With the reelection of Justin Trudeau, Alberta is humming with talk of western alienation and western independence. Last week, I wrote that the discussion reminded me of the Charlie Pride country song where he says: ‘The easy part is saying you are leaving. The hard part is leaving and saying good bye.’.Last weekend, 400 concerned Canadians met in Red Deer at an Essentials of Freedom conference to discuss ‘The Hard Part: The future of our country or possibly of our two countries.”.As a starting point we agreed that: The status quo has to go and that there are only two possible options: 1. Independence or 2. Fixing Federalism..At the beginning of the meeting we did an online poll regarding support for independence. The results were: Independence 57.1 % Undecided 31.6% and Stay 11.3%. At the end of the meeting the results were Independence 49.5% Undecided 25.8% and Stay 24.7% .Several comments: Maxime Bernier gave an eloquent, informative and passionate defence of federalism (note that Andrew Scheer was invited but did not attend) along with several other speakers who articulated detailed plans to address many of our major concerns/irritants. .In fairness to our ‘”Independence’ presenters, they did not get to rebut the ‘Defenders’ after their presentations..In any event, it is clear that there are two nearly equal groups with respect to future options. However, we were all in agreement that the sentiment in the West is such that this/these issues must be resolved sooner rather than later..Our group commends Premier Kenney for pursuing what is commonly known as Alberta’s firewall agenda, which is absolutely necessary irrespective of which of the two possible outcomes Albertans ultimately choose. .Our group also believes that we should set a date for a ‘vote on independence’ in order that both sides understand clearly when a decision concerning our provinces future will be made. .We believe that we should set a date sometime between May of 2020 and November of 2021. .In the interim, the soveriegntists can, in Ezra Levant’s words: Put some ‘meat on the bones’ of their plan as they strive to convince voters that they have the ability to create and build a thriving new country. .As a group, we also agreed that ‘good faith’ steps in defence of federalism must include:.Renegotiation of equalization to create fairness for every province. Repeal of Bill 48: the tanker ban. Green light of Northern Gateway and Energy East and repeal of the anti-pipeline legislation: Bill 69. Complete TMX and get the oil flowing.A commitment to exit the Paris Agreement..With regard to Defending Federalism, Dr. Patrick Moore explained very clearly that the Paris Agreement is a wealth distribution scheme based on faulty science and flawed economics and that our energy sector can not expect foreign investment in our fossil fuel industries until our country has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. .Setting an agenda for Alberta and charting our future, in the words of one of our supporters, “will be a long , difficult path, as well as an honourable and absolutely necessary path. We must travel this path, not with anger, but with steely eyed determination, and singleness of purpose.”.Danny Hozack is the President of the Economic Education Association and primary organizer of the Freedom Talks Conference
With the reelection of Justin Trudeau, Alberta is humming with talk of western alienation and western independence. Last week, I wrote that the discussion reminded me of the Charlie Pride country song where he says: ‘The easy part is saying you are leaving. The hard part is leaving and saying good bye.’.Last weekend, 400 concerned Canadians met in Red Deer at an Essentials of Freedom conference to discuss ‘The Hard Part: The future of our country or possibly of our two countries.”.As a starting point we agreed that: The status quo has to go and that there are only two possible options: 1. Independence or 2. Fixing Federalism..At the beginning of the meeting we did an online poll regarding support for independence. The results were: Independence 57.1 % Undecided 31.6% and Stay 11.3%. At the end of the meeting the results were Independence 49.5% Undecided 25.8% and Stay 24.7% .Several comments: Maxime Bernier gave an eloquent, informative and passionate defence of federalism (note that Andrew Scheer was invited but did not attend) along with several other speakers who articulated detailed plans to address many of our major concerns/irritants. .In fairness to our ‘”Independence’ presenters, they did not get to rebut the ‘Defenders’ after their presentations..In any event, it is clear that there are two nearly equal groups with respect to future options. However, we were all in agreement that the sentiment in the West is such that this/these issues must be resolved sooner rather than later..Our group commends Premier Kenney for pursuing what is commonly known as Alberta’s firewall agenda, which is absolutely necessary irrespective of which of the two possible outcomes Albertans ultimately choose. .Our group also believes that we should set a date for a ‘vote on independence’ in order that both sides understand clearly when a decision concerning our provinces future will be made. .We believe that we should set a date sometime between May of 2020 and November of 2021. .In the interim, the soveriegntists can, in Ezra Levant’s words: Put some ‘meat on the bones’ of their plan as they strive to convince voters that they have the ability to create and build a thriving new country. .As a group, we also agreed that ‘good faith’ steps in defence of federalism must include:.Renegotiation of equalization to create fairness for every province. Repeal of Bill 48: the tanker ban. Green light of Northern Gateway and Energy East and repeal of the anti-pipeline legislation: Bill 69. Complete TMX and get the oil flowing.A commitment to exit the Paris Agreement..With regard to Defending Federalism, Dr. Patrick Moore explained very clearly that the Paris Agreement is a wealth distribution scheme based on faulty science and flawed economics and that our energy sector can not expect foreign investment in our fossil fuel industries until our country has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. .Setting an agenda for Alberta and charting our future, in the words of one of our supporters, “will be a long , difficult path, as well as an honourable and absolutely necessary path. We must travel this path, not with anger, but with steely eyed determination, and singleness of purpose.”.Danny Hozack is the President of the Economic Education Association and primary organizer of the Freedom Talks Conference
