I would not blame Alberta if that province left Canada

[Anonymous]

Alberta has been punching above it's weight class for a long time. That Western province has been paying Canada's bills.



But, we have not shown any gratitude. Central Canada, my province and Quebec have been very selfish and unappreciative of all that Alberta has done for confederation. If that province was part of the United States, they would have international access for their exports. They would be booming like North Dakota is.



Alberta's woes are deliberate and the Trudeau regime along with some provincial governments(Alberta included) bear responsibility.



When Alberta succeeds, Canada succeeds. But, Canada is  putting up roadblocks.



I would not blame Albertans if they decided confederation no longer works for them.



By Canadace Malcolm



Trudeau's approach to Alberta is damaging national unity



While elites in Central Canada fret over abstract issues like climate change and gender-based analyses, the problems facing many working Canadians are far more real.



A 26-year-old waitress in northern Alberta reminded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the urgent and dire problems faced by so many in her province.



After Trudeau took a cheap shot at hard-working men in the construction industry, saying there are "social impacts (on women in rural areas) because they're mostly male construction workers," a Grand Prairie resident wrote a scathing rebuttal on Facebook that has been shared more than 55,000 times.



"Because of these men, I was able to go grocery shopping and get everything on my list. I was able to fill my tank at the gas station, not just $20 to get by ... and (I knew) I wouldn't have to worry about choosing between the water or electric bill. When these men leave, we have to cut staff. We have to tell someone they can't help support their families, they have to tell their kids they can't afford ... hockey, soccer, etc."



Instead of assuming that blue-collar men are sexual predators, Trudeau should try putting himself in their shoes.



When was the last time Trudeau had to worry about buying food for his family, heating his home or worrying about how to pay for his kids to play soccer?



That's a trick question, of course, since Trudeau was born rich and famous.



Ironically, the last Trudeau man to pay his own way — Justin's grandfather, Charlie Trudeau, who was a conservative — became rich by building an empire of gas stations in Montreal. Now his grandson is engineering the end of oil and gas production in Canada.



Trudeau may be too smug to recognize it, but there is a major crisis in Alberta. It isn't just an oil crisis; it goes far deeper than joblessness and fleeing investments.



In Alberta, there is an existential crisis about the province's future.



Veteran radio host Charles Adler, as always, has his finger on the pulse of this issue.



"Alberta has an 8.2% unemployment rate. Massively uncomfortable question: what do you think the rate would be if Alberta was a U.S. state?" he wrote in a series of Tweets.



South of the border, the economy is booming, pipelines are being built, energy prices are soaring and the country is enjoying the lowest unemployment rates in decades — 3.7%. In oil-rich North Dakota, the unemployment rate is 2.6%.



"How I could blame Albertans looking at 8.2% unemployment and billions of dollars of investment they aren't getting if they ask questions like, 'What are our options? Is our powerful connection to Canada much more about our past than our future?' As a Canadian patriot, I wish I didn't have to ask."



Adler is echoing the concerns I've been hearing for months from folks of every walk of life in Alberta.



Under Trudeau's leadership, many Albertans don't feel at home in Canada. They don't feel like they have a voice; they feel that they don't matter.



Perhaps that's because Trudeau doesn't recognize Alberta values as being Canadian.



"I always say, if at a certain point I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper ... maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec a country," said Trudeau in 2012.



Trudeau doesn't respect Alberta. In fact, he'd be willing the break up the country if it ever resembled Alberta too much.



Increasingly, it seems that some in Alberta feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

There is no question that our prime minister is out of touch with working class people,  particularly in my province..



And he doesn't care about anyone who has a different opinion than his own..



But, I haven't seen a real movement to change Alberta's status in Canada....for now anyway.

[Anonymous]

Alberta will never leave. They will continue to take central Canada's abuse and beg for more.

[Berry Sweet]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

[Anonymous]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

That's too extreme for my tastes, but Ottawa would never deliberately destroy the livelihoods of Quebeckers like they have Albertans and people in Saskatchewan too.

[Gaon]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

It seems Canadian unity is not as unified as I thought before I immigrated to this country.

[Anonymous]

Gaon, this editorial from Sun News Media will give you an idea of how dysfunctional our country can be.



Stop playing games, Quebec



It's time for Quebec Premier Francois Legault to get off his high horse.



That was the message from Premier Rachel notley, who made the comments during a press conference to announce plans to build a new refinery for our oil. Why the strong message for the new Quebec leader? Well, he was less than hospitable when new new Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs tried to do Alberta a solid, and sway Legault on the idea of restarting the Energy East pipeline project. Alberta oil is not "socially acceptable" in Quebec, Legault said.



If there's a reason some in Alberta are trying to stoke separatist sentiment of late, it's comments like that. We may not be keen on the Alberta Exit — let's call it Axit — as it were, but we're frustrated. On the heels of Legault's comments came word that Quebec would be getting a boost in equalization payments, which, while not tied to our pipeline problems, is still seen as a thumb in our eye.



Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci piped up and said what many here feel, that the program is not in Alberta's interest. His Quebec counterpart piped up that it's merely electoral politics at play.



There are some legitimate beefs with the structure of the equalization file that need to be worked out, but it's Legault's asinine comments on oil that are the most egregious.



First, Quebec does take our oil, so it's not as though they can claim they don't like it. The Enbridge Line 9B reversal started moving light crude from Western Canada (Alberta included) to refineries in Montreal, and is able to take heavier oil. Also, it's not as though people in Quebec are ditching gas-guzzlers for electric vehicles. nope, in 2017, 60% of the nearly 500,000 new vehicles sold in Quebec were in the category that includes light trucks and SUVS. And Quebec brings in a ton of oil from foreign markets. It should also be noted that Quebec's partner in its cap-and-trade emissions program is dirty oil producing California. Sure the Golden State has green cred, but it still has a dirty oil reputation when it comes to oil production. And, lastly, it's a little ironic to see Quebec raising a stink about Alberta trying to help out its wealth engine (which helps fuel equalization), when it is faced with almost identical hurdles. Quebec is losing out because it can't move surplus hydro-power to the northeastern U.S. Why? Opposition to massive, unsightly transmission lines. you'd think Quebec would recognize Alberta is in the same predicament and maybe, just maybe, be a little understanding. If anyone is playing politics, it's the Quebec politicians trying to appear as environmental saints.

[Berry Sweet]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

That's too extreme for my tastes, but Ottawa would never deliberately destroy the livelihoods of Quebeckers like they have Albertans and people in Saskatchewan too.

Exactly.  Which is why we need to separate.

[Anonymous]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

That's too extreme for my tastes, but Ottawa would never deliberately destroy the livelihoods of Quebeckers like they have Albertans and people in Saskatchewan too.

Exactly.  Which is why we need to separate.

I hope Trudeau smartens up and stops taking Western Canadians for granted.

[Berry Sweet]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

It seems Canadian unity is not as unified as I thought before I immigrated to this country.

The west has ALWAYS been ignored.  I have lived in the west all my life, and the government has never acknowledged the west. BC has high rent, high everything and the lowest wages.  The middle class has been drowning for years.  People who live off ministry assistance only get something like $350/mo for rent....this is a budget that hasnt moved in 20 years.



ICBC has caused so many problems...not to mention the amount of fraudsters taking ICBCS money.



This country is falling apart.  There are so many different immigrants here, who dont bother learning the language, adjusting to customs or even bother to follow our laws.  They know how to work and scam the system...and if you say anything about it...they scream "racism" like a little bitch.



Canada is garbage, and I'd love to leave and go elsewhere.

[Berry Sweet]

I feel the west should separate from the east.  Stop taking the wests money and they can keep all their "irregular migrants" in Ontario and Quebec and pay for all their expenses.  They can also save the Francophones over there...no one in the west speaks French.  Such a stupid language anyway.

That's too extreme for my tastes, but Ottawa would never deliberately destroy the livelihoods of Quebeckers like they have Albertans and people in Saskatchewan too.

Exactly.  Which is why we need to separate.

I hope Trudeau smartens up and stops taking Western Canadians for granted.

He wont.  Dont wait for change, expect it.  Vote him out.



No PM has ever paid attention to the west.  Ive seen this as a little girl uptown today.  Politics in Canada are a joke.  At this point, just separate.   It seems all Canada is, is Ontario and Quebec...the rest of the provinces are just cash cows for their agenda.  They can go fuck themseloves and take JT with them.

[Anonymous]

Although Manitoba will receive $2.3 billion in equalization payments next year, I would be down for leaving Central Canada. All those scam refugees crossing the border at Emerson can take their fake claims of fleein for their lives to Ontario and Quebec.

[Anonymous]

Quebec should rethink abandoning Alberta



All is not well in our federation. Only days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened to meet with the country's premiers, two provinces are now at loggerheads.



Quebec Premier François Legault said at the meeting he wouldn't consider anything like the Energy East pipeline crossing his province because "there's no social acceptability" for it in Quebec and that it would carry "dirty energy".



Albertans didn't take kindly to this. Brian Jean, former Wildrose Party leader, took to social media with a proposal: "Fine. There is no social acceptability in Alberta for any Quebec product whatsoever. Let the boycott begin."



There was then talk of Alberta saying no to Quebec dairy products. "Quebec supplied $445 million of milk, cheese, butter and ice cream to Alberta in 2015," Postmedia columnist Tristin Hopper explained in a recent column. "Alberta dairy farmers also make those products, but they're still selling only about $275 million in their home province."



Who knows what economic clout a boycott would carry. it'll likely be more of a symbol, like how some Americans renamed French fries "Freedom fries" to scold France for their lacklustre support during the war on terror.



Still, talk of a boycott is a powerful symbol because it underscores how frustrated so many Albertans are at the lack of support they're getting from their fellow countrymen.



United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney spoke to this big picture in a series of social media posts.



"We are proud to share some of our wealth when times are good in Alberta and bad elsewhere," Kenney posted to Twitter. "But today the opposite is true.



All we ask is that parts of the country that benefit from wealth generated from Alberta resources allow us to develop and sell those resources at a fair price.



"it is not acceptable for a province to block our resources while benefiting massively from the wealth they generate," Kenney continued.



This all happened while Quebec, which has a budget surplus, is receiving a boost of $1.4 billion in equalization payments while deficit-laden Alberta still isn't allowed to build pipelines.



"Equalization does not work for Alberta," Alberta's Finance Minister



Joe Ceci said bluntly on Monday.



Quebec needs to rethink their attitude because what shouldn't be socially acceptable right now is abandoning Alberta.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't Quebec's budget surplus be deducted from any equalization payments they receive.

[Anonymous]

RESPONSIBLE RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT — WHAT A CONCEPT!



Isn't it great to see so many First Nations in B.C. and Alberta lining up in support of responsible resource development, arguing that recent federal government and appeal court decisions are denying them the right to a better standard of life? How will the feds argue in court that it's okay to allow LNG tankers and other huge ships in and out of B.C. ports, but not oil tankers?



I love the argument that a trans-b.c. oil pipeline and corridor is fine ... as long as it is owned and operated by a First Nations partnership. If they can it done, go at 'er!