Democracy is not a spectator sport.On Friday, August 7, the Nation of People podcast will launch with a new series intended to inform and analyze Alberta’s choices in the October 19 referendum.My co-host Natalie St. Hilaire, and I will take a non-partisan, impartial and business-plan-style approach. We will dig deeply into the issues, put our political structure into perspective and address the substance behind western alienation.The series will explore the unique character of Alberta and the West, the persistent friction with the east and the role of our political structure in perpetuating internal colonialism while impeding reform and prosperity..This referendum is democracy in its purest form. Spurred on by Alberta populism, it is true participatory democracy. It is a rare opportunity for the voice of the people to be heard directly. However, an informed electorate is key to wise decisions. That is the purpose of the Nation of People; to make information and analysis readily available. It will present unique historical insights, perspectives of current events and a full situational analysis. Advocates on both sides will be asked to address their positions. The options will be fully analysed and tested for unexpected consequences.The podcast will support Alberta’s long history of participatory democracy. The electorate in the east tends to deferred to entrenched authority. The west however, has often trusted the wisdom on an informed, engaged electorate, which turned out often to be correct.In the provincial election of 1920, the Alberta populism ended the fifteen-year reign of the Liberals whose slogan “The rest of the country can’t be wrong” may have been the worst in the province’s electoral history.It was a true people-based movement. After its landslide victory, the United Farmers of Alberta asked four people to lead the party before Herbert Greenfield finally accepted. Its promise to bring decision making home to Alberta propelled the movement. The people sought decentralized confederation, an aspiration that remains unfulfilled to this day..The Progressive Party was the federal arm of the same movement. It captured almost all of the seats in Alberta’s 1921 election and broke the two-party system in Ottawa. Holding the balance of power, it was able to pressure the government into transferring ownership of natural resources to the prairie provinces in the 1931 Resource Transfer Act.Alberta populism then delivered 56 out of 63 seats to the Social Credit party in 1935 provincial election. The headline in the Boston Globe read “Alberta goes crazy!” It promised to increase the money supply to break the back of the intractable depression. Although the federal government stood in the way, the solution later came to be known as Keysian economics, a key tool to counter recessions for central banks worldwide.The Reform Party came out of nowhere to win 22 of 26 Alberta seats in the 1993 federal election. Its slogan “the West wants in” propelled a populist movement on the prairies. Its plan was to break the Canada’s colonial relationship with the west through parliamentary action like the Progressives. It became the official opposition but never held the balance of power..Today, a populist movement has brought us to the point of considering the position of the province in Canada. We don’t know what will happen. But we know that knowledge is power. The Nation of People podcast will add information, perspective and analysis to the thinking of Alberta’s participatory democracy.That power will be critical, as it will be the cornerstone of creating a solid foundation for whatever comes next.Tune in from August 7 for the launch of our new Western Standard podcast, Nation of People!Learn more on our website www.nationofpeople.ca or you can follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and X @NOPcast.
