I have argued of late that my patriotic allegiance has shifted almost entirely from Canada to Alberta. I have determined that I will be Canadian for only so long as a majority of Albertans are happy to wear the Laurentian albatross around their necks.
This makes me a northern Benedict Arnold and my friends wonder how I can turn my back on a nation that has provided so much to me.
But when I ask for a definition of “much” I get stammering. I then ask about the soldier who gave up two of his limbs for this country and, when he asks for legitimate medical care, is told that he is asking for too much.
That seems to be the definition of what Canada, locked in the embrace of Laurentia, has become. An embarrassment and source of anger for being ruled by mental midgets and moral monsters who think that a couple of limbs is insufficient justification for reasonable medical care.
No. I don’t want to be associated with them anymore.
It was with delight then, that I listened to our Premier Danielle Smith give a stemwinder of a speech in which she seemed to agree with my thinking. She rhetorically dismantled our legislative seat-challenged Leader of the Opposition, “Snitch-line” Nenshi. She also exposed the moral nudity of our “Citizen of the World” prime minister.
She didn’t ask the question, but I will.
Where does Mr. Carney's allegiance rest? In New York, the city to which he recently transferred his former company? To London from which, according to former British prime minister Liz Truss, he nearly destroyed the British economy? To Dublin, which has become a haven to protect assets? To Davos, from which stage he can preen and offer me the chance to happily own nothing?
Surely not to Canada. As our premier pointed out, Mr. Carney has done more to destroy Canada than to protect it.
I think I gained the full measure of Carney the man, when on Thursday afternoon he told our premier that he would not support emission/production caps and then didn’t correct a statement in the evening that said he would support such caps... and then gave full throated support to such caps on the following day.
In polite circles, this is called prevarication. This week he says he is going to reduce my taxes. In which universe would I believe him, given his loose relationship with truth?
One of the remarkable things about Smith’s speech was the vivid red outfit that she wore. Some might call it a power move, but I was reminded of the little girl in the red dress in the movie Schindler’s List. Without stretching the metaphor too far, it is fair to say that our premier was so emphatic in her speech today because she is tired of being vilified for making personal sacrifices by two men whose apparent sense of entitlement allows them to disparage with impunity the one person who stoutly defends Alberta.
According to her speech, Smith is off to Washington to keep pressure on the Trump team to minimize the tariff impacts on Albertans.
She might even suggest that the tariffs be minimized until such time as Canadians have chosen a champion to do tariff battle with the Americans. Such a position is traitorous only to those too lazy, stupid or compromised to go and do likewise.
I wish her Godspeed in her podcast and that she articulates well the issues which have energized her premiership. I know that she will.
