One Year Closer To Alberta Autonomy

It's been one year since we launched Project Confederation and what a year it has been.

We launched our campaign prior to the 2019 federal election, where we predicted Western alienation would come to the fore, and I think it's fair to say we were clearly proven correct.

2020 kicked off to more headlines about the economic malaise that has dominated our mindsets for the past five years, and then we received even more bad news that the Teck Frontier Project had been shelved because the federal government kept moving the goalposts.

Next, not just Alberta, but the entire world was shut down by a pandemic.

Finally, as we entered into a period of already unprecedented uncertainty, oil prices collapsed again, devastating many of our already bleeding energy companies.

Through it all, Project Confederation has not wavered in our fight.

Our mission remains to get Alberta a fair deal, in whatever legal configuration that requires, and we intend to keep fighting for that mission, and for you, in our second year as well.

When times get tough, a fighting spirit and positive thinking are needed more than ever!

So, in that spirit, here are just a few highlights of the things we achieved on your behalf in our first year of operations, including everything from research reports, policy briefs, petitions, newspaper opinion pieces, radio and tv appearances, and more:

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PROJECT CONFEDERATION'S ONE YEAR REVIEW

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October 2019:

• Highlighted the lack of focus on western issues in the 2019 Canadian federal election.
• Outlined our "New Alberta Agenda," a nine-point policy plan dedicated to achieving a better deal for Alberta.
• Publicly advocated for our policy objectives, pressuring the provincial government to take immediate action to address rising western alienation - in print, on radio and on TV!

November 2019:

• Succeeded in convincing the Alberta government to launch the "Fair Deal" panel, with many of our policy recommendations included in the panel's mandate letter.
• Addressed the Essentials of Freedom Conference in Red Deer.
• Published "Trudeau has bet double-or-nothing on Freeland to pacify with West".

December 2019:

• Attended and organized speakers and volunteer coordinators for Fair Deal Panel events in Red Deer, Calgary, and Lethbridge.
• Published "Come hell or high-water, Kenney’s fair-deal fight is our chance".
• Published "Dancing on the fuse that has already been lit".

January 2020:

• Attended and organized speakers and volunteer coordinators for Fair Deal Panel events in Fort Saskatchewan, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, and Airdrie.
• Published "Any fair deal won’t last without democratic reform".
• Hosted Jason Sorens, an international expert on secession movements, at our "Autonomy, Independence, or Separation" event in Calgary.

February 2020:

• Presented our Fair Deal case in an in-depth, face-to-face private meeting with the Fair Deal Panel.
• Launched a petition to force the government to approve the Teck Frontier Project, before Teck Resources pulled out of the project.
• Published "We need a Referendum on Equalization, and we need it now".

March 2020:

• Organized volunteer support for the Fair Deal Panel’s online survey (2020 March 02)
• Launched a campaign to pressure the provincial government to seek fundamental constitutional reform not just minor tweaks.

April 2020

• Successfully fought against the federal government's plans to regulate free speech on the internet and have the government define what is misinformation.
• Signed up over 500 volunteers who are ready and willing to help out with future campaign efforts.
• Cancelled lots of public events and stayed at home. :(

May 2020

• Upon hearing that the Fair Deal Panel's report may be delayed, we immediately launched our “Release the Fair Deal Report petition” (which was ultimately successful).
• Published "Albertans Can Be Trusted with the Fair Deal Report".
• Appeared on Danielle Smith's radio show to talk about the importance of releasing the Fair Deal Panel's Report.

June 2020

• Successfully got the Fair Deal Panel Report released sooner than the government had intended.
• Published a summary of the Fair Deal Panel's report and our initial high-level responses to the Panel's recommendations.

July 2020

• Published our full analysis of the Fair Deal Panel's report, and our recommendations of the path forward on each of the elements of the report.
• Released an "Urgent Request for Action" in conjunction with the Buffalo Project

August 2020

• Received a response from Saskatchewan Premier, Scott Moe, to the "Urgent Request for Action" letter.
• Received a response from Alberta Premier, Jason Kenney, to the "Urgent Request for Action" letter.
• Began creating our strategic plan of action for our second year of operations.

September 2020

• Along with several partners, we launched a campaign for a "Real Recovery Not Green Recovery" in response to the federal government's budget proposals.
• Published "Trudeau about to administer bitter medicine to west".
• Published "Kenney prepares to fight “all-out war” from his knees".

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As you can see, our first year of operations has been quite the year.

However, despite all of this effort, we know that the next 12 months are going to be just as difficult as the past 12 months.

We just wanted to thank you all for your support during the past year, and hope you stay with us as we continue our fight to get a fair deal from Ottawa!