Is Alberta Right about Independence? - Paul Hinman

Nov 27, 2020

Ep 323 - Is Alberta right about independence?

Guest: Paul Hinman

According to George Bernard Shaw, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Dialogue – healthy dialogue – is the foundation of solid respectful relationships. For anyone who looks at and understands the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta, they know it has been toxic, controlling and hostile. Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier in 1905 divided up the Northwest Territories and, in doing so, forever ensured that Alberta would be subservient to Ottawa.

 

Laurier’s Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton in 1904 said, “We desire – in fact, every patriotic Canadian desires – that the great trade of the prairies shall go to enrich our own people in the east, to build up our factories and our workshops and contribute in every way to our prosperity.” The Canadians Sifton was referring to were those in Ontario, not Canadians from coast to coast.

 

It is a mindset and it has been the practical reality since Alberta was created by Ottawa in 1905. Ottawa was fully aware of the oil in the Athabasca basin going back to the late 1800s. The basin is also home to one of the world’s richest high-grade uranium supplies. The region, all of which was the Northwest Territories, was and continues to be the economic engine of Canada. 

 

The winds of separation blew through Alberta in the 80s but were calmed when investment in the oil sands soared, providing billions of dollars in employment and taxes. Any hint of discontent literally evaporated during the early 2000s. Then the Saudis, in an effort to undermine American oil production, crashed the price of oil and also crashed the Alberta economy.

 

Over the years, Ottawa received in excess of $600 billion in transfer payments from Alberta alone. Then as Alberta’s economic boom calmed, tensions between Ottawa and Edmonton grew. They grew to the point where an appetite for separatism reemerged and continues to grow.

 

Independence parties started to crop up and now a coalition of separatist groups has formed under the Wildrose Independence Party banner. We invited Paul Hinman, the leader of the Wildrose Independence Party to join us for a Conversation That Matters about why he says the time to act is now. 

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

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