For what it is worth, the only bureaucrat I fear is the provincial liquor inspector. And I say this as someone who has been killed by the Federal government (due to a mix-up with social insurance numbers when dealing with my dad’s estate).
The encouraging thing about provincial barriers though, is that we can talk amongst ourselves about them as reasonable human beings. We can recognize that while these are generally Chesterton’s fences, it may be time to examine kicking a few of them over. And I am sure there has been a decent amount of progress on it so far but entrenched industries are entrenched and they fight hard. But at least we can have a polite conversation about it.
An excellent response, @DWMarch . We can talk, and we should. Perhaps this “Alberta separation” squabble will bring us all to the table to talk. It will be difficult, as we don’t have a great track record of amending our constitution (see Meech Lake and Charlottetown), but that is by design.
Constitution s. 121. No tariffs between provinces. That’s fine, but I think we can fine-tune that a bit, to make sure that all goods produced in Canada to flow freely between provinces, no questions asked.
For what it’s worth, as an Albertan, I’m not seeing a lot of support for separation. Oh, the drunk at the end of the bar likes it (“Fucking Trudeau” he mutters after sinking three beers in a half-hour, and never specifying which Trudeau), but none of the other hundreds of Albertans whom I know support it.
Remember that nowadays, “Albertans” refers to immigrants from foreign countries, who came to Canada, and settled in Alberta. It also refers to those of us who came from other provinces. I’m from Ontario originally, as is a friend; another friend is from BC; yet another is from Saskatchewan; yet another is from northern Ontario, and his wife is from Quebec. Heck, I’ve also met Newfoundlanders and New Brunswickers and Nova Scotians here.
We “Canadians from other provinces” outnumber Albertans who were born here. And we like being Canadian. Have your rigged referendum (have you seen Question 10 in the October 19 referendum? There is no way you can answer that Yes or No without Danielle Smith twisting it into her preferred outcome), and prepare for half of us to leave Alberta.
I was just thinking “our” = “expats”, and wondering why their values are allowed to count from 1000s of km away (or miles, even) but closer Canadians’ don’t.
My curiosity extends to whether an expat of more than a decade would still even be considered resident in a particular province if they didn’t have a house there anymore, officially?
I lived in Alberta and if i return that is where I’ll go. I lived there for over 30 years. So I’m allowed my opinion as much as anyone.
I’ve been out of the country for less time than Carney was and somehow he was elected pm, so if it matters where I am I expect the hypocrites to check the themselves and consider the last time he lived in Alberta.
I take it you are not, then, currently a resident there?
Didn’t say you weren’t allowed one.
15 > 7, which AFAICT is the only time he was non-resident (other times he lived overseas, he was still resident in Canada, by his own statements).
And he was resident in Canada when elected pm, anyway, so not sure what his Alberta residence has to do with anything?
Well, that wasn’t what I was saying.
I was just pointing out how weird it looks to an outsider that you still get to count as an Albertan who gets to have a say in Alberta’s future whereas those in other parts of Canada (who would be more directly impacted by any decisions made about Alberta) shouldn’t get to have a say just because they’re “thousands of miles” away.
If actual residency in Alberta doesn’t seem to matter, and actual distance[1] doesn’t matter, and degree of impact[2] doesn’t seem to matter, is it just some kind of vague “Alberta-ness” that qualifies some and not others for a say?
An independent Alberta is going to have lower trade barriers with neighboring countries than it used to have with neighboring provinces? Sounds utopian (as in, impossible) to me.
Now, if I am right that Alberta would soon be absorbed into the U.S., then you would face the arcane interstate trade barriers down here that are comparable to interprovincial barriers:
They’re saying they create equivalent economic drag to tariffs at 9%, not that they are tariffs. And they don’t act at all like 9% tariffs. Many goods cross borders completely unimpeded, while some industries find it next to impossible to operate outside their home province due to licensing issues or whatever. If you are serious about wanting to resolve this issue, you need have have an accurate understanding of what it is and why it exists. If they were tariffs, it would be an easy problem to solve. It’s because they are not tariffs that it’s very difficult.
Interprovincial trade barriers exist because of provincial autonomy with regards to professional, trades, and industrial accreditation, licensing, and regulation. Albertan separatists and the UCP both advocate for increasing Alberta’s autonomy in these regards, which will make this issue worse rather than better, so it’s a bit odd that you’re pointing to it as a reason to leave Canada.
Sigh. You are 100% correct. The drag is equivalent to ~9% tariffs such that a wine maker in bc finds it easier to sell to California with 50% tariffs than to Ontario. Not sure if he’s trying to also use his electrician credentials there, but you never know.
Hey Spoons: out of curiosity, are you in an urban or rural riding? I,m in Sherwood Park, so urban, and I’ve seen zero separatist representation, at least in terms of lawn signs. What has been your experience?
Lethbridge here, so urban. Federally, the city is one riding; provincially, it is two. But Danielle Smith’s gerrymandering efforts want to break our city into four provincial ridings, stretching out into rural areas where she has more support. She has, so far, been unsuccessful at that, running into a lot of opposition from Lethbridgeians (Lethbridgeites? Lethbians? I’ve been here just shy of 20 years and I still don’t know).
Plenty of “Stay in Canada” lawn signs. The last few weekends, the “Stay in Canada” people have set up a stand in the parking lot of the Exhibition grounds, where every weekend, there is a popular farmer’s market, and live horse racing, so plenty of traffic. They are giving away “Stay in Canada” lawn signs, and they seem to be doing good business.
The only local separatist I know of, is the drunk at the end of the bar at the racetrack. He’s a pleasant enough fellow when we talk racing or sports or the weather, but as I indicated above, you don’t want to get him going on this topic, especially after he’s had a few. If he switches to separatism, as he sometimes does, it’s time for me to go out and watch the horses.
From Elections Canada (and the extent of the ‘investigation’ by the CBC and other media outlets) “Elections Alberta is legislatively prohibited from commenting on complaints, allegations, or investigations we may, or may not, be reviewing or conducting, or those we may have conducted in the past,” the agency said.
According to Lukasuck, "We made an agreement with Elections Alberta that the moment we decide to pivot our campaign to getting out the vote for the referendum, Elections Alberta would be the first ones to know and then we would reach an agreement when that happens. Our law firm approached Elections Alberta one month before the referendum and advised them that we will be pivoting … promoting voter turnout and educating Albertans on how to vote.”
We’ll likely never know where Lukesuck got all his money to run his campaign, or even if the money was used for the campaign. One side has been reporting contributions (no russians or americans, etc.), while the other has been deliberately skirting/ignoring the law.
Pretty weak response from your safe haven in a faraway country. Did you get your special ballot? Obviously you’re not coming here to Alberta to vote. You don’t have much time if you haven’t done so yet.