Juno News - November 22, 2019


First step towards Alberta independence is a referendum


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

183.09406

Word Count

948

Sentence Count

49

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 If Alberta chooses to separate, what is the process going to look like to get from where
00:00:09.520 we are today to an independent, seceded Alberta? That's one of the questions that was explored at
00:00:16.120 Freedom Talk, a conference devoted to exploring the idea of Western alienation and Western
00:00:21.660 independence from both sides, the side of federalism and the side of separation. It was
00:00:27.220 a fantastic conference, one at which I was a speaker and also one that provided a number
00:00:31.500 of opportunities for me to produce a series of videos that we've rolled out this week.
00:00:36.760 We've spoken about the political response to the independence push. We've spoken about the
00:00:41.880 dialogue itself. I wanted to take a moment and focus on the separation mentality and more
00:00:48.500 specifically what would have to happen to go through that process. I spoke about that with
00:00:54.140 Derek Fildebrandt, a former member of the Legislative Assembly in Alberta and also the
00:00:59.660 publisher of the now refounded Western Standard. Now, Derek Fildebrandt and I had a little chat
00:01:06.460 to speak about what he would like to see happen. And he says what a lot of others have put forward,
00:01:12.420 that there needs to be a referendum now. The starting of this will be what can the Canadian
00:01:17.920 government do and what will the Canadian government do about equalization payments? And more importantly,
00:01:23.480 will the federal government listen when Alberta goes with a mandate? This is what Derek Fildebrandt
00:01:29.500 said needs to happen first and where he thinks that process may lead.
00:01:33.940 All right. So what is separation or the move towards separation and independence look like
00:01:39.260 in your view? Or what should it look like?
00:01:41.400 It shouldn't look just like some people who are angry. That's a part of it. But it needs to look like
00:01:46.920 something like I think we're starting to see out of a conference here where it's a bit more thoughtful
00:01:51.060 and intellectual where we're having an honest conversation. It's not just merely saying,
00:01:57.140 I think there should be a vote and we hold a vote and then we're a country. It's not like that.
00:02:02.520 It's a lot more complicated. And I think those who want independence need to acknowledge that. So
00:02:06.740 a conference like we're having for the last two days here is a big step in that direction. So something
00:02:13.080 that's more thoughtful and incredible than just simply anger.
00:02:17.220 How should anger, of which there is a great deal, be channeled? And similarly, how should all the
00:02:22.980 ideas that we're seeing being put forward at this conference be put into something that would
00:02:26.300 actually move Albertans that are not happy with the status quo towards a solution?
00:02:32.980 Well, I'm not against there being anger. There's a very good reason for the anger. I just think it
00:02:37.220 needs to be channeled in a positive direction. I think the discussion, you've got a small, roughly
00:02:46.820 people are in thirds here. There's roughly a third who are status quo federalists, as would be
00:02:52.020 represented by the NDP or federal liberals here. You've got roughly a third who I think are now in
00:02:57.020 support of independence, one third of their sovereigntists, and a third who are reformers,
00:03:01.040 who want to see a radical reformation of federal structures and powers and intrusions within
00:03:07.860 Alberta. But I honestly think that there's almost no hope of reform. We spent 20 years on the West
00:03:13.580 wants in. And we spent 10 years in government, and we barely got anything out of it. We just had a
00:03:19.140 federal government that was just not as hostile as previous federal governments to us. And then those
00:03:23.980 marginal gains that we had were rolled back in six months of Trudeau anyway. So the question is,
00:03:28.740 is either reformers represented by Jason Kenney going to be successful in trying to dampen some
00:03:34.120 of the anger and make people feel that enough can be done on the reform side? Or is he going to run
00:03:39.920 up against the wall here, which I fear he will, which I think would result in a more binary decision
00:03:47.200 between accepting the status quo as virtually a colonial outpost of Ottawa or independence. And I think
00:03:55.180 it'll eventually come to a choice of that as we realize that there is not going to be
00:03:58.660 any reform of the federal system.
00:04:00.620 What do you think would be the straw that breaks the camel's back that tells you for sure
00:04:05.240 reform is not going to happen, Alberta needs out?
00:04:08.740 I think we would find out very soon. If we have a referendum on equalization, it'll feel good.
00:04:15.440 Albertans will vote to change it or get rid of it in overwhelming margins. But we're going to send
00:04:22.760 that to Ottawa. And what's going to happen? They're going to tell us to pound sand. And then we're going
00:04:26.560 to have two choices here. We can accept a humiliating yoke of the status quo, or we can move towards
00:04:34.120 independence. It's one reason I actually don't think there's going to be a referendum on equalization.
00:04:38.280 It's being talked about. But all of the conditions that Ottawa must meet to avoid it have been
00:04:44.320 quietly dropped by Premier Kenney one by one by one until it's just now TMX that's left.
00:04:50.000 TMX is probably going to get built. And so he'll declare victory on that. I think the Premier
00:04:55.360 here is very afraid of what happens if he holds that equalization referendum. Because the result
00:05:01.540 will be very clear for everyone to see. We're going to vote on something to reform the federal
00:05:07.840 system. We're going to send it to Ottawa. And Ottawa is going to tell us to get lost.