How would they know if they’ve never really thought about it?
Moreover, they realize the reality: If independent, Alberta would be landlocked, relying on the goodness of Canada or Montana/the USA to get its goods to market.
Alberta is already landlocked and subject to the whims of those around us. But if independent the next time someone puts up a tranker ban is the time that a rail ban goes into place as well.
“Tranker ban”? Please explain.
Because they’re Canadians first, Albertans second. They have thought about it, and concluded that Canada is their best deal. Then they go back to discussing their kids, their golf game, and whether it will rain this weekend.
Really, you are attributing to Albertans a lot more than they warrant. You seem to feel that Albertans want independence; I am here, as an Albertan, to say that they do not. And that outside of your Western Standard and Rebel News rabbit holes, nobody in Alberta, outside of your dreams, wants independence. We have a good place in Canada (though we could use a larger voice in Ottawa), and we know that. No reason to upset the apple cart. I am proud to be an Albertan, and I know nobody who thinks Alberta would be better off independent. Except for that drunk at the end of the bar who says, “Fuck Trudeau” in between hiccups. But there will always be guys like him.
Seriously, give your head a shake. What problems does Alberta have with Canada that cannot be taken care of with peaceful and friendly negotiations? I well know the Constitutional aspects, so how can we work together within the Constitutional limits? I would welcome the government of Alberta to enter into discussions with the government of Canada to ensure that Alberta gets a fair shake, and it no longer appears that Alberta is paying for Quebec’s $7 a day childcare. Which a lot of Albertans believe is happening.
“Quebec speaks French, so they get special treatment.” That’s Alberta’s attitude, and rightly so. Quebec’s French language laws run contrary to Canada’s Charter s. 2(b), freedom of speech. As an Albertan, I agree; Quebec gets special treatment that no other province enjoys, such as the right to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause to deny English-speakers in Quebec the right to speak English. Seriously, how can this happen in a first-world Rule of Law country?
Quebec speaks French, and so Trudeau (both of them), Mulroney, Chretien, have all come from Quebec. How about we give up on the “must be bilingual/speak French” requirement, since most bilingual Canadians are from Quebec and have that province’s interests front and centre, and instead, go to the “must be Canadian no matter their first language” requirement? That would allow all Canadians from all parts of Canada, to be a part of the political process. That would give Albertans a voice in the wider sphere, which would go a long way to alleviating their concerns.
In other words, Alberta wants what Quebec is getting. More attention, really.
Oh, and according to our Constitution, I’m fully qualified for a seat in our Senate. And I’m from Alberta.
Just saying, is all. 
The polls say that roughly 30% (I’m sure wolfpup will find fault with this link, but here it is anyways) of people in Alberta would vote for independence. And that is before anyone has made the case of why it makes sense economically and politically to do so (see a link I posted earlier). If you know 10 people then 3 of them are separatists. If you don’t know anyone who is, then they are either lying to you or your circle is limited.
To be somewhat more clear. I am not claiming to speak for all Albertans or anyone other than myself. You pointed out issues Alberta has with Canada. None of that will ever change. The voting blocks of central Canada, which sees us as a revenue source and not much else, will not change based on what we want. It doesn’t matter to them, nor do I blame them. Milk the goose while you got it.
You pointed out the $7 day care as an example. Money we send is being used to fund provinces that are perpetually net receivers. They have no incentive to develop their resources or to change how they operate. We pay them to not change. They can afford to be obstructionist and it is only when someone like Trump scares them do they actually THINK. They don’t like to and it is against their nature and they look to easy solutions such as reelecting the clown show. ‘Elbows up’ and all that, but give it a month or so and they will be back to their obstructionist selves. Nothing will change other than for the worse.
It’s just a poor sport if we can’t win an election we’re taking our resources and leaving Canada. However, the people who signed Treaties 6, 7 and 8 have something to say about that.
If the Albertan citizens are feeling hard done by now, just imagine how they’ll feel living in a petrostate where every aspect of their government and life is de facto, if not de jure, controlled by a handful of oil oligarchs.
Oddly enough, all the money they think is stolen from them and sent to Ottawa won’t end up in their pockets; just in the oligarchs" pockets.
Whether those oligarchs are humans or corporations doesn’t much matter. In fact corporations can much more easily be antisocial psychopaths than ordinary humans can.
Yeah, this is the part they can’t seem to understand. Handing more cash to a Conservative provincial government with a history of underfunding government services while pouring cash into the oil industry isn’t going to have the positive effects they think it will.
This is a hijack, but why? My Zimbabwean citizenship required me to renounce my UK citizenship. It cost me around US$ 0.01 to print a letter “renouncing” by citizenship, which was duely ignored by Her Magesty’s Government.
What costs are involved that jack up the cost to a fairly substantial US$ 2700?
Underfunding? Compared to what? Consolidated per capita spending by selected Canadian Classification of Functions of Government, 2022
Provides sources for your statements if you want a response from now on.
It’s essentially a PR campaign. The fact that anybody would choose to NOT be an American is more or less culturally unthinkable, so there’s an exit interview, a hefty filing fee, a requirement to keep paying taxes for a few years (which I don’t know how they’d enforce), and the government publishes the names of ALL renouncers quarterly. The big production is basically to prevent people from doing it, which in turn means they can say that almost nobody does it.
So the Berlin Wall in other words. Just a softer version. For all the DDR government insisted the wall was to keep a flood of Westerners out, we all know it was to keep the flood of Easterners in.
Worse yet if you have some more wealth to your name. Not only must you continue to pay taxes on some US-originated payments, and prove tax compliance for the past 5 years, but if you failed this last one OR if
…Then you are also charged an “Exit Tax” on a series of assets as specified in the law Source
Any other province could invoke the Notwithstanding Clause to deny their citizens equivalent rights in exactly the same manner, so in fact Quebec is NOT receiving special treatment in this regard.
Sorta kinda … And in other news, the law in its magnificent impartiality equally prohibits the rich and the paupers from sleeping under bridges.
Now if Alberta could figure out how to use the Notwithstanding Clause to avoid paying any federal taxes on oil extraction, well they’d be all over that like … well … BS on right wing rhetoric.
One of the main points of independence actually - taxes are kept in the region they are collected from and not given to others who use them to work against you.
Paranoia really isn’t healthy. I’m starting to wonder if you are posting in good faith. If you are, please consider stepping away from some of the sources fuelling this idea that people are working against you because of your province.
If you’re not posting in good faith, I’m sorry for you.
“And so we must invade Edmonton and recover our stolen property!”
We have always been at war with Evilottowa.
Nothing Smith has done benefits me. Why would I want to give her my money? And why would I want her supporters to benefit from my tax dollars? I’d much rather help someone who didn’t help put a Trump-supporting anti-science Canada hater in charge of my health care system.