Colin MacLeod is the author of the provocative book “The Case for Alberta’s Independence,” and the force behind @cnm5000 on X.We grew up believing Canada was the steady one — the fair broker, the peacekeeper, the reliable neighbor. Right? But that image is dissolving before our eyes. The uncomfortable reality is that Canada’s institutions are crumbling under a weight of inefficiency and duplicity that Alberta can no longer afford to subsidize.This isn’t just anecdotal frustration; it is a measurable decline. Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index has dropped Canada’s score to a record low of 75, a steep fall from 92 just two decades ago. We are sliding down the global ranks while countries we used to lead look on..MACLEOD: Alberta’s institutions make independence a practical choice.Take our foreign aid. Since 2022, Canada has committed nearly $22 billion to Ukraine, funding drawn significantly from provincial revenues like Alberta’s oil royalties. Yet, we are sending this money into a fog of corruption. The 2025 Energoatom scandal revealed a $100 million kickback scheme on infrastructure contracts in the middle of a war.Leaked communications showed aid meant for arms was diverted to luxuries, forcing the dismissal of top officials in Zelenskyy’s government. Despite these red flags, and without phased funding or proper audits, Canada just promised another $200 million.Meanwhile, here at home, the federal debt is increasing rapidly to $1.4 trillion by 2026, with debt servicing costs alone surpassing GST revenue. Projected deficits continue. Yet, Ottawa found $11.2 billion over the last decade for the "Feminist International Assistance Policy" to fund overseas gender initiatives. .These may be well-intentioned, but for Alberta taxpayers watching their own hospitals and schools overflow, funding distant ideological projects while running a $61.9 billion deficit is a dereliction of duty.The rot extends to how we handle our own internal affairs. Funding meant for Indigenous reconciliation is being eroded by fraud. A recent KPMG audit of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations found $34 million in questionable expenses from COVID grants, citing nepotism and missing assets.Furthermore, 68% of certifications in the federal Indigenous Procurement Strategy were found to be undocumented, allowing non-Indigenous actors to exploit set-asides. An independent Alberta could administer these funds directly, utilizing community audits and whistleblower incentives to ensure money actually empowers Indigenous communities rather than enriching a few..KEENEY: Bondi Beach and the failure of the liberal imagination.Our economy is being actively undermined by federal incompetence, or outright corruption. Consider the BC Ferries contract: $1.2 billion sent to Chinese shipyards, ignoring local industry entirely. Even the Infrastructure Bank’s $1 billion loan failed to trigger "buy Canadian" clauses, despite ongoing tariffs on Alberta’s canola and pork. We are exporting jobs and capital to a strategic rival while our own industries suffer. Independence would allow us to enforce "Alberta First" bidding rules, keeping those economic multipliers within our borders.Perhaps most damning is the federal government's inability to protect the safety of its citizens. Money laundering continues unchecked, with over $4 billion still circulating in BC despite reform attempts. The "Vancouver Model" inflates real estate prices while federal inertia lets the contagion spread. .Worse is the opioid crisis. Between 2016 and 2025, there were over 53,000 apparent opioid toxicity deaths. Federal tolerance allows precursors to slip through borders and "super labs" to proliferate.Unchecked population growth, primarily driven by high immigration has negatively impacted Alberta by severely straining the province’s infrastructure and public services. This rapid influx has outpaced the necessary development of essential resources, resulting in difficulties in securing housing and social supports, including overcrowded classrooms and emergency wards. .RZEPA: Finding my voice — when my country seems to be losing its own.An independent Alberta would not be bound by this paralysis. We could implement advanced border scanning, target domestic subsidies, and create a localized intelligence agency to dismantle these networks. We could treat the fentanyl crisis and immigration issues with the urgency they deserve.We are a resource-rich, fiscally responsible jurisdiction that contributes billions to a system that cannot protect our wealth or our people. Staying in this arrangement is a voluntary acceptance of decline. Independence is not an emotional outburst; it is a rational response to a partner that has breached the contract. We have the economy, the workforce, and the institutional maturity to govern ourselves. We simply need the courage to stop being the ATM for Ottawa's ideological failures and start building a future that we control.Colin MacLeod is the author of the provocative book “The Case for Alberta’s Independence,” and the force behind @cnm5000 on X.
