Wexit

[Anonymous]

I wondered how long it would take for prairie separatism got the attention of Washington.

Forget Greenland — Trump should offer statehood to these Canadian provinces



President Trump's offer to purchase Greenland from Denmark was front-page news in August, but a better option for expanding the country's geographic footprint would be to offer statehood to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as the interior of British Columbia.



After the final results of the recent Canadian election, there's likely a growing group of Western Canadians who might seriously consider that offer.



With their livelihoods at stake, many Western Canadians may be wondering whether they even belong in Canada anymore. Their concerns are based in the West's well-established distrust of Eastern politicians who claim the right to oversee the development and disposition of Western natural resources. This time, Western separatism comes with the handy hashtag, #Wexit.



If these provinces did seriously push for separation, and they were willing to entertain the invite, the United States would be smart to welcome them with open arms. We'd surely benefit by adding these four stars to the U.S. flag.



That's because the interior of British Columbia and the province of Alberta exhibit the same rough-and-rugged individualism that is found in Montana. Both areas have their roots in mining, forestry, oil and gas and ranching, and they recognize the value of wisely using resources as the engine to drive a strong economy.



A little further east, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have the strong, independent mindset of those in the Great Plains states. Their people, who can withstand the blistering prairie winters, are the ones who produce much of the grains and livestock that feed the rest of the nation.



The United States already is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, but with Alberta, Saskatchewan and northern British Columbia in the fold, we would be completely dominant.



Western Canadians also would benefit greatly from becoming states. In this case, they would be freed from the constraints of Trudeau's carbon tax as well as the need for the U.S. State Department to authorize oil pipelines to their major customers.



Currently, any pipeline that crosses the U.S. border needs State Department approval. But the Obama administration abused that authority by endlessly delaying the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Western Canada.



Removing this regulatory roadblock would be a boon to the energy industry and a significant economic boost to Western Canadian families, who likely feel unappreciated and abused by politicians in Eastern Canada.



Of course, offering statehood is a bit of a stretch. Western Canadian separatism has been bubbling under the surface for decades and hasn't been acted on before. But many in the U.S. recognize that the Western provinces are far more than just cash cows for Ottawa's social welfare and environmental schemes. Urban Canadian areas would do well to do the same.

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/468606-forget-greenland-trump-should-offer-statehood-to-these-canadian">https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-envi ... e-canadian">https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/468606-forget-greenland-trump-should-offer-statehood-to-these-canadian

[Gaon]

I cannot believe what I am witnessing. We will go back to Israel if Canada becomes two nations.

[Anonymous]

I could really get behind an independent Alberta and Saskatchewan if it included Montana, North Dakota and Alaska. Those states will face the same problems we do if an anti oil nutjob like Liz Warren becomes commander in chief.

[Anonymous]

There was a big Alberta independence rally in Edmonton with 700 supporters in attendance.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1786014&playlistId=1.4638110&binId=1.810401&playlistPageNum=1&binPageNum=1">https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=178 ... nPageNum=1">https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1786014&playlistId=1.4638110&binId=1.810401&playlistPageNum=1&binPageNum=1

[Anonymous]

There was a big Alberta independence rally in Edmonton with 700 supporters in attendance.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1786014&playlistId=1.4638110&binId=1.810401&playlistPageNum=1&binPageNum=1">https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=178 ... nPageNum=1">https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1786014&playlistId=1.4638110&binId=1.810401&playlistPageNum=1&binPageNum=1

I have not heard of any rallies here yet. But, in rural Saskatchewan there is a lot of support for an independent prairie Canada.

[Anonymous]

One shot to save confederation

Albertans may disagree on whether or not the ultimate goal should be independence, but there is one common element to this entire equation: the status quo is not acceptable.



Confederation is broken.



That is an undeniable truth that now lies exposed at the bitter end of an election campaign that saw Alberta used as a punching bag by four of the five parties that now comprise membership in the House of Commons.



"We're shutting down the oilsands by 2030," said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.



Jagmeet Singh, leader of a New Democratic Party that lost 15 seats, has vowed to continue to fight against development of the TransMountain pipeline, a vital piece of infrastructure needed for resource development in Alberta and Saskatchewan.



Justin Trudeau – still the Prime Minister – has done more to ignite western alienation with Bill C-69 and C-48 than any other prime minister in recent memory.



And don't forget Yves-Francois Blanchet, leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, who proposed revisions to the equalization system that would further cripple the Western economy, deepening a recession that has left the region reeling.



A plan.



It was almost twenty years ago that six prominent Albertans penned what would become universally known as the 'Firewall Letter'. The letter outlined several key points that would create a semi-autonomous Alberta within confederation.



Twenty years later, none of the suggestions made by Stephen Harper, Ted Morton, Tom Flanagan, Rainer Knopff, Andrew Crooks and Ken Boessenkoel have been put into place.



But the political climate has shifted. Never before has one region become so singularly outcast by the political elites, and Westerners have never been the favoured sons of the Laurentian Elite in Ottawa.  



There are concrete steps that the Alberta government could take immediately in order to wrest power back from Ottawa.



The proposals in Project Confederation's Open Letter to Premier Kenney include three immediate referendum questions: one to abolish Canada's equalization program; another to clarify Section 92 and Section 121 of the Constitution Act – allowing for unrestricted movement of goods, services and infrastructure across provinces. And third, to reform the Senate to include an equal number of elected senators per province while giving the upper chamber effective powers in order to act as a check on any federal government bent on encroaching in provincial jurisdiction.



Also included in the letter are initiatives to collect our own revenue from personal income tax; creating an Alberta Pension Plan and withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan; establishing a provincial police force at earliest convenience; establishing an independent Alberta immigration system (as Quebec has already done); and resuming provincial responsibility for health care, social policy, and infrastructure.



It is time for Albertans to boldly stand up for our own future and seek – as much as possible – to be the masters of our own destiny.



This means resuming control of the powers that we possess under the Constitution of Canada but which we have allowed the federal government to exercise for too long.

https://westernstandardonline.com/2019/11/one-shot-to-save-confederation/?fbclid=IwAR0aw2THNc5WgbacYgZoKvmwlHmwogmSgmFlVM3SyT_2k_D4J3dsTaFK9Iw">https://westernstandardonline.com/2019/ ... 3dsTaFK9Iw">https://westernstandardonline.com/2019/11/one-shot-to-save-confederation/?fbclid=IwAR0aw2THNc5WgbacYgZoKvmwlHmwogmSgmFlVM3SyT_2k_D4J3dsTaFK9Iw



I have been reading anything I can since this latest election which saw four out of five parties campaign against the prairie provinces. Canada could look very different in the future.

[Anonymous]

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.129/dgv.425.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/DgDxQmxV4AAZxsE.png">

[Thiel]

"clarify Section 92 and Section 121 of the Constitution Act – allowing for unrestricted movement of goods, services and infrastructure across provinces"



I don't support prairie separatism. But, I do support much more Western autonomy. The status quo does not work.

[Anonymous]

Alberta separation wouldn't solve problem of landlocked oil: expert



It would be difficult to get products to market if western provinces split from Canada, experts say



International trade experts say it's a pipe dream to think the landlocked oil-producing western provinces would have an easier time getting their product to international markets if they were to split from Canada.



"Wexit" — an apparent play on the word "Brexit" used to describe the United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union — was trending on social media after the Liberals secured a minority government in last week's federal election, but were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan.



Peter Downing, a founder of the western separatist movement that wants a referendum on separation, has said an independent country in the middle of the Prairies could leverage the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to gain coastal pipeline access.



"We have more freedom as an independent country to get our resources to the coast than as part of Canada," he said the day after the election.



"We'll have the best of both worlds: We'll keep our money and we'll have access to the coast."



The UN convention, adopted in 1982, does say that "landlocked states shall enjoy freedom of transit through the territory of transit states by all means of transport."



However, it goes on to say that terms "shall be agreed between the landlocked states and transit states concerned through bilateral, subregional or regional agreements," and that transit states have the right to ensure their "legitimate interests" aren't infringed upon.



"It's not an unqualified right. They can't just say, 'OK, we need to get through here,"' said Silvia Maciunas, a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont.



"They have to talk to the other state, which would be Canada."



The "means of transport" in the convention refers to railways, waterways, roads and even porters and pack animals, but the treaty specifies that landlocked and transit states would have to agree to add pipelines to the list.



Landlocked countries such as Ethiopia and Switzerland have long had agreements to use ports in other countries.



Bolivia, on the other hand, lost its ocean access in a war with Chile in the 1800s and has been fighting to regain it ever since. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled last year that Chile has no obligation to engage in talks with Bolivia.



"Had the court ruled in the favour of Bolivia, Chile would have theoretically been obligated to enter into 'good faith' negotiations, whatever the heck that means," said Carlo Dade, director of the Trade and Investment Centre at the Canada West Foundation.



"You can imagine how that would play out up here if Alberta, Saskatchewan leave ... We've seen enough out of B.C. to know how that would play out," said Dade.



The British Columbia government has resisted, primarily through court actions, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would triple the amount of crude shipped between Alberta and the Lower Mainland.



Add to that there is no real enforcement mechanism through the international court, Dade said.



"The only thing the ICJ gives you is the ability to go from saying, 'Please give us access' to 'Pretty please give us access."'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-separation-calgary-wexit-peter-downing-1.5346219">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.5346219">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-separation-calgary-wexit-peter-downing-1.5346219



Canada would need a damned good reason to block a new landlocked nation from using it's ports.

[Anonymous]

But, the new Western Canadian could block products from reaching BC from the East.

[Anonymous]

I am liking the idea of an independent Western Canada better all the time. I would invite North Dakota, Montana and Alaska to join too. They could be facing the same anti resource madness that we are if Lesbian Warren becomes president.

[Anonymous]

A blueprint for a fair deal with Canada. If not Saskberta is out of here.



https://business.financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-alberta-needs-a-new-deal-fast-or-separation-is-inevitable">https://business.financialpost.com/dian ... inevitable">https://business.financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-alberta-needs-a-new-deal-fast-or-separation-is-inevitable

Alberta must adopt Quebec's playbook and become a "nation" within a nation or threaten to leave. The ballot box does not work and Alberta is Canada's breadwinner, but is treated like a stepchild.



Step one is for Alberta to demand the immediate construction of the TMX pipeline and the scrapping of Bills C-48 and C-69. No delays.



Then Alberta should stage a referendum before Christmas 2019 on opting out of, or revamping, Canada's unjust equalization system. (Since 2010, Ottawa has taken an average of over $20 billion a year out of Alberta; Quebec receives $13 billion, or two-thirds of every dollar in the federal equalization program.) It's a bribe to Quebec with Alberta money which is why Justin Trudeau recently extended the system to 2024 — an extension which should be nullified.



Some say such a referendum won't force renegotiation, but it cannot be ignored either. Referenda have provided Quebec with leverage.



Then Alberta must take steps toward autonomy: Withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan, subsidized heavily by the province due to its high incomes and youthful demographics. Quebec did this in 1966. If Alberta withdrew, its workers and employers would pay half the CPP premiums they now pay and the rest of Canada would have to pay at least 10 per cent more. Alberta would then get tens of billions from its share of the $440-billion CPP fund to invest in new projects.



Alberta should, as Quebec did, take control from the federal government of all tax collection, border control, policing and immigration in return for lower taxes. It should serve notice to Ottawa that it is opting out of any new health and social programs, thus keeping the money in Alberta. (In 2015, the NDP proposed to let Quebec alone do this).



Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba should warn the Trudeau government that punitive carbon taxes on provinces unwilling to go along with their draconian climate change policy, won't be obeyed. This is in their "national interest" and could cost as much as $35 billion a year, bankrupting many of western Canada's industries and farms. Ontario's too.



Next, Alberta must sponsor two projects, initiated by First Nations: One carrying oil by rail or pipeline from the oilsands to Valdez and another carrying oil by pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, then Alaska. Both projects would follow routes pre-approved by local First Nations, bypassing Ottawa's meddling completely. Then Alberta must work with Manitoba to establish a pipeline and oil port in Churchill to ship oil to the east coast or Europe. All projects are viable that Alberta and investors could finance.



Alberta is captive to a system that economically strangles and disenfranchises its enterprising people even though it is, on its own, the fourth largest oil producer in the world — after the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia. Its economy is the same size as Quebec's, and combined with Saskatchewan is nearly 20 per cent bigger. It is Canada's single engine of economic growth now and in the future.



Finally, the Tories should table in Parliament the following for approval which was approved on behalf of Quebec: "That this House recognize that Alberta and Saskatchewan form a nation within a united Canada."



That's what Stephen Harper did for Quebec as prime minister. It's now what Trudeau must do for Alberta and Saskatchewan.



If not, then separation is inevitable.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

I cannot believe what I am witnessing. We will go back to Israel if Canada becomes two nations.

I do not think it will happen at all.

[Anonymous]

I cannot believe what I am witnessing. We will go back to Israel if Canada becomes two nations.

I do not think it will happen at all.

The status quo is no longer an option either.

[Anonymous]

I cannot believe what I am witnessing. We will go back to Israel if Canada becomes two nations.

I do not think it will happen at all.

The status quo is no longer an option either.

The premier of your province said the same.