Quebec and Alberta have seldom held similar visons for their respective governments, but have from time-to-time been allies against federal governments overextending their will into provincial jurisdiction. Those days appear to be relics of history..In 2019, the bad-boys of confederation could be mistaken for enemy nations by outside observers. Few countries in the democratic world can boast having its constituent parts so close to one another’s throats. Countries torn apart as Canada are largely limited to the less-than-democratic world, and are normally focused around religious or ethnic divisions. .That does not appear to be the case in the West-Quebec struggle. In 2017, a majority of Conservative Party members in Alberta voted to make Maxime Bernier their leader over Saskatchewanian Andrew Scheer. Westerners angry at Quebec were willing to vote for a Quebecer with a heavy accent on the basis of common values, at least in an internal party leadership race. .The growing tempest in the West is not ethno-linguistic in nature, but economic and political. . Equalization payout-historicalSource: Scott Moe twitter account .Faced with economic and fiscal headwinds exacerbated by Ottawa, Alberta and Saskatchewan view themselves as grossly unappreciated after contributing so much. Since 1960, Quebec has received more than $200 billion in direct Equalization payments, while Alberta received none, and Saskatchewan next-to-none..Westerners have elected governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan with strong mandates to confront Ottawa, and the view from here is that it kowtows to Quebec, despite being a perennial net consumer of federal largesse. .Quebecers for their part have felt under threat from Ottawa in relation to their Bill 21 drive to expunge religious symbols from public life, and appear to have taken offence to Western demands around Equalization and pipelines. While the major federalist parties fell over themselves to win Quebec – exacerbating tensions in the West – the Bloc Québécois stood poised to waltz into the churn. No matter what the federalist parties promise, it’s hard to out-Quebec the party devoted to nothing but Quebec. .However wild it may appear to Westerners, the Bloc made the case to Quebecers that Ottawa was actually serving Alberta and Saskatchewan at the expense of them. Justin Trudeau even got in on the action (in the French debate only) and called for Quebecers to back his crusade against the “Oil Barons.”. BARRY COOPER: Challenges for Western independenceJustin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer and Yves-François Blanchet .Quebecers irritated by Western calls to reduce the generosity of the Equalization program couldn’t help themselves from supporting the Bloc’s call for an additional new “Green Equalization” program. In short, a massive new tax would be levied on the energy producing provinces, and transferred to the energy consuming ones. Mostly Quebec. Even Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program was not so braggadocious about its design to plunder the economies of the West..In all likelihood, the Bloc doesn’t expect Trudeau’s minority government to give them Green Equalization in exchange for their support. Doing so would throw the Prairies into a state of revolution. More likely, is that the Bloc used this policy to stake out a marker that they won’t give an inch on defending Quebec’s interests, and that they are happy to paint the West as not just English (the horror), but greedy and dirty. (SNC Lavalin having nothing to do with greed, and dumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence having nothing to do with pollution.).The move is also likely intended to inflame relations with Canada as a whole, bolstering their case for independence at home. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .Even with the federalists falling over themselves in Quebec, voters there decided to go with the home team. .In contrast to the political mosh pit in Quebec, the vast space between Winnipeg and Vancouver was fly-over country. With few more Conservative seats to be won and fewer Liberal seats to be lost, it was wasn’t worth fighting over. The West’s home team Conservatives couldn’t even muster up the courage to promise a mealy-mouthed “review” of Equalization, let alone promise to reform or repeal it. .Perhaps it’s time the West learned from Quebec in how to make federal politicians sing for their supper.
Quebec and Alberta have seldom held similar visons for their respective governments, but have from time-to-time been allies against federal governments overextending their will into provincial jurisdiction. Those days appear to be relics of history..In 2019, the bad-boys of confederation could be mistaken for enemy nations by outside observers. Few countries in the democratic world can boast having its constituent parts so close to one another’s throats. Countries torn apart as Canada are largely limited to the less-than-democratic world, and are normally focused around religious or ethnic divisions. .That does not appear to be the case in the West-Quebec struggle. In 2017, a majority of Conservative Party members in Alberta voted to make Maxime Bernier their leader over Saskatchewanian Andrew Scheer. Westerners angry at Quebec were willing to vote for a Quebecer with a heavy accent on the basis of common values, at least in an internal party leadership race. .The growing tempest in the West is not ethno-linguistic in nature, but economic and political. . Equalization payout-historicalSource: Scott Moe twitter account .Faced with economic and fiscal headwinds exacerbated by Ottawa, Alberta and Saskatchewan view themselves as grossly unappreciated after contributing so much. Since 1960, Quebec has received more than $200 billion in direct Equalization payments, while Alberta received none, and Saskatchewan next-to-none..Westerners have elected governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan with strong mandates to confront Ottawa, and the view from here is that it kowtows to Quebec, despite being a perennial net consumer of federal largesse. .Quebecers for their part have felt under threat from Ottawa in relation to their Bill 21 drive to expunge religious symbols from public life, and appear to have taken offence to Western demands around Equalization and pipelines. While the major federalist parties fell over themselves to win Quebec – exacerbating tensions in the West – the Bloc Québécois stood poised to waltz into the churn. No matter what the federalist parties promise, it’s hard to out-Quebec the party devoted to nothing but Quebec. .However wild it may appear to Westerners, the Bloc made the case to Quebecers that Ottawa was actually serving Alberta and Saskatchewan at the expense of them. Justin Trudeau even got in on the action (in the French debate only) and called for Quebecers to back his crusade against the “Oil Barons.”. BARRY COOPER: Challenges for Western independenceJustin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer and Yves-François Blanchet .Quebecers irritated by Western calls to reduce the generosity of the Equalization program couldn’t help themselves from supporting the Bloc’s call for an additional new “Green Equalization” program. In short, a massive new tax would be levied on the energy producing provinces, and transferred to the energy consuming ones. Mostly Quebec. Even Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program was not so braggadocious about its design to plunder the economies of the West..In all likelihood, the Bloc doesn’t expect Trudeau’s minority government to give them Green Equalization in exchange for their support. Doing so would throw the Prairies into a state of revolution. More likely, is that the Bloc used this policy to stake out a marker that they won’t give an inch on defending Quebec’s interests, and that they are happy to paint the West as not just English (the horror), but greedy and dirty. (SNC Lavalin having nothing to do with greed, and dumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence having nothing to do with pollution.).The move is also likely intended to inflame relations with Canada as a whole, bolstering their case for independence at home. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .Even with the federalists falling over themselves in Quebec, voters there decided to go with the home team. .In contrast to the political mosh pit in Quebec, the vast space between Winnipeg and Vancouver was fly-over country. With few more Conservative seats to be won and fewer Liberal seats to be lost, it was wasn’t worth fighting over. The West’s home team Conservatives couldn’t even muster up the courage to promise a mealy-mouthed “review” of Equalization, let alone promise to reform or repeal it. .Perhaps it’s time the West learned from Quebec in how to make federal politicians sing for their supper.
