In an astonishing column for the Globe and Mail on April 2 entitled, “Mark Carney poses a threat to national unity,” former Reform Party leader Preston Manning made a stunning admission: we may soon reach the point where the secession of western Canada becomes necessary.This represents a sea-change in the thinking of the West’s most prominent statesman. And it likely signals that many other respectable Alberta citizens are moving in the same direction.'Previously, Manning was well-known as an opponent of Western secession. Indeed, as he wrote in his 1992 book, The New Canada, “one of my initial motivations for promoting the Reform Party was to provide an effective and constructive alternative for westerners who were leaning toward the 'separatist' option out of frustration.” That is to say, the Reform Party was conceived, in part, as a way to bring 'separatists' back into the federalist fold..And it worked. Several people who had been involved in steering Alberta towards independence, including central Alberta political organizer Howard Thompson (brother of former Red Deer MP and federal Social Credit leader Robert Thompson) and former Edmonton alderman Bob Matheson became Reform Party activists. Jack Ramsay, leader of the Western Canada Concept Party of Alberta in the mid-1980s, became an MP for the Reform Party after winning a seat in the 1993 federal election.The success of the Reform Party in the 1990s essentially sucked the air out the Western independence movement’s balloon, exactly as Manning had intended.Later, in his contribution to the 2020 volume Moment of Truth: How to Think About Alberta’s Future, Manning refers to independence supporters as “little westerners” in contrast to Western federalists who he calls “big westerners.” Clearly, he did not favour the independence option..But now, after almost ten years of authoritarian Liberal misrule, Manning acknowledges that many people in the West are mad-as-hell and aren’t going to take it anymore. As he writes, “large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it. The support for Western secession is therefore growing, unabated and even fuelled by Liberal promises to reverse many of their previous positions.”He wrote this column as a warning to Canadians in the eastern part of the country, and he doesn’t mince words: “Voters, particularly in central and Atlantic Canada, need to recognize that a vote for the Carney Liberals is a vote for Western secession — a vote for the breakup of Canada as we know it.”Unlike the late 1980s, Manning doesn’t propose a new political party to absorb Western anger to channel in a federalist direction. Instead, he proposes something along the lines of a constitutional conference for citizens to consider their political alternatives.If Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives win, the conference could discuss policies to redress the damages done to the West by the Liberal government and how to renegotiate trade relations with the United States.However — and this is really the best part of his column — if Mark Carney’s Liberals are elected, “then the agenda of the conference should be to consider ways and means of peacefully seceding.”Here it seems clear that Mr. Manning has come around to recognizing the West may need to secede from Canada. In this sense, he has made a complete U-turn from his previous position. Farewell to “the West wants in”; hello to a free and independent Western Canada.Those of us who have supported Western independence for years will welcome our prodigal son home with open arms and celebration.Alberta may not survive Mark Carney as prime minister for four years. Clearly, it’s time for an independence referendum. If there are people like Preston Manning on board, the referendum will pass.If you look carefully, you may see the cavalry is on the horizon. Alberta’s best years are soon to come.
