”A leader must be brave and take risks. If you set your conviction aside and make decisions based on fear and cowardice, you will be building your leadership on a faulty base." — Julius Caesar.And so it came down..Alberta’s new premier Danielle Smith made it official..According to a mandate letter to Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis, the premier is moving ahead on a plan to ditch the RCMP and create a provincial police force. In it, she instructed Ellis to work with Justice Minister Tyler Shandro to "launch an Alberta Police Service (APS.)" In Shandro's letter, she instructed him to "finalize a decision" on the matter, according to local media reports..And of course, the media response was judgmental, prejudicial and critical. The sky is falling, etc., etc..Danny’s announcement was made, “despite a report stating it will cost taxpayers more.”.Ah, those poor taxpayers. As if the media really cared about any single one of those taxpayers..The message was simple, pushing out the Mounties is a terrible idea and it will cost more. There is only one thing all of these mainstream media outlets, and their bleeding heart commentators, have forgotten..Folks, this is not about cost. Let me repeat that, this is not about cost..Never has been, never will be. This is about the long game — more autonomy for Alberta down the road..The Mounties must go and Danielle knows that. If it wants to be a significant player in Canada’s future, Alberta must start to move in this direction..It’s about playing hardball with the feds, and whatever Liberal-clown-in-office happens to be in place..Whether it’s Trudeau, his court jester — Freeland — it doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot..This is a battle flag, a resistance flag..Why, you ask?.Well, for starters, we need to have the same autonomy as Quebec, nothing more, nothing less. And this is only fair..According to some of my intellectual friends — people far smarter than yours truly — it could actually be argued Quebec has already reached sovereignty association..For us not to seek the equivalent would clearly be a colossal mistake. If we don’t do something now, we will forever be slaves to Ottawa’s whims..No oversight, no consultation, no nothing — just shut up and do what we say, or else..We have no choice, my friends..The Mounties have to go — and it’s nothing personal..Again, this is about independence, autonomy and yes, it will come at a cost, but that is not an issue..Critics who argue against it just don’t get it, and that’s fine..It is also a matter of record — and you’ve probably read this — that PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP was hired in October 2020 to conduct a study and develop a proposed policing model for Alberta..Their report found the concept was realistic, cost-effective and worth further study..The model proposes new approaches to service delivery and governance that could better address root causes of crime, increase accountability and put more frontline personnel in communities across Alberta at equal or lower cost. That’s an independent study, not some media mouthpiece or ivory tower nabob trying to stoke needless fear in Albertans..Garry Clement, who spent decades in the RCMP’s financial crime unit, told the Edmonton Journal a provincial police force would give Alberta a chance to shape its police force to meet local needs..“We need responsive policing that focuses on a community, that has jurisdiction and oversight from a certain geographic region, not the federal government,” he said..He’s totally right, we don’t need federal strong-arm men anymore..Another move that should be looked at is our own pension plan..And I can just hear the critics jump on that one, those same two professors from Mount Royal that are always quoted, or that financial guy from ATB..Last I heard, Notley & Co. hired him as an advisor to add weight to their socialist policies. The fact remains, Iceland has a pension plan. New Zealand has a pension plan. And Alberta can also have a pension plan..Furthermore, the people who preach gloom and doom if we ever show the courage to stand up for ourselves are the biggest traitors to Alberta and to Albertans..I’m not talking about Ralph Klein’s Henry & Martha, I think we do need to listen to their concerns..I’m talking about those in power, who should know better..I won’t call them cowards. But they are afraid..Afraid to do the right thing. Afraid to be counted. To take on Ottawa’s venomous snakes in suits..But at the end of the day, Alberta has to move forward..It must have its own police force. It must have its own pension. It must have control over its resources. And it must play hardball with Ottawa. No more Mr. Nice Guy. That’s done and over with..These and other moves toward relative independence, whatever you want to call it, must be taken..If we don’t, we’re dead. Deader than Julius Caesar...
