Posted on 12/15/2002 1:26:39 PM PST by Clive
Premier Ralph Klein expects an uprising on the right to lead a charge for Alberta's separation from Canada.
"There are enough people who are frustrated to form a political party, but I just don't know what they are going to do, other than to mount a movement for separation," Klein told The Sun. "And yes, I am concerned about it."
Voices in favour of Alberta leaving Canada are rising, the premier said.
"I know there are people out there who want to separate. I was listening to a radio show just the other day and there was caller after caller saying, 'We should separate. We've had enough.
" 'We're being ignored, we don't count in Canada. Not only as it relates to Kyoto but the Canadian Wheat Board, gun registration, senate reform, you name it. All we do is give and give and get nothing back,' " Klein said. "I understand that frustration, and I feel the same way. But there's still hope."
Movement by Ottawa on Alberta's continuing complaints is needed, the premier said, or even some provincial Tory supporters will turn their backs on the party because it hasn't had any effect.
Alan Cruikshank, deputy leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party, said Klein is dead right.
"We are trying as a party to keep our noses clean - we haven't taken any position on separation. But we are finding that many of our members are supportive of independence," Cruikshank said.
And, he added, a burgeoning movement in that direction may not be a bad thing.
"In the past, parties that have taken a more extreme position than the Tories on things like separation have often caused the central government to take more notice of Alberta's needs. It indirectly results in a way Albertans can apply political leverage."
Peter McCormick, a political scientist at the University of Lethbridge, said it's unlikely a separatist party would have much success in Alberta's current political climate.
McCormick said the Canadian Alliance on the federal scene and the Progressive Conservatives on the provincial scene both have had recent successes.
"Why would you go for another political party?" McCormick asked.
The Alliance has had the cost of the gun control registry revealed in the House of Commons, while the Alberta PCs have kept fighting the ratification of the Kyoto accord.
"It's the easiest thing on earth to form a political party. It's the hardest thing on earth to get enough votes," said McCormick.
McCormick said it never hurts in a province to have a separatist vein, even with "vague threats" of leaving Confederation, to make other governments take you more seriously.
"It's less likely we would be taken for granted," he said.
I saw it on the History Channel. Whether it is true or not is another issue, but they had it there, and said it was CIA, not the Canadians. Either way, it was good they got out, no matter who did it.
I love Canada, it is my second home. but I don't think many appreciate how deep the hatred of America among much of the Canadian population is. There would be consiterable violence, not to mention 30 million more democratic voters.
I don't think there is any real possibility of even Quebec leaving Canada, as for Alberta it is even less likely. and although Canada is independant, England wouldn't tollerate it,
Kyoto isn't popular, but it has become an article of faith to the 3rd term Canadian prime minister who after 10 years in office still hasn't been able to come up with a legacy, his Liberal heir Paul Martin has suggested to the oil industry that Kyoto is good as dead.
Quebec periodically votes on secession. It almost passsed once, if I'm not mistaken.
Vancouver is almost as bad as San Fransisco these days, although there is no stream of human waste going down every street yet
If any province is Massachusetts North, it is Nova Scotia, not Ontario.
Ontario voted Conservative in its last 2 elections, supported by federal Reformers who had left the federal Progressive Conservative Party, leaving the "Progressive" or "Red Tory" wing behind.
Ontario tends to vote Liberal federally and Conservative provincially, although it will occasionally vote Conservative federally and Liberal provincially. (Strategic voting is more important in a multi-party system than it is in a two-party system like the US.)
Our problem is that the conservatives are not cohesive and the federal Liberal Party has managed to hold sway by shifting its centre of gravity to the left or right to accomodate contemporary wisdon. The federal Lberal Party is not truly liberal and the Progressive Conservative Party is not truly conservative.
Unlike the US, the provincial and federal parties are different organizations, so a Canadian might be a Progressive Conservative provincially and a liveral federally.
Canada is a confederation, not a federation as is the US and as such there is more autonomy in the provinces than in the US states, (i.e. less centralization, although this is changing toward US style centralization)
The Democrats would fear an independent minded voter base that is hostile to their socialist agenda. Might wreak havoc in the Senate too, from their viewpoint.
The Republicans might not be too thrilled either. They might be faced with a State that is controlled by a third party. A third party which might be very attractive to many in the GOP base.
If you don't support it, in most of the country you don't stand a chance.
Even Alberta which is the most free-market oriented when it comes to healthcare is still solidly socialist
Over the course of the 20th Century starting in about 1903 there was a steady stream of American immigration.
From about 1903 till the early 20's there was a wave of farmers and ranchers from Oklaholma and Ohio, then after the war till the mid-60's there was a large wave of Texans who moved to Alberta to work in the oil patch, in the 80's there was a massive wave from Boston, New York, Chicago and Houston as Calgary began to develop as an economic center.
And again in the 90's there was another wave from Texas, (of which I was a part)
I would estimate that atleast 60% of native born Calgarians are probably "american pedigree" if you like
Is it mostly from jealousy?
And how would that change if they became the 51st state?
Whoever he is.
I don't think his opinion matters. Klein's words speak volumes.
Good luck to the people of Alberta if they try to pull this off.
Very true. Oddly, most Canucks don't have any idea how big the implications were of the Arrow cancellation, and at a similar time the abandonment of the BOMARK missle program (that would have made Canada a nuclear power). We lost our best and brightest to the U.S. efforts. Good thing at least that they had a place on our side to go.
What's the most frustrating thing to me and other Canucks of my ilk is the knowledge of what we could do as a nation if we weren't governed by such incompetants. I'm not in a rant mood tomight so I won't get deeply into it, but what hair we have that isn't going grey is rapidly getting torn out due to aggravation.
Chretien must go. He's damaging us in serious ways.
I well imagine the voting in Canada would look a lot like that 2000 election map that was done by counties.
The devastating "Cows Don't Vote" decision by the US Supremes, 45 years ago, has caused wide spread taxation with severe under-representation in rural America. If that ruling were applied to the federal legislature the way it has unbalanced those of the states, 7 western states would be represented in the US Senate by only 1 US Senator!!!
No
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