EDMONTON — Alberta independence advocate Tanya Clemens believes Albertans should ask themselves five questions about Alberta and its place in Canada before deciding whether to pursue a binding independence referendum. "I think that we talk lots in economic numbers, and we talk in billions, and things that seem really abstract to us, and it's important to just bring it back to a personal level," said Clemens, the co-chair of "Let Alberta Decide,” to the Western Standard."'How would independence, or how we're continuing on the path we're on right now, affect people in their homes and their communities?' and if you ask those five questions of yourself, I think you'll kind of gage where you sit with them.".Clemens wants Albertans to ask whether Alberta is better now than it was a decade ago, and what they want their children and grandchildren’s Alberta to look like. "I think that every generation of Albertans has worked really hard and created business and developed skills and helped to build this province up, so that the next generation gets to enjoy more than what the previous generation did," Clemens said. "And now we are at this point, where it's being reversed, that the future generation is not going to be as well off as the generation before it, and I don't want that for my kids." .Further, she challenged individuals to ask what happens if Alberta stays in Canada, and whether it is feasible for Alberta to keep contributing to Canada more than it receives. "The certainty of where Canada is headed is far scarier to me than any uncertainty of forming a new nation," Clemens said. Her final question is, "Who should decide Alberta's future?" Clemens has not always supported Alberta independence, but her position began to change when she asked herself the five questions she has challenged Albertans to ask.While working on Pierre Poilievre's prime minister campaign, Clemens learned more about Alberta's place within Canada and how difficult it is to make the changes necessary to improve it..Let Alberta Decide has emerged as one of the leading voices behind the independence movement since Clemens and fellow advocate Keith Wilson launched their "Alberta's Done Waiting" campaign on June 19. Their group is looking to help sway Albertans towards the pro-independence side, starting with a referendum win in October to secure a future binding vote on whether to stay in or leave Canada. Clemens said she hopes Albertans will take steps, such as asking her questions, to cast an informed ballot, even if it is a vote to remain in Canada. "Whether you're in agreement or not in agreement with it right now, it has been decades and decades in the making by the efforts of 1000s and 1000s of people," Clemens said. "I hope it's treated with the respect that it deserves, and that means that people need to go into this vote being educated and willing to cast that vote with some conviction."
