Juno News - November 20, 2019


Alberta MLA vows to ＂listen＂ to independence movement amid 'fair deal' study


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

178.13464

Word Count

1,039

Sentence Count

50

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 How are Alberta's elected representatives dealing with the growing threat of Western
00:00:09.540 alienation and indeed Western separatism? One of the questions I set out to explore
00:00:14.600 here at the Freedom Talk, taking on the challenge of Western separation, hosted in Red Deer,
00:00:20.180 Alberta. We've had speakers from all sides of this, but what's been most interesting is that
00:00:24.880 on this key issue impacting all Albertans and many Canadians, in fact, there has been basically
00:00:30.520 no representation of elected officials at the conference. Yes, hundreds of people there,
00:00:36.280 but only two MLAs. I caught up with one of them, Drew Barnes, who's a United Conservative Party MLA
00:00:41.900 from Cyprus Medicine Hat, and asked him what it is that he's hearing from his constituents and,
00:00:47.580 more importantly, where he stands on the question of separatism and what needs to happen in this
00:00:53.280 pursuit of a new deal for Alberta. This is what my interview with Drew Barnes looked like
00:00:59.000 here in Red Deer. So the topic of independence, obviously the one that's being showcased this
00:01:03.320 weekend at the conference, a lot of frustration from Albertans and broader Western alienation
00:01:08.440 going on. Where do you stand as an MLA on that question of Albertan independence and what it
00:01:13.140 would look like or should look like? Oh, well, I'm very, very much at the beginning. I've heard
00:01:17.940 from so many Albertans, so many Cyprus Medicine Hatters. There's real fear out there right now.
00:01:23.280 Hundreds of people in Cyprus Medicine Hat not working, not working to full capacity,
00:01:29.000 knowing full well that their families and their friends are unable to contribute and prosper and
00:01:33.880 help each other. Albertans have wanted to be a strong part of Canada for a long, long time.
00:01:40.120 Albertans have wanted to be leaders. And there's a huge amount of frustration now because of the
00:01:44.920 blockage of our good oil and gas producers, because of the slowdown of our economy. At the same time
00:01:50.800 that landlocked states are doing fantastic, at the same time that the demand for oil and gas is
00:01:55.700 growing, we are suffering under production curtailment in Alberta because of our Canadian
00:02:01.020 partners that aren't allowing our access. So I'm here to, with 400 other Albertans, I'm here to learn
00:02:08.140 about what's being said, to learn more about the issues, and to listen and learn.
00:02:11.720 What are you hearing from people? Is it that, you know, we want to make this work? Or is it that,
00:02:16.760 you know, what we're ready to throw in the towel on Confederation?
00:02:19.460 Well, thank you for that question. It's kind of all over the place. I'd say, you know, maybe 25 or
00:02:24.440 30 percent have been filled and they've been working on a stronger, more independent Alberta for a long
00:02:29.340 time, 25 or more years, back through the Reform Party movement. And there's some frustration there
00:02:36.040 with them. There's many people that say to me, Canada gets one last chance to let us prosper and
00:02:41.600 let us share. There's many that say under no conditions do they want to leave Canada, that they
00:02:47.380 think we need to continue to work and expand our case. And I'll say this, anytime Albertans,
00:02:55.360 anytime Canadians are talking, we're winners. We, you know, great presenters here, great ideas,
00:03:01.320 great input from the crowd. Everybody here is learning something, working together,
00:03:05.900 and it'll make Alberta stronger and hopefully Canada too.
00:03:10.120 What would you need to see from Justin Trudeau? And I know it's a bit of a loaded question,
00:03:14.280 but what would you need to see to be confident that he's actually listening to concerns from the West?
00:03:19.380 Oh, pipelines, access, like, and get out of ventures that are purely private, like buying pipelines.
00:03:29.380 Start talking about the strength of Alberta producers, Alberta families, Alberta communities.
00:03:34.140 Saskatchewan and other parts of Canada as well.
00:03:39.360 You know, it's a story that's been said many times, but it is the story. Canadians are the best
00:03:44.620 producers for safety, social and environmental jurisdictions. And Trudeau has to recognize that.
00:03:50.740 Secondly, from a longer term thing, we need a federal government that lets us be more independent,
00:03:58.080 more local decision-making, more in charge of growing our wealth, of helping each other.
00:04:03.320 And, you know, Justin Trudeau just hasn't shown that he really understands what Alberta is about.
00:04:09.880 If you don't get that from the government, you don't get that buy-in from the federal government,
00:04:13.640 is separation on the table for you?
00:04:16.040 Well, at this point, I'm just going to keep listening and learning and talking to people.
00:04:22.460 I'm grateful that I've represented Cypress Medicine Hat. I'm just at the start of my third term now,
00:04:26.400 so I'm grateful for that chance. I absolutely am going to listen to all my Cypress Medicine Hat
00:04:31.060 constituents, 53,000 plus. But my vision has been the same for Cypress Medicine Hat and for Alberta
00:04:37.160 in all my seven years. Alberta should be the freest, richest jurisdiction in all North America.
00:04:42.200 Third biggest oil reserve. We're such great agriculture producers. We have such great people.
00:04:47.980 And I think that, you know, that we have to work with our Canadian partners and work with
00:04:54.560 the Canadian government to make that happen.
00:04:57.320 Is that always going to, in your view, be working from within Confederation, though?
00:05:01.540 Well, again, I'm going to see what the direction that Albertans want to go on,
00:05:05.980 what Cypress Medicine Hatters want to go. I'm grateful that Premier Kenney just appointed me
00:05:11.260 and seven or eight other people to the Fair Deal panel. And I'm really pleased that hundreds of
00:05:17.220 Albertans have already reached out to me with their thoughts and their ideas and their direction of
00:05:20.720 how we can get a fairer deal, a fairer deal from the rest of Canada and our partners and make sure
00:05:30.340 that we can prosper. Let's start there. Let's see what happens.
00:05:33.320 So as you can see, he's not waving a flag for separatism by any stretch, but he is saying
00:05:38.320 there's a line in the sand that needs to be drawn and deal breakers that need to be set out.
00:05:43.000 This is what Alberta will be pursuing as it demands a fair deal from Canada.
00:05:47.700 For True North from Red Deer, I'm Andrew Lutton.