Like some of you who are reading this now, I became involved in Alberta politics 35 years ago. I was Inspired to do so by Preston Manning and the Reform Party. Our mission: The West Wants In.. Ted MortonTed Morton .Albertans were struggling to recover from the brutal recession created by Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program. You remember the Liberal strategy: “Screw the West! We’ll take the Rest!” It worked then. And now it’s working again for another Trudeau..I joined the campaign for Triple EEE Senate reform — Equal, Elected and Effective: a voice at the table in Ottawa for Alberta and the Western provinces. In 1998, you elected me as one of Alberta’s two Senators-in-Waiting. But the Chretien Liberals ignored the results of Alberta’s Senate election. And I got tired of waiting..So in 2001, I teamed up with Stephen Harper to publish the Alberta Agenda — the Firewall Letter — to demand made-in-Alberta reforms that would strengthen Alberta: an Alberta Police Force; collecting our own personal income taxes; an Alberta Pension Plan. These are not radical reforms. Ontario already has its own police force, and Quebec does all three..In 2004, I joined the Alberta PCs and ran twice for leader as an advocate for these reforms. I failed, but 7 years later Jason Kenney and the UCP succeeded. In 2020, Kenney’s Fair Deal Panel endorsed all the reforms that Harper and I had advocated from 20 years earlier.. Now we have a new leader and a new premier — Danielle Smith — who is committed to these reforms. And we need them just as badly now as we did then. We now have another Trudeau ruining — oops, I mean running… no, I mean ruining — the the country. And Justin has turned out to be just as destructive as Pierre. Let us count the ways:.• More Carbon Taxes.• More Equalization and Transfers.• But no more pipelines: Northern Gateway, cancelled; Energy East, cancelled and; a 400 percent cost overrun on the TransMountain Expansion..• Bill C-69, the “No More Pipelines ever” impact assessment regulations.• And now the “Just Transition” — shutting down Western Canada’s oil and gas industry for good to save the planet from climate change.All of these anti-Alberta policies have been strongly supported by the federal NDP Party — the party that Rachel Notley and her candidates all belong to. Is this the future you want for your children and grandchildren?.I know that some of you old PC-ers are angry that Danielle helped to destroy our party. And I know that some of you old Wildrosers are still angry that she crossed the floor to join Prentice and the PCs. Hey! Get over it. It’s time to move on..We are at an historic opportunity, not just for Alberta but for all of Canada. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed everything. For all of our allies — the few remaining liberal democracies in the world — energy security is now on an equal footing with climate change. And no country is better situated than Canada to support both..And ask yourself this: If all of Canada’s oil and gas were in Quebec, would Ottawa be working so hard to block new export pipelines? Let’s face it: If Quebec were treated like Alberta, they would have separated long ago..But we don't want to separate. The West Wants In, not out. But we do want a Fair Deal..Danielle Smith understands all this. She has been part of the long march from the beginning. She has a plan..The opportunity now: Let’s finish what we started 35 years ago..Preston Manning supports Danielle and the UCP..Stephen Harper supports Danielle and the UCP..So do I. And so should you..Ted Morton is a former Alberta finance minister and energy minister; a professor emeritus at the University of Calgary; and an executive fellow at the School of Public Policy.
