When asked to choose between Ottawa and Washington, most Albertans would select Calgary.
No Kidding. He's confusing a lot of things and doesn't know much about what he's writing about.
I suspect he's setting the reader up for his second article. Where he proves it.
That could very well be. It's hard to think why they'd want to change the external tax collector if they could survive without one. Those provinces that can stand on their own probably will. Those that feel they need a sponsor or protector or benefactor, like the Maritimes or the other prarie provinces, will seek one. It's possible that "Canada" will survive its dissolution as a much looser federation, minus Quebec and the subsidies of the less prosperous provinces -- a "commonwealth of independent states" tied into NAFTA.
If the trend is towards smaller countries tied together in pacts, alliances and common markets it's hard to see why Albertans would make an exception just for us. If it were just a question of the US versus Canada, there might be some support for joining us, but the independence option is likely to be stronger, all other things (defense, trade, freedom of movement) being equal.
If anything, Alberta is probably more strongly opposed to joining the U.S. than any other Canadian province is.
Could be. Oil does tend to produce a desire for independence, as it did in Scotland and, in a different way, Norway. And you can't expect those whose sentiments make them critical of government intervention to fall in behind one of the world's largest and most powerful governments. You'd know more about it than I would, but they do seem much better disposed to American values than other provinces, so the temptation is to presume that they would like being in our club more than the others.