PJ The Belt - Alberta & Saskatchewan’s Exit Has SURGED — Leaving Canada in Panic

00:00:00.000 no Canadian flag out here this is probably where that federal flag should be but it ain't there

00:00:13.860 the Saskatchewan flag flying proud out here good for them that should be a Western flag

00:00:25.500 that's the flag he was hung on there basically

00:00:30.980 hey everybody it's PJ I'm out here in central Saskatchewan on the road

00:00:54.680 figured i would show you guys a little piece of history that's just a side of bladworth out here

00:01:01.480 again in central saskatchewan before there was any talk of independence any talk of modern

00:01:08.160 independence in alberta and saskatchewan there was this man right here legendary louis riel

00:01:15.100 who fought for the rights of the metis people founder of manitoba who fought against the

00:01:22.340 overreaching Federation of Canada the overreaching federal government of

00:01:27.020 Ontario and Quebec upper Canada and he basically lost his life in fighting for

00:01:35.240 that he was hung in public if you are on the highway between Saskatoon and

00:01:43.220 Regina like myself make sure you stop and make a left if you're going north

00:01:48.320 south in bladworth and learn a little bit of history from one of the first freedom fighters

00:01:56.720 out in the west say what you will he wasn't a perfect man but he was fighting for western

00:02:02.640 independence before any of the movements of today louis riel know the name know your history real

00:02:10.640 was a central figure in the province's history leading two popular metis governments and bringing

00:02:16.400 manitoba into confederation he was later executed for high treason for his role in the 1885 resistance

00:02:23.760 to canadian encroachment on metis lands ctv's alex scarpa has more on the events marking this day

00:02:31.360 we have a few personal pieces that belong to riel himself winnipeg's st boniface museum is

00:02:37.360 home to some of manitoba's oldest and best preserved artifacts including ones belonging

00:02:42.160 to louis riel the founder of manitoba this is one of riel's trunks riel is regarded as a complex and

00:02:48.640 controversial figure in canadian history he led two metis resistances in what is now present-day

00:02:54.560 manitoba and saskatchewan fighting to protect metis rights and culture riel was an instrumental

00:03:01.440 person in terms of the negotiations with the government he made a list of rights that would

00:03:08.240 encompass all peoples who were living here at the time in the settlement that list became the

00:03:13.280 foundation for what is known today as the manitoba act but riel was seen as a traitor for his

00:03:18.400 resistance he was hanged for treason at just 41 years old in 1885. now he is celebrated in

00:03:24.960 manitoba recognized as the province's founder and was named first honorary premier in 2023.

00:03:31.280 all of our history is important not only riel not only metis people but all of our histories

00:03:36.000 combined real's history and culture is on full display here at lenipeg's festival de voyageur

00:03:42.640 which is western canada's largest winter festival live music

00:03:50.720 and woodworking are just some of the events featured at the festival

00:03:54.400 brianne lavalie heckert says it's important to honor riel through all the festival's different

00:03:59.200 events our founder josh feta was a proud metis man um so really it's uh it's really it's it's

00:04:04.800 It's rooted in everything we do here at Festival, but especially today on Louis Riel Day.

00:04:08.620 As for Cindy Desroche, she says she will continue to educate others on Riel's legacy.

00:04:34.800 no Canadian flag out here this is probably where that federal flag should

00:04:42.780 be but it ain't there the Saskatchewan flag flying proud out

00:04:49.500 here good for them

00:04:54.740 You have another statue of Mr. Louis Riel, Western legend.

00:05:19.620 revolutionary fought for the rights of Westerners in the 1880s surveyor talking

00:05:31.500 about how the settlement continued westward in the 1860s and 70s how a lot

00:05:38.160 of Westerners and meti indigenous people were being screwed by the federal

00:05:43.680 government and how that was in part reason for the Northwest Rebellion led

00:05:54.060 by Mr. Louis Riel. Is this out here in Chamberlain? Out here in Chamberlain,

00:06:06.440 Saskatchewan Louis Riel highway heading south about a hundred kilometers north

00:06:17.780 of the city of Regina yes Regina not Regina Regina sure that's the

00:06:26.480 Saskatchewan flower not sure what the name of that flower is if you're from

00:06:31.100 saskatchewan if you're a saskatchewan or saskatchewan i don't know what that's called

00:06:38.300 if you can chime in whether that's your flower and what it's called or whether it is just

00:06:42.380 saskatchewan or saskatchewan let me know fellow westerner so what's going to happen with saskatchewan

00:06:50.700 when alberta votes to leave canada freedom hope prosperity for our children for their

00:06:55.740 futures because right now in canada it's a sinking ship and if we don't take our little

00:06:59.500 lifeboat and throw it out and get off while we can we're going down with the ship you see there's

00:07:02.780 a lot going on out here in the prairies alberta and saskatchewan some parts of british columbia

00:07:09.740 see my province here of alberta is going to have a referendum later this year officially

00:07:15.820 we're going to have a referendum on independence whether a majority of albertans choose to

00:07:21.180 stay a part of canada or become an independent nation a lot of people wonder well what happens

00:07:27.100 with saskatchewan saskatchewan being a province neighboring province to the east of alberta

00:07:33.980 about an hour that way 100 kilometers or so that way being that i'm in eastern central alberta

00:07:42.780 and more importantly they're very similar to alberta culturally politically economically

00:07:49.980 They voted over 90% conservative, just like Albertans did.

00:07:55.220 They are very conservative-minded, mostly a Christian province, just like Alberta.

00:08:01.760 And while Albertans are collecting signatures for a petition to get a referendum,

00:08:06.600 likely in October of this year, Saskatchewan is not far behind.

00:08:11.240 Home near Saskatoon, over 200 people have come to hear from the Saskatchewan Prosperity Project,

00:08:17.080 a group promoting Saskatchewan's independence from Canada.

00:08:21.240 The group's president, Brad Williams, focuses on Western alienation

00:08:25.160 and what he says are the economic and political benefits of separation.

00:08:29.840 So the reality of this situation is that the people of Saskatchewan and Albertans

00:08:33.680 have been united by a common culture, common history, similar economies for centuries now,

00:08:41.480 for well over a century and it looks like they're going to be united again in the goal of self

00:08:48.920 determination really happy to see the big crowd out tonight it was excellent to see a lot of

00:08:54.440 enthusiasm i talked to a lot of people after as they were leaving and uh they're ready to get

00:08:59.240 involved they're ready to get into their community they're ready to start uh forming chapters in

00:09:04.040 their small towns well thank you for watching if you want to continue to get updates on this story

00:09:08.520 and not media spin, make sure to hit subscribe and hit the like button because this story is

00:09:13.820 moving fast and we're going to keep you informed all the way.

PJ The Belt - April 06, 2026

Alberta & Saskatchewan’s Exit Has SURGED — Leaving Canada in Panic

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript