Where Alberta only feels they are close with Saskatchewan. We need to phase them out. I know my values very well, even if I no longer recognized Canada.. So I suppose its not surprising that a convoy that left Alberta as a protest about pipelines arrived in Ottawa as a white nationalist vanguard. But an angry Twitter outburst aimed at Newfoundlanders because they voted for Liberals? That's a matter of political debate. Naturally, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all stuck together, with Alberta and Saskatchewan seeing the closest bond of all provinces at 75% and 77% of respondents viewing the other province as especially close. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. The big difference between 1980 and today is that Alberta is a much larger player in the Canadian economy and in our national life than it was then. That assumption emerged from Quebec's past attempts at an independence referendum. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. In 2012, he said on Radio-Canada: I always say, if there came a point where I thought Canada really was Stephen Harpers Canadathat we were against abortion, against gay marriage, that we went backwards in 10,000 different waysmaybe Id consider making Quebec a country. Alberta calls Ontario the "center of the universe" then proceeds to claim its the entire driver of the Canadian . Through propaganda, many Albertans have come to see oil as part of their identities and it has led them to resist the diversification of their economy and adequate social safety nets, which is creating a feedback loop where the higher the unemployment and the worse their economic woes are, the more they blame liberals/leftists, the federal Finance Canada recently completed a review of Equalization but the government refused to make any substantive changes to the formula. Friday's letters: Why do Albertans need assault weapons? Since moving I quickly realized that Albertans are far less friendly than Ontarians. Now, it does not surprise me in the least that blue collar truckers and patch workers would hold views toward matters like asylum-seekers that would not earn them a warm welcome at a cocktail party in the Annex. Given its ugly far-right antecedents, and the lack of any plausible path toward creating a land-locked prairie state, its hard to know whether western separatism is going to remain the sort of thing that more serious people will only discuss sub rosa. Facebook. Albertans were the largest proponent to their province getting the short end of the stick by being a part of the country though both Ontario and Saskatchewan thought the same about their own home turf. He sees the program as transferring revenue from Alberta taxpayers to governments in other provinces. We arrived in Calgary well after the devastation of the National Energy Program, but we heard our friends' stories of lost jobs, lost houses and lives lost to suicide. I dont know if this separatist sentiment in AlbertaWexit, if we mustis something to worry about. To make matters worse, 53% of the Canadians in the study believe that Quebec takes more than it gives to the Confederation. November 7, 2019, The baseball caps were sold to the side of the rally at the Boot Scootin Boogie Dancehall last Saturday night. But, middle-income Albertans who account for the bulk of the population pay more than those in Ontario and B.C. I really believe at heart most Albertans are patriots, he said in a press conference delivered the day after the federal election. The differences are largely aesthetic and emotional. That and more apparently qualifies me in the eyes of friends and family to explain Alberta. It was a move that produced nothing but recrimination. It will take at least that much to contain Alberta alienation after this election outcome. Alberta, they explain, just should have voted for a Liberal party that hates it. It may follow the doomed and creepily fascistic, Western Canada Concept led by lawyer Doug Christie, who made a name for himself in the 80s by defending anti-semites and neo-Nazis. Pro-pipeline protesters outside a venue where Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau was speaking in 2018 (Jeff McIntosh/CP). And it should have sufficient funds say, $500 million a year to make an impact on the ground in that province. All was forgiven and forgotten. Even Facebook online. The only headquarters this government is passionate about preserving are the ones named SNC and located in Montreal, apparently. In this case, the Angus Reid Institute found that the most disliked province was none other than Quebec. It isnt calling for a values test for new immigrants. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. If we want to discuss politics, that's another situation altogether. This was the first year that the "flat tax" no longer applied in Alberta, but the progressive tax rates didn't escalate as quickly then as they do now. DATA NERD. I feel like people in Qubec do not like the rest of Canada, especially Albertans. But it may also provide a pressure valve for separtist sentiment. The differences in fiscal capacities among the provinces have narrowed since that time, yet this escalator has pushed up overall program costs from about $14 billion in 2009 to nearly $19 billion this year. There is a militancy to some of Wexits language and memestalk of civil war, for exampleand pictures of men in full military garb, that could foreshadow something darker and more violent. I have written before about the particular folly of Kenneys promise to hold a referendum on equalization, an exercise that will provide Albertans with little more than theatre. Nor is it shocking that within the crowd were dyed-in-the-wool racists and white nationalists. If Trudeau wants to listen to the grievances of the West, he can pick up the phone and talk to anyone he likes. You are welcome to republish this Policy Options article online and in print periodicals. Click or tap on the tabs below to switch between jurisdictions: In a nutshell, Albertansacross the income spectrum pay less tax on their earnings than people in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. And that's where many people might be surprised about Alberta. The Alberta agency should be headquartered in Calgary, the heart of the provinces business community. But the fact that it gains any traction at all is a telling sign of the fear, frustration and anger in Alberta. Its deputy minister should be a well-respected official who has worked at the senior levels of the Alberta government. While Canada as a whole is a gorgeous country, you'd be lying if you said you didn't have special feelings towards at least one province. Trudeau should make a substantive policy concession to Alberta. It is very much a story of unrequited love in different parts of the country, said Kurl. From racists rooted out in bars in Brooks, Alta., to the the anti-Semitic ramblings of school teacher Jim Keegstra, whose firing helped form Canadas hate speech laws, to the anti-semitism within the early Reform Party, to Stephen Harpers alleged hidden agenda. In October Pierre Trudeaus son Justin was re-elected with a minority government with no seats in the Prairies. Is the Alberta hate as bad in real life as it is on Reddit He did. Off the top, separating from Canada seems like a very bad idea. He joined CBC in 2015 after spending the previous decade working as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba. All of this will be used as proof of the underlying logic of Wexit: that the. and Quebec over pipeline opposition. A case can therefore be made that the escalator should be changed to reduce the growth rate of this implicit transfer from have provinces like Alberta to have not provinces like Quebec. From a purely environmental perspective the arguments used against the oil sands can be deployed against these, too. Its a sign of open disrespecteven war, in some places. All facts for votersto consider, as another debate over income tax looms. More than four in every five Albertans surveyed stated that Quebec was unfriendly towards their province, while views from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and even neighbouringOntario were around the same all at more than 50%. Canadians are seen as friendly people on the international stage, but just how neighbourly are we with our fellow patriots across the country? Its Albertas fault that it has no one at the table in Trudeaus cabinet. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Finally, there's one question that's not random, rare or fantastical: Why do so many Albertans so viscerally loathe Justin Trudeau? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Do you stuff your piggy bank if you dont trust your parents not to knick it? The only difference is that we are cutting the parasite of Eastern Canada off from our necks, Downing continues. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. The top 0.01 per cent, alone, accounted for 5.7 per cent of all the income tax revenue. Daily Hive is a Canadian-born online news source, established in 2008, that creates compelling, hyperlocal content. They ask why it seems like the discussion always has to be a zero-sum game. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. That was enough to attract the support of eight MLAs from the province. It seems like a more benign entity now for being merely opportunistic in its pursuit of an ever-better deal for Quebec. There is an attempt, here, to prise the iron-grip loyalty of the crowd, not just from the country, but from the conservative voting habits that have sustained the province for generations. When regional development agencies were created in the late 1980s, the intent was for them to focus on have-not regions. He left the CBC earlier this year. A new poll released by theAngus Reid Instituteseems to have found the answer to Canada's most disliked province. After spending more than a decade reporting from Alberta, I have to confess that Im tired of trying to explain western alienation to the East. The Trudeaus and western alienation - Policy Options There are various reasons why this approach either won't work or won't suffice this time around. The survey also asked respondents if they thought that there might be one province in the Federation that gets more than they give by being a part of Canada, and the consensus overwhelmingly showed Quebec as that province even from Quebecois themselves. This goes a long way back to the corrupt and irrational politics of Alberta. Chief among them is Trudeau's Senate policy, which is founded upon nonpartisanship in the upper chamber, with no Liberal Senate caucus and no senators in the cabinet. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels. Nearly 40 years ago, in February 1980, Pierre Trudeau won a majority government with two seats in western Canada and none west of Manitoba. We have provincial governments who have got our backwere not isolated. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Were not alone., RELATED:Encana doesnt want to be Canadian anymore, and Trudeau shrugs. Hate hate hate hate. What would happen to Quebec and Canada if Quebec separated? The protestors themselves, patch workers with little experience in political organization or communications, lacked the common sense or discipline to eject such people. This was brought in as part of the "flat tax" system that Klein introduced and has been maintained to this day, with increases for inflation. A national media based primarily in the East seemed to declare the Bloc the only unmitigated winner in this federal election. Confederation is hopelessly broken. What's even more surprising is that 21% of Quebecers actually agree! He's French. Confederation is hopelessly broken. He was an embarrassment to Alberta. Its a sign of open disrespecteven war, in some places. So did Donald Trump. At least, not yet. If he doesnt want to listen, no amount of representation will make a difference. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Read more about cookies here. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Or perhaps you, too, would opt to squander your wealth with, uh, high quality educational and health services and low taxeswhich has been the unwitting economic diversification strategy of Albertan governments since the 90s. The oil price crash that continues to weigh on the economy was no politicians fault. The Green Party will definitely never look after us and now we see the Conservatives dont have our best interests in mind, said rally speaker Ambrose Ralph. The rate increases further, maxing out at 15 per cent on income above $307,547. The green left has been leading a campaign to landlock our energy. Every Canadian Province Agrees That They Hate Quebec, seems to have found the answer to Canada's most disliked province, Canada's Provinces Were Just Ranked From Best To Worst & One Got Serious Flak, Alberta Was Ranked Canada's 2nd Least Favourite Province & Its People Are The Problem, These 9 Maps Divide Canada Differently Including By Who Hates Toronto, Ontario Is One Of The Only Provinces That Feels Respected By Other Canadians, I Live In One Of Canada's Least Favourite Provinces & Here's Why It Doesn't Deserve The Hate, A Surprising Amount Of Albertans Want To Separate From Canada, Canadians Revealed Which Countries Give Them Bad Vibes & 2 Spots Are 'Clearly At The Bottom'. This province continues to offer high quality services and low taxes that keep it in thrall to resource royalties that are long gone and likely never coming back. Just more than one-third of all Canadians believe Alberta gives more than they get to Confederation, while 16 per cent believe Saskatchewan does, too, followed by Atlantic Canada and Ontario, tied at 15 per cent. The indifference of the nation is justified. The top one per cent ofearners paid 31.5 per cent of the total income tax collected in Alberta that year. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. About 178,000 people in Alberta reportedindividual incomes of $150,000 or more in 2015, the most recent year for which detailed data is available. The gap between Alberta and B.C. Quebec is a particular irritant for Kenney because the province receives the largest dollar amount of Equalization and is opposed to pipelines, thus frustrating Albertas efforts to get its oil and gas to markets. from Ottawahe has been lambasted as a politician attempting to stoke that sentiment for his own political gain. Albertans have a way of adopting Central Canadians as "True Albertans" and ignoring and shaming those actually born and raised in Alberta as "not real Albertan". Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. Super Bowl-winning athlete talks football, his medical career and the importance of skin care. But in the end, I tell them, it is a telling example of Albertans' belief that their economic might, their enterprise and their hard work have again been taken for granted by a Liberal government that promised to be different, open and inclusive.
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