I was born and raised in Alberta, the second-oldest kid in a family of eight kids. By the time No. 8 arrived, I was very independent, due to my parents spending most of their time on the brood behind me.
And that was fine by me.
I embraced my independence. It was freedom, learning about life at my own speed, deciding what I wanted to learn, which was everything.
All my formal schooling was in Alberta.
At age 16, while still in school, I got my first full-time job, the all-night shift on CFCN Radio in Calgary.
Up until then, I hadn’t given politics any thought.
Before I took over the airwaves every night, there was a newsman who read the midnight newscast, with a lot of news about city hall.
That newsman was Ralph Klein, city hall reporter.
My first night on the job, Klein said, “Hey kid, you want a beer?”
Making as if I were a worldly 16-year-old, I said yes, this before cold beer off-sales existed, and Klein’s dozen bottles of Labatt’s Blue had spent hours in the trunk of his car.
That night was my introduction to warm beer and cold politics, Klein supplying both. He explained the goings-on at city hall, the machinations and the mayhem behind the scenes.
I stayed in touch with Ralph through his time as the mayor of Calgary, premier of Alberta, and his signature slogan: ‘Let those eastern bastards freeze in the dark.’
Ralph was fervently an Albertan, never backing down from a fight, especially anyone attacking the province, its people, or its resources. He learned a lot about political maneuvering while at city hall and turned that into a strength once he jumped into the world of politics full-time.
Sure, he had his weak points, but none were stronger than his ability to overcome.
Ralph’s influence informed my views of politics, especially the differing political viewpoints across the country.
I have been through most of Canada, from BC to Quebec (sorry, Maritimes, I hear you are amazing and sorry, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, you’re too far north), so I‘ve learned most Canadians are most informed by the part of the country in which they live.
And it was under the reign of terror of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (War Measures Act) that I realized Alberta, even before it became a province in 1905, had been given a bad deal from Central Canada.
My independence kicked in, and when people asked where I was from, I started saying, “Calgary first, Alberta second, and Canada third, but it’s on the trading block.”
And then, ten years of Trudeau Jr.
Scandal after scandal.
Worse was how Junior handled COVID, boot-stomping democracy, freezing bank accounts, and locking down Canadians.
And worst of all: turning a legal and peaceful demonstration into a crime scene, and invoking the Emergencies Act (another way of spelling War Measures Act).
Yes, the Freedom Convoy disrupted traffic and the daily routines of people in Ottawa (in Calgary, we call it Stampede Week), but Junior mishandled the convoy like the greenhorn he was and is, hiding out at 24 Sussex Drive.
When a country that supposedly embraces democracy stifles the rights and freedoms of its citizens, it’s time to leave.
Yes, my grievances have grown over the years, and just recently, the news broke that a tanker, filled with liquid natural gas (LNG), sailed from Australia to Saint John, NB.
An AI search found it was because of weak demand in Asian markets, high prices in the Atlantic basin, and "structural limitations within Canada that prevent Western Canadian gas from reaching the East Coast."
Alberta has massive natural gas reserves of up to 130 trillion cubic feet of proven, recoverable, conventional, and unconventional gas. That’s enough to meet Canadian demand for the next 200 years.
The irony is that the feds are losing money (a cost to Canadians) by preventing Alberta’s LNG from being piped to the East Coast.
That’s infidelity. It’s an abusive relationship. That's grounds for divorce.
The ‘structural limitations’ are a tangled web of bureaucracy, First Nations ‘rights,’ Liberal governments, and climate fanatics.
Why would Alberta want to stay in Canada when the country keeps the province’s resources underground? And anti-independence activists wonder how Alberta could survive financially.
We don’t hate Canadians, nor do we hate the country.
We’re fed up with the system. No other province or territory sends more money to Ottawa and gets less in return. We’re tired of being the country’s ATM.
Alberta wants and deserves a better deal. No more intrusion, but rather respect, from the federal government.
It’s time, perhaps, to resurrect Ralph’s signature slogan.
