Justin Trudeau boiled the pot. Jason Kenney put a lid on it. But a rural county council 30 minutes east of Calgary just cracked the lid open..Without any MLAs in the Alberta Legislature speaking openly on the issue, councillors in Wheatland County near Strathmore voted on Tuesday morning to adopt a resolution laying out a series of demands that Alberta should make to Ottawa – that if rejected – should trigger a referendum on independence on Oct. 18, 2021. If that comes to pass, my own birthday would also be that of the Republic of Alberta. .The resolution’s demands to Ottawa read like the Alberta Agenda, or “Firewall Letter” as it’s called by its detractors. They include Senate reform, ending Equalization, guaranteed market access and free trade. They also call on the Alberta government to replace the RCMP with its own police force, and replace the CPP with an Alberta pension plan. These demands are no longer the stuff of the hard-right, Alberta first fringe, but are broadly supported by the mainstream centre of Alberta politics, if not in any of its major parties. Openly at least. .But unlike the traditional Reformers or “Firewallers,” the county said that unless Ottawa accepts these demands, Alberta should hold a referendum on independence, following the formula laid down in the federal Clarity Act of 2000. This may put them at odds with hardline sovereigntists who want to skip the olive branch step and go straight to a vote on independence, but it is more likely to gain traction with mainstream voters. .The county councillor that put the motion forward is Jason Wilson. Wilson was a Kenney delegate to the 2017 PC leadership convention, and holds memberships in Alberta’s United Conservative Party and Freedom Conservative Party, and campaigned for his fellow councillor Tom Ikert, who ran for the People’s Party in the federal election. . FILDEBRANDT: Rebel county’s end-run around the legislature forces the independence questionWheatland County Councillor Jason Wilson .Josh Andrus of Project Confederation has reworked Harper’s 2000 Alberta Agenda for an updated 2019 version, calling for a more sovereign Alberta..“This is the kind of leadership Albertans need to be seeing from their elected officials.”.Andrus said that his organization will help to mobilize other municipalities to adopt the resolution. .Wheatland County’s move marks the first official governing body in Alberta to put the big question on the agenda, and is a curious tactic at getting around the big establishment parties in Edmonton. .The NDP will have nothing to do with the issue, but independence has the potential to tear at the fabric holding Kenney’s UCP together. Kenney has been clear that he is a committed federalist and won’t go down that road, but he has MLAs sympathetic to independence sitting in his caucus, and certainly a great many party members at the grassroots level. It’s unlikely that Tory MLAs would be allowed to speak openly on the topic without getting tossed from caucus. As a result, growing sovereigntist sentiment is not currently reflected in Alberta’s governing body..The county’s decision to end-run the legislature forces the issue onto the agenda. The resolution will now go to the three regional meetings of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), and potentially to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA). Local politicians may not have envisioned themselves debating independence six months ago, but that is the position they find themselves in today. Even if the two municipal groups fail to support the resolution, it’s debate in the open by elected officials makes the issue impossible to ignore. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .As local politicians begin to take sides, it will become increasingly difficult for provincial politicians to ignore. If what happened in Wheatland begins to happen in other counties, UCP MLAs may begin to feel the heat. .If these MLAs speak openly in the media and in the legislature, or keep it bottled up in the caucus room, remains to be seen.
Justin Trudeau boiled the pot. Jason Kenney put a lid on it. But a rural county council 30 minutes east of Calgary just cracked the lid open..Without any MLAs in the Alberta Legislature speaking openly on the issue, councillors in Wheatland County near Strathmore voted on Tuesday morning to adopt a resolution laying out a series of demands that Alberta should make to Ottawa – that if rejected – should trigger a referendum on independence on Oct. 18, 2021. If that comes to pass, my own birthday would also be that of the Republic of Alberta. .The resolution’s demands to Ottawa read like the Alberta Agenda, or “Firewall Letter” as it’s called by its detractors. They include Senate reform, ending Equalization, guaranteed market access and free trade. They also call on the Alberta government to replace the RCMP with its own police force, and replace the CPP with an Alberta pension plan. These demands are no longer the stuff of the hard-right, Alberta first fringe, but are broadly supported by the mainstream centre of Alberta politics, if not in any of its major parties. Openly at least. .But unlike the traditional Reformers or “Firewallers,” the county said that unless Ottawa accepts these demands, Alberta should hold a referendum on independence, following the formula laid down in the federal Clarity Act of 2000. This may put them at odds with hardline sovereigntists who want to skip the olive branch step and go straight to a vote on independence, but it is more likely to gain traction with mainstream voters. .The county councillor that put the motion forward is Jason Wilson. Wilson was a Kenney delegate to the 2017 PC leadership convention, and holds memberships in Alberta’s United Conservative Party and Freedom Conservative Party, and campaigned for his fellow councillor Tom Ikert, who ran for the People’s Party in the federal election. . FILDEBRANDT: Rebel county’s end-run around the legislature forces the independence questionWheatland County Councillor Jason Wilson .Josh Andrus of Project Confederation has reworked Harper’s 2000 Alberta Agenda for an updated 2019 version, calling for a more sovereign Alberta..“This is the kind of leadership Albertans need to be seeing from their elected officials.”.Andrus said that his organization will help to mobilize other municipalities to adopt the resolution. .Wheatland County’s move marks the first official governing body in Alberta to put the big question on the agenda, and is a curious tactic at getting around the big establishment parties in Edmonton. .The NDP will have nothing to do with the issue, but independence has the potential to tear at the fabric holding Kenney’s UCP together. Kenney has been clear that he is a committed federalist and won’t go down that road, but he has MLAs sympathetic to independence sitting in his caucus, and certainly a great many party members at the grassroots level. It’s unlikely that Tory MLAs would be allowed to speak openly on the topic without getting tossed from caucus. As a result, growing sovereigntist sentiment is not currently reflected in Alberta’s governing body..The county’s decision to end-run the legislature forces the issue onto the agenda. The resolution will now go to the three regional meetings of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), and potentially to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA). Local politicians may not have envisioned themselves debating independence six months ago, but that is the position they find themselves in today. Even if the two municipal groups fail to support the resolution, it’s debate in the open by elected officials makes the issue impossible to ignore. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .As local politicians begin to take sides, it will become increasingly difficult for provincial politicians to ignore. If what happened in Wheatland begins to happen in other counties, UCP MLAs may begin to feel the heat. .If these MLAs speak openly in the media and in the legislature, or keep it bottled up in the caucus room, remains to be seen.
