EDMONTON — Podcast host and former policy advisor under Prime Minister Paul Martin, David Herle, said Alberta independence supporters need to realize that Alberta cannot survive on its own, and claims the grass in an American Alberta would not be greener than it is in Canada. "It's crazy," said Herle on Wednesday's episode of The Herle Burly show. "There's no independent Alberta, right? This little landlocked area sitting there in the middle of the continent, they're either part of Canada, or they're part of the United States, and they need to get their heads around that.""That's the reality, and if they think North Dakota, if they think they're neglected now, they should ask North Dakota, but that's a different matter.".Herle's comments came during an interview with former federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault after the latter said he does not understand how an independent Alberta would have more success exporting its oil than in Canada. "This idea that you can be in Alberta, you can separate, and somehow you're going to have an easier time building a pipeline to tidewater when you don't have direct access to tidewater as a nation, as opposed to being part of a nation, as a foreign nation, is difficult for me to comprehend, but you hear that," said Guilbeault. A Leger poll conducted between May 29 and June 1 revealed that 21% of respondents supported leaving Canada, including 15% who wanted an independent Alberta and 6% who supported becoming the 51 state. .Alberta independence advocates have argued that oil would flow through the same route that the majority of it already travels. "We have the largest economy in the world that we can sell into, that we're culturally aligned with, that wants to see us succeed," said Alberta independence advocate Keith Wilson during a debate with federalist and former Alberta premier, Jason Kenney. "Wants to see us succeed.""Donald Trump has advanced more pipeline projects that benefit Alberta than Mark Carney or the Liberals ever have. Those are the facts. So the real issue is not whether Alberta is landlocked, but why Alberta should stay constrained by policies imposed either from within the province or by Ottawa."Kenney said Alberta having an easier time exporting oil through the U.S. is unlikely. "Have you checked the regulations on shipping heavy oil out of the blue states of Oregon, Washington, and California?" said Kenney. "I'm sorry, not possible." Premier Danielle Smith, who supports Alberta remaining in Canada, has said an independent Alberta would need to negotiate new trade with countries.
