A Time of Relief or Regret?
What a time to be an Albertan. We’re enjoying the biggest economic boom in our history thanks to the incredible strength of our energy sector, our government coffers are overflowing, and we continue to ride the cool wave of prosperity despite the recently announced changes to the provincial royalty scheme (note: the doomsday believers will have to wait a little longer – Petro Canada announced that they are, in fact, going ahead with their two main oilsands projects. Expect other major industry players to follow suit and stay the course.)
We are in the middle of the first federal Conservative government in years, albeit a minority. The Harper government is flirting with majority numbers in the public opinion polls, and finally it’s the Liberals who can’t get their act together. This is a virtual mirror image of the 1990’s, when the Chretien-led Liberal governments, even with some internal strife, took full advantage of a divided and forever-bitching right wing and held power for what seemed like an eternity.
To top it off, Alberta is still ruled by a Progressive Conservative government. True, leader Ed Stelmach’s lack of charisma is a glaring problem, especially after years of King Ralph Klein in the Big Chair. But it should be noted that while Stelmach’s popularity has suffered due to his numb persona, the opposition party’s leaders are just as lackluster. Voters aren’t jumping to other parties; they’re just not jumping at all.
‘Our guy’ Stephen is running the show. Calgary has become the undisputed (except for the odd hallucinating Torontonian) economic heart of the nation. And, it’s the perfect time for Alberta separatists to strike.
If you look a little deeper, you’ll see that the seeming rise in popularity for the federal Harper government has as much to do with the self-destruction of Liberal leader Stephane Dion as it does with the Conservatives policies. Moves such as the income trust fiasco would have struck a much deeper cut in the Tory armour if the public wasn’t witnessing the soap opera known as the Liberal party.
The attempted vote-grabbing pandering to Quebec by Harper (a nation within a nation?) would have had Westerners at record levels of disgust if it wasn’t for the fact we are willing to give the federal government some slack.
Political slapstick at it’s finest, the current edition of the Liberal party, along with the on-again, off-again leadership of the irrelevant Bloc Quebecois, and the used car salesman-like leader of the NDP Jack Layton have made the Canadian public choose the ‘least-worst’ option. Canadians aren’t running to the Conservatives, they are running away from the other parties.
And if Albertan’s have learned anything from our history, it’s that good times don’t always last.
The Conservatives in Ottawa won’t always be in power. The Liberals are just one Ontario/Quebec-lovin’ leader away from the other side of the House. In fact, I believe that the clock is already ticking. The Grits are scrambling to find a way out of the Dion leadership. Like a bride who realizes she married the wrong guy, the Liberal’s are searching for a way to annul the Dion leadership. It isn’t too hard to see who is being groomed for that spot. His last name is kind of familiar to Albertans and Canadians alike.
When the Liberals finally find a way to flush the Dion experience, they will rally as one behind their next leader – and seeming savior – Justin Trudeau. A new Trudeau leader, focused on leftwing causes such as the environment over economy (and the admiration of the Canadian media, thirsty for an end to the Harper reign) spells trouble for Alberta.
We could look back at this time of prosperity with relief or regret. If we take advantage of our good fortune now by building the foundation of a real political movement, we will be in an advantageous place when the other shoe inevitably drops. If we continue to stay our present course, with bickering and disorganization, we will regard this time with awe and sorrow. We will have missed our last, best chance to set the wheels in motion towards our freedom. Once again we will find ourselves at the mercy of our Eastern masters.
Alberta patriots must choose one political entity by which to identify, build it from border to border, urban and rural. We must put aside for the time being our petty differences, find common ground on policy, and never let our true common goal escape our focus. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and our home.
We are in the middle of the first federal Conservative government in years, albeit a minority. The Harper government is flirting with majority numbers in the public opinion polls, and finally it’s the Liberals who can’t get their act together. This is a virtual mirror image of the 1990’s, when the Chretien-led Liberal governments, even with some internal strife, took full advantage of a divided and forever-bitching right wing and held power for what seemed like an eternity.
To top it off, Alberta is still ruled by a Progressive Conservative government. True, leader Ed Stelmach’s lack of charisma is a glaring problem, especially after years of King Ralph Klein in the Big Chair. But it should be noted that while Stelmach’s popularity has suffered due to his numb persona, the opposition party’s leaders are just as lackluster. Voters aren’t jumping to other parties; they’re just not jumping at all.
‘Our guy’ Stephen is running the show. Calgary has become the undisputed (except for the odd hallucinating Torontonian) economic heart of the nation. And, it’s the perfect time for Alberta separatists to strike.
If you look a little deeper, you’ll see that the seeming rise in popularity for the federal Harper government has as much to do with the self-destruction of Liberal leader Stephane Dion as it does with the Conservatives policies. Moves such as the income trust fiasco would have struck a much deeper cut in the Tory armour if the public wasn’t witnessing the soap opera known as the Liberal party.
The attempted vote-grabbing pandering to Quebec by Harper (a nation within a nation?) would have had Westerners at record levels of disgust if it wasn’t for the fact we are willing to give the federal government some slack.
Political slapstick at it’s finest, the current edition of the Liberal party, along with the on-again, off-again leadership of the irrelevant Bloc Quebecois, and the used car salesman-like leader of the NDP Jack Layton have made the Canadian public choose the ‘least-worst’ option. Canadians aren’t running to the Conservatives, they are running away from the other parties.
And if Albertan’s have learned anything from our history, it’s that good times don’t always last.
The Conservatives in Ottawa won’t always be in power. The Liberals are just one Ontario/Quebec-lovin’ leader away from the other side of the House. In fact, I believe that the clock is already ticking. The Grits are scrambling to find a way out of the Dion leadership. Like a bride who realizes she married the wrong guy, the Liberal’s are searching for a way to annul the Dion leadership. It isn’t too hard to see who is being groomed for that spot. His last name is kind of familiar to Albertans and Canadians alike.
When the Liberals finally find a way to flush the Dion experience, they will rally as one behind their next leader – and seeming savior – Justin Trudeau. A new Trudeau leader, focused on leftwing causes such as the environment over economy (and the admiration of the Canadian media, thirsty for an end to the Harper reign) spells trouble for Alberta.
We could look back at this time of prosperity with relief or regret. If we take advantage of our good fortune now by building the foundation of a real political movement, we will be in an advantageous place when the other shoe inevitably drops. If we continue to stay our present course, with bickering and disorganization, we will regard this time with awe and sorrow. We will have missed our last, best chance to set the wheels in motion towards our freedom. Once again we will find ourselves at the mercy of our Eastern masters.
Alberta patriots must choose one political entity by which to identify, build it from border to border, urban and rural. We must put aside for the time being our petty differences, find common ground on policy, and never let our true common goal escape our focus. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and our home.
View blog reactions
posted by Leigh Patrick Sullivan at 8:50 PM
2 Comments:
As long as the Harper government is in power Alberta separatism is dead. In addition, the Alberta issues are provincial not federal so forget about border to border and the rest of it.
My point is that the Harper gov't isn't going to last forever, and the borders I referred to are Alberta's borders.
Feel free to reread the post if you need to.
Post a Comment
<< Home