Ryan McMillan is the owner of Corsair Communications and a graduate of Mount Royal UniversityWhat has Canada become? The news cycle moves fast enough to make your head spin and when you step back, there is little comfort in what is plain to see. Our politicians are both encouraging the chaos and jockeying to use it for their own advantage.Have you considered that by the time we hear King Charles III deliver the Speech from the Throne on May 27, Canada will have been without a functioning government for nearly 8 months? The Conservatives stopped playing ball in October 2024 over the Green Slush Fund scandal: this lasted till Christmas break, after which Trudeau prorogued Parliament. Then came the election campaign, and then almost another month since then..Federal ‘green slush fund’ collapse reveals $150 million mismanagement scandal.If the Liberals call the scheduled summer break, we will be close to a year without much happening in the House of Commons..In many ways there is much to celebrate there, of course.But it should horrify us at the same time.Who has been running this country and what does the democratic process really mean in light of this reality? That is up for debate, and it should be front and centre right now, but there are too many things screaming at us to worry about democratic process — like tariffs and Alberta independence.Could it be, that this is the whole point?.With one hand the Liberals stoke the fires of outrage for CBC to bleat about, and with the other they turn the mechanisms of democracy while no one is looking. The complicating factor in all this is how brazenly our politicians are using these crises for their own goals.We went from one national crisis, Trump threatening to make Canada the 51st state, to another in the form of Western Canadian independence. Prime Minister Mark Carney made a spectacular comeback off such a crisis and now he feels emboldened to be identified as the defender of Canadian sovereignty and unity. Carney is banking on the spectre of Western independence to solidify his position as Canada’s champion and in the West, we need to take note of what the implications for us will be..Premier Danielle Smith has also jumped into the mix by lowering the bar for a referendum on Alberta sovereignty. However Premier Smith does not necessarily favour Alberta independence. So, why would she make the way forward easier for a referendum if she believes Alberta should remain in the federation? This should concern everyone, too.I think our politicians are preying off our frustrations, hopes and dreams for one simple fact — they all know an Alberta referendum will fail.Here is the hard reality of it all — they are all right.The Western independence movement has no leaders, no unifying vision, and no plans of what to do if it happens. The whole movement at this point seems more like a group of naïve individuals unified around an (admittedly) understandable rejection of Laurentian elitism..Some may resist the use of the word naïve here, but can you show me how many times the Liberal government has been held accountable for anything they have done over the last 10 years? Yet, you think Alberta can hold a vote, negotiations with Ottawa will go smoothly, America will be happy to see us become independent, and the UN will honour their own rules? If that is what you think, I have a new cure-all vaccine to sell you, (guaranteed safe and effective.)To be clear, I am certain a referendum will take place. I will vote in favour of independence. The referendum will fail. Carney will wrap himself in the Canadian flag, Smith will say she listened to Albertans and is in our corner, and the pro-independence factions in Alberta will blame each other. When the dust settles, we will be the ones who lose.Carney will take the lost referendum as a mandate — a favourite word of the Liberals — to maintain the status quo. Smith will try to use the referendum to argue that Canada needs to treat Alberta better, but like I already said, Carney will have a shiny new 'mandate.' At best, Ottawa will offer us some table scraps and Premier Smith will run for re-election on how she is our champion fighting against Ottawa..Does this mean we should not push for a referendum forever? Not at all! However, I do believe it means that Albertans, and Western Canadians, need to wake up and realize how we are being played. We need to slow this down, do it right and do it on our terms.We need to start with forming a separate identity and culture from Eastern Canada, we need to educate ourselves on the options we might have. Did you know that if Alberta became a territory of the US, like Puerto Rico, we would gain a strong ally both here in North America and in the UN, we would not pay federal taxes, we would have a military, a strong currency and we could write our own constitution? It is one of several options.We are Albertans and Western Canadians. We are resourceful, educated, independent and entrepreneurial. We are also the hard-working descendants who inherited this land from our Christian ancestors. We love freedom, small government and we take care of our own.We are no one’s 'useful idiots', We demand accountability from government, but we need to do this on our own terms.Ryan McMillan is the owner of Corsair Communications and a graduate of Mount Royal University. X @ryanimcmillan
