'These are days that try men’s souls.' So wrote Thomas Paine, at the outbreak of the US War of Independence. With the vote count in the Canadian federal election mostly in, the phrase seems appropriate to Canada today. Mr. Poilievre faces a mandatory leadership review from the unenviable position of being bereft of his Commons seat. Mr. Singh has received his unequivocal marching orders with a kick to the backside. Mr. Bernier, as much as I support his policies, must now take his own walk into the snow and wrap up the People’s Party of Canada. Mr. Blanchet may be the cat on a hot tin roof, as he smiles his Cheshire Cat smile from a strengthened position in Fortress Quebec. Mr. Ford will be circling on the sidelines waiting to drown whoever is hapless enough to fall into his pool. Mr. Carney, with no knowledge of the rules of the parliamentary game, will damn the torpedoes because he is ready to lead, dammit. In an imagined scene from Shrek, Mr. Carney, as Lord Farquaad of Shrek, glares down from his steed and, with the mandate from Heaven, promises spending that is “to infinity and beyond!”.We Canuckleheads are in for tumultuous times.I once attended a negotiating meeting at which the other party rejected every detail of our offer, after having previously suggested they were quite open to the terms we had discussed. It was a bit shocking and very disappointing. One of our negotiators cheered us immensely by suggesting that “we have them right where we want them”. Let me explain why I think we in Alberta may have them right where we want them. And then you can laugh at me like I did our negotiator.In my opinion, our premier has done yeoman work by laying out the ground rules for a continuing confederal relationship with Laurentia. I don’t know that she can take her rhetoric much farther and hence the souls that are to be tried are those of the citizens of Alberta. She has done her bit very well. “Alberta will no longer subsidize other large provinces that are capable of funding themselves.” .No more $14 billion per year in equalization payments then, so that Quebec can give low-cost childcare and university tuition to its citizens. I read this as Alberta is going to paint over the barn on which the Liberals have written, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.But what are we to do with this opportunity that has fallen into our laps?On the day of the election, President Trump let Canadians know that he had an option for us. The predictable shrieking of our leaders demonstrated again our national insecurities because the institutions necessary to give us security have been destroyed by previous governments. Evidence of foreign interference in our elections is stifled. Evidence of drug production and money laundering is stifled. Constitutional challenges to the Liberal’s “personal prorogation” are met with judicial silence. I could go on. Reconstructing new institutions will take time and this gives Albertans the opening and opportunity to examine constitutional options both within and without Confederation. It is only with options in hand that Alberta can negotiate with Laurentia. With defined options Albertans will understand the virtues and costs of independence versus confederation. Without options, Alberta must accept status quo Confederalism and that means a great opportunity missed..Who knows what defining the options will lead to. I hope that it leads to a reopening of the constitution and a redefining of the institutions and agreements that make us Canadian. However, without a viable independence option on the table, Laurentia will continue to laugh at our complaints. With an independence option on the table, Laurentia will scream… and then negotiate. If the negotiations fail, it will be on them and we will make our decision knowing the costs and benefits of a “go it alone” strategy.When Thomas Paine wrote about the trying of men’s souls, support for independence among the thirteen colonies may have been below fifty percent. On balance, it is hard to argue that the trying of the souls of the US founding fathers resulted in a failed experiment. It is equally hard to believe that Albertans’ souls will be unduly tried as constitutional and independence options are evaluated preparatory to a negotiation that might be the salvation of our country.We have them right where we want them... should we decide to act with confidence and maturity. But we must decide to act.
