WELLS: Danielle Smith’s solution — could this be the best thing for Western independence?

R.T. Wells is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy.May 21 was a whirlwind of emotion. Waiting for, and listening to, Danielle Smith’s announcement of an independence question being added to the October 19 ballot had me on the edge of my seat. Full of optimistic anticipation, I couldn’t wait to hear that our hard-earned question had miraculously found its way to a referendum after a Liberal judge unlawfully shot it down. It only took a few minutes, though, for all that to change. I won’t lie, my emotions ran the full negative gamut, ranging from shock and disappointment to anger and fury, before settling on crushed as I crawled into bed.But with a new day came a new perspective, and something occurred to me. Could this be the best thing that has ever happened to Western independence?As much as supporters of this movement like to believe that their push for independence is mainstream and reasonable, the overwhelming majority of Albertans still think otherwise. Giving them a chance to better understand the cause will only help to alleviate their doubts. And remarkably, the mainstream media seems to believe that this new referendum question is a game-changer. Despite my own thoughts on that being quite different, I can still recognize that for the next five months, all the major news outlets will be peddling independence like mad. Though they’ll be slamming the idea as terrible and slinging mud far and wide in an effort to disgrace anyone attached to it, what they’re really doing is advertising. And as P.T. Barnum once astutely observed, ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity.’ In other words, time and continued national debate will only help to normalize and rationalize the independence argument.Then I remembered the insult of the shared ballot and how it trivializes our question. But even this sting was replaced by a new thought: Is that really so bad? Think about it. For a movement that hasn’t quite found its way into being socially acceptable, it gives people who don’t have the conviction to stand in an independence lineup a chance to vote without judgment. After all, they’re not in line to support independence, they’re there to vote on immigration — nudge, nudge, wink, wink..It also has the added benefit of getting a lot more people involved. After all, Albertans, who had no intention of joining the discussion on independence, will almost certainly vote on it now, as they’re already checking off boxes for something else. The likelihood of them skipping it is low, and the sheer number of people voting will only make the issue more significant nationally.And lastly, as much as it breaks my heart, this is not a vote on independence. On one hand, this means independence supporters gain very little, but on the other hand, fence sitters have nothing to lose. It makes voicing their frustrations with Ottawa easier, as checking the ‘leave’ box doesn’t actually cause us to go. There is no doubt that millions of Albertans are sick and tired of the relationship our province has with the East, but not all of those people are ready to call it quits. The way the question is currently phrased allows those individuals to express their anger while risking nothing at all.I truly believe the turnout for this referendum will be exponentially larger than it being placed with other questions, and written the way it is. I also believe hundreds of thousands of fence sitters, maybe even millions, will be much more likely to vote on leaving.So, what do we have to lose? Time will increase our numbers, overturn politically motivated judges, and normalize our cause. Trump will still be President, and his feelings towards Canada have no reason to change. CUSMA will still not be resolved, a pipeline to the West Coast will still not exist, and the price of oil has no reason to go down anytime soon. And perhaps the strongest argument of all: no one brings greater national and international attention to our cause like our own Premier. So, begrudgingly, I’m forced to consider — maybe this is for the best.R.T. Wells is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy.

WELLS: Danielle Smith’s solution — could this be the best thing for Western independence?

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