EDMONTON — Prominent Alberta independence leader Keith Wilson claims federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre correctly identified Alberta's frustrations with Ottawa on Monday, but believes the politician is wrong in saying that the problems can be fixed within the confederation. "He talked about how the grievances that Albertans have are real," said Wilson in a video posted Monday. "He quite properly pointed out how federal policies have been used repeatedly over the decades, whether it was Pierre Elliot Trudeau's National Energy Program or the more recent Trudeau Prime Minister's National Energy Program 2.0.""...and he issued a plea for Albertans and people in other provinces to lock arms to advance the resolution to concerns that Albertans have about whether it really truly makes sense for Alberta to remain a colony of Ottawa." .Wilson's video came after Poilievre delivered a passionate speech in Calgary on Monday, in which he called on Canadians to unite around Alberta and work to address grievances inflicted by federal Liberal governments. "We do not need a different country, Alberta," said Poilevre. "We need different government policies in Ottawa." Wilson believes that, despite correctly acknowledging the frustrations, Poilievre missed the solution to the issue, which, Wilson claims, federalists fail to supply. "He said, in fact, that these reforms that need to be made to bring fairness to Alberta, to allow Albertans and our children to achieve their potential, are easy to achieve," Wilson said. "Well, that's not true. It would require an amendment of the constitution, which the other provinces are not probably going to agree to, if they are given a choice." .Albertans voted to address their longstanding grievance with federal equalization payments in 2021, but their efforts received little to no recognition from Ottawa and other provinces. Wilson and many other Albertans claim Canadians are handcuffed by population disparity, and Ontario and Quebec's dense populace will always lead to them controlling the rest of the country. "Alberta's just have no say," Wilson said. "We're just a colony now.""There is one legal pathway that's constitutionally recognized that would allow Alberta to have a voice. That would allow Alberta to reset its relationship with the rest of Canada, and that's through Alberta becoming independent and voting so in a provincial referendum."He and other Alberta independence advocates believe Alberta has what it needs to succeed outside of Canada, including a robust economy, public institutions and infrastructure. "So, I was encouraged to see that Poilievre came back to Alberta for a day, but it's not an answer for the future," Wilson said. "Independence is the only viable path, and it is a viable path."
