As the Western Canadian separatist movement Wexit has appointed a former Conservative as leader, its founder is pushing for Alberta to become the 51st state of the U.S.
By Mack Lamoureux
Aug 6 2020, 6:09pmShareTweetSnap
As the Western Canadian separatist movement Wexit becomes more mainstream, the group's founder is hoping to lead disillusioned western Canadians into the waiting arms of Donald Trump and to become the U.S.'s 51st state.
"Just like Wexit wasn't mainstream and now...is mainstream, the American option isn't mainstream but it will be," said Peter Downing, the driving force behind Wexit.
Wexit is a growing movement of conservative western Canadians who want to separate from eastern Canada. The group, built off existing separatist sentiment and western rage, was founded by Downing in early 2019 and has grown to become an actual political entity: it's now a registered party in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan (although in some province's Wexit has changed names and merged with other separatists.
Downing recently resigned as the leader of the official Wexit party in June, making way for Jay Hill, a longtime mainstream Conservative Party politician from 1993 to 2010. The appointment of Hill, who had stints as both the chief Conservative Party whip and the house leader, granted Wexit a new air of legitimacy. It's also allowed Downing to focus on the next stage of his plan.
"Stage 2 is the next logical approach, to touch on what the Liberals and what the eastern Canadian elite fear the most: Alberta secession to the United States," Downing told VICE News. "All the arguments against (Albertan separation)—us being landlocked, losing investment—all those things simply just go away."
"We're looking forward to our Wexodous," he said. He's also launched a website for the "Alberta 51" movement.
