PJ The Belt - June 09, 2026


Carney has a HUGE Alberta & Saskatchewan Problem..


Episode Stats


Length

8 minutes

Words per minute

167.79

Word count

1,416

Sentence count

87


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

What would it look like if Alberta seceded from Canada and became an independent country? What would it mean for Saskatchewan to become an independent province and what it would look like for the rest of Canada if that happened?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Now, going into Canada, Tom, I'm going to come to you with this one here.
00:00:03.500 Carney's got a little bit of an interesting thing he's dealing with Alberta.
00:00:06.840 Alberta's coming out saying, hey, we want to do a vote to see if we can do a Brexit style, and Alberta leaves Canada.
00:00:13.700 What do you mean?
00:00:14.420 Yeah, we just kind of want to leave and do our own thing because, you know, we don't like the way you're governing.
00:00:20.480 Who do these people think they are?
00:00:22.100 Well, they are an angry people, and they have every reason to be angry.
00:00:25.980 From the time the provinces were founded, when Alberta and Saskatchewan were not given the natural resources powers that other provinces had,
00:00:33.860 Albertans have been put upon by a central Canadian elite that looks at them as something of a colony.
00:00:40.220 And you can say, well, there's very little chance that the referendum has.
00:00:43.200 People thought that about the Brexit referendum too.
00:00:46.580 And look what that led to for the future of the United Kingdom.
00:00:49.800 And then you have the growing independence movement in Saskatchewan where the people are also sick and tired of what Canada has become after 11 years of liberal governments.
00:01:00.840 Some in Saskatchewan are speaking out over their desire for separatism with one organization already leading town halls across the province.
00:01:07.700 The Saskatchewan Prosperity Project is heading the initiative to talk Saskatchewan independence.
00:01:13.560 A lot of people in Saskatchewan never ask themselves the honest question, what would it look like if we were our own country? I know I hadn't.
00:01:18.980 Williams says the group has delivered more than 40 presentations and is working in coordination with a similar pro-independence organization in Alberta.
00:01:27.860 And we hope someday we could join them and actually be one country united because I think Alberta and Saskatchewan would be a powerhouse.
00:01:34.420 Although support is seemingly growing in Saskatchewan alongside Alberta's movement, there may be some barriers along the way.
00:01:40.040 While some First Nations leaders have previously spoken out about the idea of Alberta's separation,
00:01:45.400 the Prosperity Project says it's been in communication with some Indigenous leaders in Saskatchewan.
00:01:50.120 We have been reaching out. We do want to talk to the First Nations. We want them involved.
00:01:53.820 The future of the separatist movement in Saskatchewan remains unclear,
00:01:57.280 as interest in provincial autonomy continues to be debated in Western Canada.
00:02:02.060 The Prime Minister of Canada has a huge Alberta problem right now.
00:02:05.820 you can see it on his face because alberta separation is not slowing down it's getting
00:02:11.940 bigger and i think ottawa's starting to realize they may have made a massive mistake because
00:02:18.420 after a judge stepped in and tried to shut down the independence petition albertans didn't back
00:02:23.900 down they got angrier more determined they try to stop this movement and somehow it only made
00:02:30.980 stronger. That's the part these people don't understand. Every media attack, every threat,
00:02:37.520 every court decision just convinces more Albertans that something is seriously broken in this
00:02:43.720 country. And now Mark Carney is being forced to answer questions about Alberta separation
00:02:48.880 everywhere he goes. Morning news, press conferences, political panels. This is becoming a national
00:02:56.740 issue now and he hates it last june the alberta prosperity project published a document outlining
00:03:03.400 a fiscal plan for an independent alberta it suggests with more alberta control and no federal
00:03:09.140 taxes or equalization we could see a 45 billion dollar surplus the plan expects oil and gas
00:03:15.380 production would increase direct revenue would jump by as much as 132 percent by 2045 gst would
00:03:23.260 disappear, but a 5% sales tax would be created, as would new land taxes. Personal income tax
00:03:29.400 could be eliminated. I think it's very realistic. I don't think that there's any question that it
00:03:35.460 can be. There's nations that, you know, basically have like Saudi Arabia, for example. Why are
00:03:41.000 Albertans upset? This is the Texas of Canada. Equalization payments. This is where they take
00:03:46.820 tax dollars and they give them to the provinces who are more liberal and the provinces that do
00:03:54.060 better are the ones that have to take their excess dollars and get given to everybody else
00:03:58.840 will you please look at the canadian provinces and the bar chart that says a b you see that pat
00:04:05.260 that's alberta look how high it sticks up alberta makes tax dollars look who gets the tax dollars
00:04:14.140 nova scotia new brunswick quebec on manitoba look at that this is why the people of alberta are
00:04:22.640 upset they're the equalization payments are going to the other provinces in other words the ones
00:04:27.800 they can't carry their own weight with liberal policies and look at that it sticks up it's just
00:04:33.520 shocking you find that shocking jeff it's crazy i mean why do you think they want to secede so look
00:04:39.760 This is where we're at right now.
00:04:41.400 They try to slow this thing down.
00:04:43.500 They try to put a wall in front of it, and it didn't work.
00:04:46.600 It did the exact opposite.
00:04:49.060 More people are paying attention.
00:04:50.900 More people are getting involved, and the momentum is clearly building.
00:04:54.160 Canada has been our home for all of our lives, and we have loved it dearly, and we still do.
00:04:59.620 We just don't see another choice, another option for the future of our children.
00:05:04.360 Their frustration with what they call dangerous federal policies and financial inequality has been building for years.
00:05:12.840 For them, the movement offers a reset and renewed hope.
00:05:17.300 Even if it doesn't work out, it's not a waste of time.
00:05:21.060 We are sending a clear message to Ottawa.
00:05:23.320 According to an Angus Reid poll from last week, 35% of respondents said they would vote for the province to hold a binding referendum on separation.
00:05:33.020 60% said they want to remain part of Canada.
00:05:37.080 And a U of A study conducted prior to the latest referendum announcement
00:05:41.240 indicated 20% of Albertans support separation.
00:05:46.120 Independence leaders say they want to stop federal equalization payments,
00:05:51.220 reduce income taxes, and give Alberta full control over natural resources.
00:05:57.140 Those arguments resonate.
00:05:58.580 An extra $50, $100, $200 on their paychecks.
00:06:02.740 That's really meaningful stuff.
00:06:04.920 It's that platform that sold Linda Stevens.
00:06:08.260 The Airdrie realtor who moved from Ontario never thought she'd support separation.
00:06:14.340 But at 56, she says she's fallen further behind than she was a decade ago.
00:06:19.900 We've lost that hope.
00:06:21.300 We've lost that optimism that used to be there.
00:06:23.880 That spark.
00:06:24.840 People are just nodding in silence and yep, just getting by.
00:06:27.880 Just getting by. Albertans are saying we're done. It's not good enough anymore.
00:06:31.420 But their collective pursuit for change has made them a target of personal attacks.
00:06:36.800 We've had people call us traitors. We've had people yell in our face.
00:06:41.640 We've had people give us ID just to rip it out of our hands.
00:06:46.300 While the criticism hurts, they say it won't change their minds.
00:06:50.720 I have to know it's the end of this, that I did everything that I could to make this happen because I believe in it so much.
00:06:57.400 Now we get to the part that probably has Mark Carney sweating behind closed doors tonight.
00:07:02.700 A new poll showing 46% support for Alberta independence among First Nation respondents.
00:07:09.520 Think about that for a second.
00:07:11.260 Because Canadians have been told for years that this movement is supposedly isolated.
00:07:16.440 That absolutely nobody outside of a small group of angry Albertans supports it, let alone First Nations.
00:07:23.400 And that narrative is cracking now, whether they like it or not.
00:07:28.260 Alberta independence is becoming a national conversation, not just in Alberta, the entire country.
00:07:35.580 And that's why Carney suddenly looks so uncomfortable, inconvenienced every time this topic is brought up.
00:07:42.680 Because deep down, I think Ottawa understands something very dangerous right now.
00:07:48.000 This movement is surviving all of the media attacks.
00:07:51.360 It's surviving pressure, and it's surviving every court decision, and it's only getting bigger.
00:07:58.340 Canada, we need to talk.
00:08:00.720 We've been together since 1905, but lately I've been feeling, well, less than happy with our arrangement.
00:08:07.840 I'm feeling like we aren't exactly equals.
00:08:09.840 I certainly don't have any say in where we are going.
00:08:12.400 It seems I am paying the bills while you are out foolishly spending the money.
00:08:15.680 You want to make all the decisions and just expect me to go along with them,
00:08:18.980 and when I need something, you expect me to beg for it.
00:08:21.360 Let's face it, Canada, you've changed, and I think it's over between us.