News
The Election That Could Define The West
The Alberta election is finally upon us.
Albertans will go to the polls on May 29th in an election that will undoubtedly cause reverberations in Alberta and across Canada.
For the past four years, the prairies have been united by a common cause - to defend our interests in the face of a federal government driven by ever-increasing centralized control.
We have seen Ottawa reach into provincial jurisdiction over and over again, causing economic harm to our industries and weakening our position in a global marketplace that desperately needs our resources.
The future, not just of Alberta but also of Confederation itself, is very much at stake.
Will Alberta continue to stand up for the jurisdictional division of powers envisaged in the Canadian Constitution and push back when Ottawa tries to usurp them, or will Alberta decide not just to stop fighting back but instead actively help a federal government that wants to legislate our primary industry out of existence?
To answer that question, we should recap how we got here.
We Pushed Back, They Backtracked
After a brief flirtation with nationalizing the West's natural resources, I'm pleased to let you know that the Liberals have now backtracked.
"As prime minister, I'm happy to stand here right now and say we will not be touching the Natural Resources Transfer Agreements," the Prime Minister told a news conference yesterday afternoon.
"Natural resources are constitutionally directed to be the purview of the provinces, and we're not putting that into question," he followed up.
We completely agree, but we certainly won't be handing out any gold stars for ruling the idea out, given it should never have been floated in the first place!
Has Ottawa Gone Completely Crazy?
We told you it was coming.
The Liberals are, once again, thinking about nationalizing the natural resources sector.
How do we know?
They said so themselves!
A Three-Pronged Affordability Crisis
Are you worried about affordability?
I am.
Are you worried that the federal government’s policies are going to make it worse?
I am.
As prices rise, each dollar in the household budget gets stretched, making it more difficult to make ends meet.
One might think that the federal government is also worried about how price increases impact Canadians and that they'd be taking concrete steps to give households financial breathing room.
They aren’t.
Just Transition To What?
Earlier this week, Leighton Grey released the latest version of his "Grey Matter Podcast", and I was honoured to be his invited guest.
We talked at length about the "Just Transition", and how it is going to impact the economy across the country, but especially in Alberta.
You can listen to the full podcast episode now, here:
New Name, Same Terrible Plan
The Friday before a long weekend is always a government’s favourite time to release news they don’t want you to hear.
This last long weekend, though, the federal government took it up another notch, with an additional layer of distraction added into the mix.
First, the long-awaited Emergencies Act Inquiry report was released earlier than expected.
Then, while everyone was preoccupied with dissecting that hefty document, the federal government quietly unveiled its "Sustainable Jobs Plan".
Look what we discovered about the Just Transition
You might remember, not so long ago, that federal Natural Resources Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, announced that the federal Liberal government would soon be rolling out its plan for a “Just Transition.”
This is the “Just Transition” plan that the federal NDP insisted be included in the “confidence and supply agreement” that is currently propping up Justin Trudeau’s minority government.
Then, an internal government memo was made public, suggesting that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost in this "transition" - particularly in western Canada.
An Honest Conversation On The Constitution
Earlier this week, I was invited on to the "Darcy Gerow Podcast".
We had a long chat about the journey Project Confederation has been on so far, as well as our plans for the future.
The episode was an in-depth discussion on how recent events are shaping political discourse on Confederation and the Constitution, and how our team is on the cutting edge of those discussions.
Why Are Albertans Talking About Sovereignty?
With just a few days left until we find out who the next Premier of Alberta will be, I was pleased to be invited on the "Grey Matter" podcast to talk about the impact western alienation has had on the leadership race, the policies of the leading candidates, and what this means for the chances of Alberta successfully achieving greater independence - whether that be inside or outside of Canada.
You can listen to the full podcast episode now, here:
Very Effective
On Thursday, Project Confederation and I were featured in a front-page National Post column addressing western alienation and how this topic has come to dominate the current United Conservative Party leadership race.
The article is a deep dive into the relationship between western alienation and the current political situation in Alberta, but Post columnist Tyler Dawson was particularly interested in my perspective on how the issues around western alienation have escalated to this point.
In case you're not a subscriber, I've included a few highlights from the piece below.