EDMONTON — Federalist advocate and Forever Canadian campaign organizer Thomas Lukaszuk has conceded that some of the pain points raised by Alberta independence supporters are valid and need to be addressed, but he firmly believes that leaving Canada is not the solution. "You know, my analogy is like having a leaky pipe in your house, and you say, 'That's it, I'm knocking down the house,'" said Lukaszuk on the latest episode of The OShow with Laura Babcock. "Well, no, the pipe can be fixed.""So there are issues. Some of the issues that they are raising are very difficult to fix, and both Conservative and Liberal governments federally, I think, had good intentions to address those issues in the past, but never managed to, for the fear that if you open up that Pandora's box, you will actually end up creating more new problems.".He said Albertans need to abandon the sense of tribalism surrounding the Alberta independence debate, and realize that constructive conversations can be had and both sides can make a valid argument.Lukaszuk sees different levels of supporters for Alberta independence, saying some are hardcore and others are soft. "You know, the hardcore are the guys who are running around the highways with flags, and it's very difficult to have a conversation with them, and they're somewhere around 15% of Albertans," Lukaszuk said. "But the softcore separatists, you know, those are very reasonable people, and they may be sort of now hedging on the side of separatism, but we can have a good conversation with them, and often they bring up good points."Lukaszuk claimed he is considering writing an opinion letter to recognize and acknowledge the "valid points" that need to be addressed between Alberta and Ottawa. Pointing to the issue of equalization, Lukaszuk said there is an imbalance, specifically between Alberta and Quebec, that needs to be addressed, but those issues should be tackled between the Premiers and around the First Ministers' tables. .Lukaszuk also addressed a recent National Post article entitled "Separation speed bump: Negotiating with First Nations." "Speed bumps are designed to slow you down, but you get over them, and you still proceed, right?" Lukaszuk said. "I see treaties as a dead-end street sign."He believes that wording matters, and during a time of volatility, it should be chosen with intent and careful consideration of the message it conveys. "And I know also that headlines are not written by the author of the article; there are separate people writing headlines," Lukaszuk said. "But the thing is, the National Post is doing this on purpose. You know, that's where they get their ideological spin.""Even if the article doesn't support the headline, they like to do the headline, because most people only read the headlines, you know. So that's a bit of a media trick.".Lukaszuk also discussed how the Alberta independence debate is affecting the economy, and the buisness reports that it is having a negative impact. He claimed Montreal was the cultural and economic capital of Canada prior to Quebec's previous independence movement. "If you went anywhere outside of Canada and asked anybody to name one city in Canada, they would have said, Montreal first," Lukaszuk said. "That's no longer, Toronto is, and it's no longer because of the fact you know that separatism caused so much economic and social damage within the province of Quebec, the same thing is starting to happen in Alberta."He believes it is not only scaring away investors, but also people. "You know, anybody with a good education is fleeing the United States, and a lot of them are coming up north to Canada. Will they come to Alberta?" Lukaszuk said. "No, we'd love to have some of these researches, innovators, professors and others coming to Alberta. But if they look at Ontario and Alberta, we're talking of separatism. We have a major political turmoil here; Ontario doesn't. Might as well go to Ontario."
