, it has been manifest in diatribes from Donald Trump and his supporters against immigrants (including those who came in via regular channels, and those who entered the United States as irregular migrants, i.e.: not through regular border crossing and without proper documentation). Most notable in this context has been Donald Trump's out-and-out racist attacks on Americans of Somali origin.
* "Revolutionary Image".
What is the push for a separate state than a revolutionary act of destruction? In this case, the object hated by advocates of Alberta separatism is the confederation of Canada. Fascist ideologues often work to discredit the existing order as "decadent" (which, in the present context, could include tropes such as "they, i.e.: the rest of Canada, subsist on welfare funded by Alberta").
* Appeal to "Christian doctrine"
This is not universal amongst fascist movements, past and present, but it has been a thread that keeps popping up, often in juxtaposition against the secularism of mainstream, especially liberal-democratic, political movements. For example, Tim Stephens, an evangelical pastor in Calgary, is known for having linked "support for independence [with a] deep spiritual longing on the part of some [Alberta] Christians".
* Popular violence
I do not believe that violence is the main goal of most Alberta separatists. However, I will observe that the Convoy Movement of 2022 certainly contained within it groups that advocated "accelerations" political doctrine focused on overthrowing the existing political order. While most of this played out in Ottawa, we cannot forget that there were some in Southern Alberta organizing to mount violent attacks on symbols of authority at border crossings and elsewhere.
* Appeals to Cultural Myths
If there is one thing that Alberta separatists like to play up it is the belief that "Ottawa" (or, more recently, the rest of Canada) works to frustrate Alberta's interests. This is less fact than it is mythos, built up over decades, in part by on-the-make politicians who have acted to reinforce certain popular narratives. It doesn't matter that, at best, the myth is only half-truth. The aim is to play up the importance of loyalty to one's own group, and the demonization of perceived enemies who are allegedly working against the group. It is not rational, but it is appealing to many.
- - - - - - -
I think that one might say a thing or two about the Alberta separatist movement that, at the very least, raises questions that link back to this (incomplete) list of features characterizing fascist movements, past and present.
I know that this won't be a popular post, but I think that many people in Canada, including many in Alberta, worry about this.
You really need to read what AI gives you...
Ah! The denial. Can't accept that decades of fiscal mismanagement by the provincial Conservatives in Alberta put us in this big mess. Where is Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings? When oil prices take a nosedive, due to complacency of a belief in a permanent oil booms, the scapegoating and pity party begins. Anyone who can't accept these realities is basically lying.
Oof. Imagine thinking sending $600 billion to Ottawa to die in the last 40 years has no effect on Albertans. How's about the eastern loser provinces send that money back, and we'll debate economic positions.
Oh wait. That money is gone with no effect on economic growth in those provinces? Color me shocked.
Anon, you - and others in this thread - are arguing, among other foolish things that we in Alberta are choosing separatism because we are enjoying very high oil prices.
Wrong!
Many of us have been separatists for years, if not decades. We have lived through price booms and price busts; that is what you do when you sell a fungible commodity. The point is that we have learned to do those things.
Oh, and just a f'r instance about price collapses. Think back to, oh, was it 2014? GM announced that it would close an Oshawa plant ONE YEAR HENCE, i.e. giving notice and that 2,500 workers would be laid off IN ONE YEAR. The National did it's next day broadcast from Oshawa; there were Parliamentary debates; the headlines about the "crisis" were endless. Contrast that to 2014-2015 when over 100,000 oil workers lost their jobs in Alberta. Reaction from our worsers (definitely not our betters) in Central Canada: nada; nothing; ho hum; your fault for depending on a commodity.
Yes, we depend on a commodity (but we are widely diversified even though Central Canada and Central Canadians just refuse to believe it) but we know how to live through it. Painfully, but successfully.
So, this foolishness about current oil prices promoting separatism? Just that: foolishness. Check back and you will find that this current move to hold a referendum has been ongoing for some time, much, much pre-dating current oil prices.
Your comment simply shows that you have no knowledge of we in Alberta.
Beautifully said, Monte. Thanks for putting your argument for Canada forward. It’s been a long time since we’ve connected. Hope you’re well.
The argument is "Albertans can handle the unfair treatment and abuse."
I guess that's "beautiful" for welfare province denizens...
Unfair treatment and abuse? That would be self inflicted by many years of gross fiscal mismanagement by the provincial Conservatives in Alberta. Again, where is Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings? The fact is that many Albertans can't handle the truth.
I rather suspect you are a disgruntled dipper who was shocked-SHOCKED!- to discover the Albertans didn't care to be lectured by leftist blowhards. But there you have it.
Sure, sure. Albertans choose to be robbed to pay for eastern welfare provinces by electing Conservative governments... Sounds legit, my guy.
Random thoughts: we in Alberta make the most most money so we pay the most taxes so while I'm not happy with Equalization it's not the my biggest beef. My bigger beef is the structure of the government system which is stacked against us, misallocation of Senate seats, multiple structural privileges given to Quebec, since most of Western Canadians cannot speak any or acceptable French we are denied access upper level government or major government supervised companies. Until these inequities and the long list of other structural inequities are accepted as a major unfairness to AB and the west by Central Canada and actions are taken to resolve I/we will never feel good or accepted as a equal partner in the country we call Canada.
Hypocrisy? It exists in Alberta in bulk. Can't be griping about democracy not existing at the federal level, while it certainly is lacking in Alberta with the UCP. Imbalance of power? Such as rural ridings in Alberta having more political power than urban ridings do, despite urban ridings having more population. Gerrymandering ridings, USA style, to grab more power. Shutting down the Alberta Legislature so it hardly ever has sittings. Panels that have a fixed agenda. Behaving like bullies to municipal leaders, teachers and others, who show legitimate distrust of the UCP. Using the Notwithstanding Clause in an undemocratic way, to kibosh the rights people have. Silencing the Auditor General. Making weak excuses to delay the provincial election. Shameful!
I hope you bring this energy to federal ridings....
Agree..
You state "But Justin Trudeau is gone now...". What on earth makes you think that?
The same, or worse, government spending, creation of more government bureaucracy, not working with the USA, pandering to China etc...
I see many (all?) easterners still subscribe to Clifford Sifton's vision of "Canada":
"We desire, and all Canadian Patriots desire, that the great trade of the prairies shall go to enrich our people to the East, to build up our factories and our places of work, and in every legitimate way to our prosperity."
When exactly will the eastern welfare provinces grow up and carry their own weight?
Thanks for the honesty. Here's another piece of honesty; the LPC got rid of JT because he hurt their reelection chances, not because they did not love him.
Honestly, the article is a bunch of muh feelz. That cuts no ice.
I'd suggest it was both. History will judge him as our worst PM.
The biggest takeaway from this article is that most of us Albertans have no 'personal' reason to leave Canada. A toxic self-defeating culture has too much sway right now . Far more than it deserves.
Who amongst us have a reason to stay? Is it the grift? The racism? The genocide?
The grift and racism is from the UCP.
Toxicity becomes a problem when people respond to grift with yet more grift.
This piece is mostly hot air that dodges the real grievances separatists raise and the structural rot in Canada.
You can't coast on past wins forever while telling people "it's not that bad." Harper's era is ancient history at this point. Trudeau Sr.'s NEP already proved Ottawa can kneecap Alberta energy whenever it suits the Laurentian elite. Solberg's claim that Trudeau's damage wasn't "typical" of the Alberta-Ottawa relationship is nonsense.
The "still one of the most admired countries" line is pure cope. Foreign polls chase vibes and maple syrup branding. They ignore Canada's free fall: happiness ranking dropped to 25th in 2026 (worst ever), housing is the most unaffordable in the OECD, healthcare ranks near the bottom among developed nations with chronic wait times and bed shortages, and cost-of-living pressures have crushed young Canadians.
Telling Albertans to feel grateful for what they have is condescending bullshit. Alberta's 2024 GDP per capita sat at about $71k, the highest in Canada, sure, but it trails Texas ($79-85k range), North Dakota ($94-100k), and lags the US average while energy peers grew faster under fewer federal handcuffs.
Alberta set oil production records in 2025, but we're still stuck selling most of it discounted to the US because pipelines to better markets got delayed for years by Ottawa and green activists. TMX helped narrow the WCS-WTI spread some and boosted non-US shipments, yet the discount persists and revenues could be far higher without the chronic takeaway constraints. We could sell at world prices to Asia instead of subsidizing American refiners.
Federal-provincial "cooperation" sounds nice until you remember Albertans have poured hundreds of billions net into Confederation over decades: $244 billion from 2007-2022 alone, billions yearly into equalization with zero back—while getting lectures about unity and decency. The warmth-of-the-people stuff is irrelevant when policy screws the resource base that funds it all.
Tall poppy syndrome in full effect. Alberta's success inside Canada is real, but pretending endless net transfers, regulatory and market access sabotage are just minor flaws worth defending with Olympic cheers and passport hypotheticals is weak.
Separatist frustration isn't baseless fantasy. It's a rational response to repeated evidence that Ottawa treats Alberta like a cash cow that should shut up and pay.
Trudeau's NEP didn't kneecap anything. In 1975, the Vietnam war ended, after 20 years, and a glut of oil resulted - worldwide. Ottawa doesn't treat Alberta like a cash cow. In this province of Alberta, Conservative governments, did one pricey boondoogle, after another, time and time again, for a long time, evaporating Peter Lougheed's rainy day savings. Danielle Smith must have taught people the art of lying, because she always blames someone else for the failures of the UCP. As I recall in this province, we happened to have a premier, Jim Prentice, who instructed us to take a look in the mirror.
Canada is the only one of the top 10 oil producing countries in the world who has ever talked about cutting oil production. Let us stop this fantasy that Canada is somehow a world leader in combatting climate change(which I believe is real). Let us pump lots of oil in the next few decades until the world as a whole decides to really act on climate change . In the meantime, a strong Alberta in a united Canada!
The UK and several subnational governments in the United States have all pledged to reduce oil and gas extraction levels.
What's more, all countries that signed up to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 were required to undertake actions to reduce anthropogenically generated greenhouse gas emissions. These pledges were made more extensive by the Paris Accord of 2015.
Signatories of these treaties included major fossil fuel powers such as:
* Algeria
* Argentina
* Australia
* Bahrain
* Brazil
* Brunei
* Canada
* Iran
* Iraq
* Mexico
* Nigeria
* Norway
* the Russian Federation
* Saudi Arabia
* the UK
* Venezuela
How's that working out once reality hit?
It's a harsh but of reality, but the Saudi Arabian government said a decade ago that they wanted higher cost oil producers to get out of the market. That would mean Canada.
Yet here we are, with Our Very Own Dear Leaders following the Saudi game plan. Was the Chinese one not available?
To Monte and Jen: Please check the political chessboard. Any secession referendum is the Albertan Knight's move to assert Section 92 provincial rights onto the Core Centre Squares, as successfully demonstrated by the impious Quebec Bishop. Lack of subsequent action to build trans-national pipelines and west coast tanker ports would put the exposed Laurentian Elite into immediate checkmate. It's a proven feint that will ultimately unify the country by wresting control from the PMO Rooks who guard Ottawa's insular ramparts.
Where exactly is Canada admired? Which century do you live in? For ppl to admire us thay need to notice us.
I'd respectfully suggest that increasing AB's oil and gas exports is not progress. If we truly care about future generations of Canadians we will hasten the transition to electrification and reduce our production of, and reliance upon, energy drivers that increase emissions.
We have enough problems in the world without conjuring imaginary ones...
There are 2 kinds of people. Those who understand how serious climate change is, and those who will.
There are two kinds of “environmentalists”. Those who actively grift, and those who will.
Where will your water come from when the glaciers are gone?
Climate change caused by the increased level of anthropogenically generated greenhouse gas emissions is NOT an "imaginary problem".
It might help to get out and read more. Not to mention engage young people who have to live in a world made more difficult by past generations' failure to grasp the nettle when it comes to this issue.
The "issue" is high energy costs and the de-indutrialization of Canada, while the greenie weenies promote all-electrification whilst simultaneously crying in their granola about the thought of...more electric generation....
The issue is the surge in average global temperatures, which has verifiably led to a huge increase in the frequency of extreme weather events.
Among other things, these have led to awful wildfires and floods in Alberta and elsewhere in the country on a scale that your father and mine (I grew up in the province) did not have to contend with.
Yes, other factors were at play, such as:
* erroneous forest management policies that failed to consider the importance of natural seasonal burns, and
* boneheaded land-development policies that led local and provincial regulators to afford developers access to land for housing in well-understood watersheds that are extremely vulnerable to flooding.
Nonetheless, climate change caused by human activities is undeniable, and it's becoming more and more severe.
They walk among us....
A rather disappointing (and border-line ad hominem) "contribution" to the forum, don't you think?
Not only do we walk among you, but we pay for your fantasies...
In a democracy we have to meet people where they are at. Plus wealth itself helps buttress against the threats of extreme weather.
https://guidedcivicrevival.substack.com/p/economic-development-is-key-to-addressing
"The grass is always greener." How did Brexit work out?
We send 5 billion a year to New Brunswick in order to greatly subsidize the Irving Empire, the largest private land owners in North America. They pay 3.50 stumpage fee then charge the province 3.90 to "manage" the provincial forests. a 2000/acre tax on their 2.5 million acres of privately owned forests would reduce federal transfer payments to NB to zero. They also have similar holdings right across the border in Maine and yet Maine's GDP is 20k more. The only difference is jurisdictional governance. The Family Compact is alive and thriving...