STAY OR GO?: Alberta independence takes centre stage at CSFN Calgary

CALGARY — Should Alberta stay or should it go? That was the question on everyone’s minds during a debate between federalist and independence advocates at the Canada Strong and Free Network’s annual conference in Calgary on Friday.Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney and Elan Harper, the CPC candidate for Calgary Confederation, argued against leaving Canada, with Kenney warning secession could cost Alberta as much as $150 billion and plunge it into years of economic uncertainty and chaos during a debate against independence advocates Derek Fildebrandt and Bruce Pardy..Kenney and Harper spent most of their time in the hot seat, arguing Alberta would be better served pursuing reforms within Confederation along the same lines as Quebec, while Pardy and Fildebrandt maintained that decades of failed attempts at constitutional change have left independence as Alberta’s best option going forward.“This debate is not about independence. Independence is not on the ballot, not yet,” Pardy, a professor of law at Queen’s University, said.“But do you know what is on the ballot? The status quo: Notley, Nenshi, Carney, Kenney, Poilievre, Harper. That's the team, along with the academics, legacy media, CBC, Globe and Mail, the unions, the Aboriginal chiefs, some CEOs of some big companies. This is the political establishment. They do not want you to vote for option two. That's not because option two is a threat to your interests. It's because it is a threat to theirs.”Harper acknowledged Alberta’s grievances but argued that federal policies could change without independence, while Kenney pointed to the province’s economic growth and past successes in challenging federal policies.“The problems Alberta faces today are not the same as those faced many years ago. The country, the economy, and the challenges have changed, but the underlying point remains the same,” Harper said.“I want to be crystal clear today. I am not defending the status quo. Alberta should insist on respect for provincial jurisdiction, exercise the powers that Alberta possesses, and make the case for reform where reform is required.”.Fildebrandt, Western Standard publisher, argued the Canada many Albertans grew up identifying with “is gone,” blasting federal immigration policies and the “self-loathing suicidal empathy that plagues most Western nations.”“Most of the rest of Canada has consigned itself to die comfortably as a globalized, multicultural, fiscal transfer zone,” he said.“[The federal government] open the floodgates of Third World mass migration that is destroying the inheritance passed on to us by our ancestors, and they call us racist when we oppose it. They cheer the use of emergency war powers to violently and unconstitutionally crush a peaceful protest of flag-waving Canadians, many of them Albertans, that were sick of having their freedoms crushed on the altar of COVID hysteria. They were ashamed of the Canadian flag until we raised Alberta's Blue Shield in defiance.”One of the most notable exchanges in the debate came when Pardy was asked what independence supporters would do if Ottawa refused to negotiate Alberta’s departure.He replied that a unilateral declaration of independence could be an option, citing the Supreme Court’s 1998 ruling on Quebec secession.“The Supreme Court says there is no unilateral right to secede, and it also says there is no unilateral right to stop,” Pardy said.“You pass a referendum on independence on a clear question with a clear majority. You then have a mandate to negotiate your departure, and the government of Canada has an obligation to negotiate your departure all in good faith.”Kenney rejected the argument, saying that Alberta’s economic growth, recent agreements with Ottawa on energy, including the Pacific Link pipeline, and the Carney government'’s repeal of multiple “bad laws” are signs that Alberta is heading in the right direction.“[The independence movement would be] making the decision for a huge rupture, an enormous risk that will throw us into years of uncertainty, investor uncertainty, the outflow of capital, of people,” Kenney said, adding that disputes over indigenous treaty rights could also have serious consequences, including triggering road and rail blockades.“That would be kryptonite for future investment.”.‘UNINSPIRING’: Poilievre's anti-independence speech draws mixed reactions from Alberta conservatives.The opposing sides also clashed over the practical consequences of independence, including currency and the division of the national debt.“Ottawa needs our money a hell of a lot more than we need theirs,” Fildebrandt said, adding that Alberta would have considerable leverage in negotiations with Ottawa due to its economic contributions.Harper, meanwhile, warned that continuing to use the Canadian dollar after independence would leave Alberta without influence over monetary policy.“We would then have no say with the Bank of Canada,” she said.“We would be at the mercy of another sovereign nation.”The panel also debated the political consequences of a failed independence referendum, with Fildebrandt saying independence supporters should respect a convincing federalist victory but rejecting suggestions they should be removed from the United Conservative Party (UCP), something Kenney has recently suggested.Kenney said that if the independence side loses the referendum and around half of UCP voters back the leave option, they should “respect democracy” and “understand that if they continue push the separatist agenda, what they're going to do is — perhaps for a generation — divide the conservative movement here in its heartland in Alberta.”“The vast majority of traditional conservative voters and mainstream Alberta voters do not want to end up locked into a permanent political civil war arguing with their neighbours instead of focusing on growing and building and moving forward,” he said.“They don't wanna stare in the rear view mirror.”Fildebrandt agreed that the independence side should respect the results of the referendum regardless of the outcome, but argued that the federalist side of the UCP “is in no position to expel independence supporters.”“Unity for the UCP is hard-fought, and it shouldn't be given away that easily,” he said.

STAY OR GO?: Alberta independence takes centre stage at CSFN Calgary

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