Maxime Bernier: western separation, at least as a tactic to squeeze more benefits from Ottawa, is a “weak threat.” – November 16, 2019,
I follow the National Post as well as the Financial Post because at the very least I can get some substance out of their articles regardless of their writers’ political biases. An article was written by Tyler Dawson titled: Maxime Bernier warns alienated Albertans that threatening separation actually left Quebec worse off and based on what Tyler wrote in this article, if that’s all there is to Maxime Bernier’s speech in regards to Western Separatism, I think Maxime might have Albertans confused. Quebec’s separation everyone knows revolves around using the government to get perks, I don’t see Western Separatism as a tool for Alberta to get any perks, to me it seems more like a tactic to get Ottawa off its back.
I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, maybe I misinterpreted Western Separation, maybe I’m interpreting Western Separation from the lens of what I’d like to see for Canada, but I don’t see Quebec Separation and Alberta Separation as the same thing. Albertans just want to work, Ottawa is basically saying to Alberta, that they must work in the manner Ottawa approves of, which is different from Quebec, which is all about growing their public sector. Recently Jason Kenney made cuts to the public sector, which is what a responsible government is all about, but the truth is Jason Kenney wouldn’t need to make any cuts if his province wasn’t sending money to Ottawa via equalization payments.
Quebec is a net beneficiary of Albertan tax collection, in actuality, I personally believe that Albertans wouldn’t be so upset if they had they were paid back that equalization money while Trudeau was engaging in his globalist carbon tax scheme. Below is the information I obtained from the National Post regarding Maxime Berniers speech
western separation, at least as a tactic to squeeze more benefits from Ottawa, is a “weak threat.”
You will likely find yourself in a very negative political dynamic. One based on failed attempts to blackmail Ottawa, internal divisions, and resentment against the rest of the country
I voted for Maxime Bernier during the last election, but I’m sorry, I don’t agree with the above statements. Maybe Maxime Bernier meant something else, maybe his words were taken out of context, but I don’t see things this way. Even when Quebec threatened to leave under Pierre Trudeau, Quebec was broke then, the only time Quebec separation almost became real was when Jean Chretien and his Liberals were making massive budget cuts. Of course, Quebec wanted to leave then, that made perfect sense to everybody, leave when the Canadian government makes budget cuts. But I’m sorry I don’t see Western Canada in the light, Alberta is solvent, I’m not a fan of socialism nor am I fan of big government, but hey, if the public sector is solvent, my argument for smaller government doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Alberta’s public sector isn’t just solvent it has access capital and it’s been this way for decades, typically what this is a sign of is that Albertancould survives as a nation. It’s backward thinking to think that Albert as a landlocked nation wouldn’t have access to Canada? Lets time I checked Canada needs resources and most of the other provinces in the Federation refuse to extract resources, meaning that they would have to import resources, thereby meaning that it would be in Canada’s benefit to get its resources from Alberta, the loonie is also viewed as a Petro-dollar and I don’t think Alberta would be a difficult sell to be an American territory, especially under Donald Trump who wanted to buy Greenland???
Alberta, for the most part, pays their bills and in my personal opinion, I think it wise they form their own bloc to keep Ottawa out of their pockets and also to help make sure all provinces get equal representation in the Federal elections.
It’s not fair that I as an Ontarian can turn off my television after Ontario and Quebec have voted! The 2019 election was over after Ontario and Quebec voted, is that fair? I don’t think it is, I poke jokes at B.C all the time, but I still think Western Canada should have equal representation and this isn’t going to happen if Albertans don’t stand up for themselves. I personally don’t think Jason Kenney is taking the right approach, but then again I’m only a persona with an opinion. I do not put Quebec and Alberta in the same category, two entirely different situations, was mass migration even an important topic in Alberta? If it was it, certainly didn’t show in the 2019 elections.
It pretty obvious why a large portion of Quebecers voted for the Bloc Quebecois in 2019, let’s not fool ourselves here. There aren’t too many racist English speaking Canadians, everyone has their preferences, but racism isn’t really a thing in English speaking Canada, all Conservatives want is to be left alone, stop treating us like children, enough with the Nanny State already.
Personally I think Western Separation is going to be what their leaders make of it. Maybe it won’t turn into anything? I’m not sure, as of yet, I’ve written in the past I think it will take 2 years before it becomes a real thing, Trudeau has wisely been silent, I think when Canadians are reminded that Trudeau is the Prime Minister of this country, resentment is going to start kicking in. Being honest I’m embarrassed that Trudeau is the Prime Minister of my country, I’m genuinely embarrassed! I don’t agree with Maxime Bernier on this one.
Interesting times ahead!