Former Deputy Premier Thomas Lukasik has started a petition to have Alberta remain a part of Canada. He has over 600,000 signatures and is on track to have it on the ballot in a citizen-led referendum.
00:00:00.000A lot of the selling pitches that are being proposed for Alberta to either separate or become the 51st state are simply fantasies and our disinformation are not backed by the Canadian and Alberta laws, nor are they backed by economics.
00:00:15.440If enough Albertans want to become independent, there is nothing this guy or any other weasel can do.
00:00:21.380Hey everybody, PJ. Hope you're all having a good week so far.
00:00:30.580In today's video, we're going to be providing commentary on an interview with this former Alberta politician who is completely against Alberta independence.
00:00:40.200He's the guy who started his own petition referendum to have Alberta stay within Canada.
00:00:46.700We're going to be providing commentary, throwing our opinion in there and fact checking the BS.
00:00:53.120I bet you he's going to be spewing. So we're going to be watching that.
00:00:56.880I believe his name is Thomas Lukasik, something like that. I'm probably butchering his name. Buckle up. Let's watch.
00:01:03.620Well, Alberta separation continues to be a hot issue in the province and seems destined for a citizen led referendum.
00:01:10.460Doing his best to ensure it does appear as a question on the next ballot is former Deputy Premier Thomas Lukasik, who joins us now.
00:01:17.200Thomas, thanks for taking time for us this morning.
00:01:19.120So your proposed question, do you agree that Alberta should remain a part of Canada, has been approved.
00:01:23.980You can find it on the Elections Alberta website.
00:01:26.720If we can just start where it stands this morning in terms of how many signatures you need and your campaign to get them.
00:01:33.040We don't know that for certain yet, as Elections Alberta hasn't made a ruling, whether the old rules or the pro-separatist bill 54 will apply to us.
00:01:43.700But we will play by whatever rules Elections Alberta decides that we have to play by.
00:01:48.920Two things. So the reporter said the word separation and so did this guy, unsurprisingly, you know.
00:01:58.320And then secondly, of course, you're you're going to play by any rules.
00:04:25.680We are literally inundated by questions.
00:04:28.300Where do I sign and how do I volunteer?
00:04:30.440And we haven't even kicked up our campaign yet.
00:04:33.000Why did you launch the campaign, Thomas, for those who haven't been following this?
00:04:38.500Well, it was evident that this discussion and a referendum is inevitable.
00:04:43.860So I'm of the opinion that if we are going to discuss the future of Canada, this conversation has to be led by people who actually care about the future of Canada.
00:04:53.060And it has to be led on facts, not on disinformation.
00:05:08.540Whenever the left, the socialists, the liberals, whenever the leftists are losing an argument or they don't have a point to be made, they use the word misinformation and disinformation.
00:05:22.440That is something that I've noticed every single time.
00:05:25.260When you're arguing about economics with them and how socialism just doesn't work, how communism has been tried so many times and it just never works, they say that's misinformation and disinformation.
00:05:39.860They do not argue the merits of their ideas.
00:05:43.340When they know that their ideas have no merit, they come up with those words.
00:05:49.460Economically, pro-independence people are making the case that Alberta would be much better off economically and they've provided numbers.
00:05:59.760Just consider the fact that we wouldn't have to deal with the reality, the socialist reality of equalization payments, which is nothing more than wealth redistribution.
00:06:12.900A communist scheme, a communist scheme, think about it like a pyramid where you have those at the bottom providing for those at the top as it goes up.
00:06:25.060And Alberta and Saskatchewan are at the bottom providing for those at the top.
00:06:29.120By removing that, Alberta would be billions richer.
00:06:33.680There is nothing Canada provides economically for Alberta that justifies the $20 billion a year loss.
00:06:41.900And that is without counting the economic prosperity that Alberta would generate being unshackled from the unfriendly energy policies, unfriendly agricultural policies that Ottawa imposes on our industry.
00:06:59.200They're not going to argue any of that.
00:07:00.980You know what they're going to say when they hear these arguments?
00:07:03.100They're going to say misinformation and disinformation.
00:07:05.700They're not going to argue the historical facts around it either.
00:07:09.500You notice that they never touch the the reform party.
00:07:15.680A lot of the times these people will say that, oh, Canada can be fixed from inside.
00:07:47.320They don't want to have the debate because they know that if we argue the merits of their ideas versus ours, they'll lose every single time.
00:07:55.860Then there's then there's representation, actual political representation.
00:08:02.080The biggest and most egregious one that I always bring up as an example is the number of senators.
00:08:10.300New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, I believe most maritime provinces get 10 senators.
00:08:16.320These are provinces that have less than 2 million people.
00:08:27.280So does Saskatchewan and so does Manitoba.
00:08:30.940So these are provinces that have more people because it's supposed to be based on the amount, the population.
00:08:37.280Yet we have a lot less representation in the Senate.
00:08:39.800And the same goes for the members of parliament.
00:08:41.880This is the conversation they do not want to have people.
00:08:46.680And this is the conversation we need to have.
00:08:48.920First, we'll come to the conclusion that a lot of the selling pitches that are being proposed for Alberta to either separate or become the 51st state are simply fantasies.
00:08:59.540And our disinformation are not backed by by the Canadian and Alberta laws, nor are they backed by economics.
00:09:06.200So I want Albertans to engage in a fact-based conversation.
00:09:12.000And I am convinced that by the vast majority, Albertans want nothing to do with any form of separation.
00:09:17.960This government does seem focused on some of these issues.
00:09:22.360Separation, an Alberta pension plan, you know, a provincial police force.
00:09:26.900I'm just wondering for your time in government and sort of what you're hearing now.
00:09:31.460Um, what's your sense of how important these issues are to Albertans?
00:09:37.140Well, I know for a fact, you know, when I was in government, Ralph Klein did a survey and had a panel.
00:09:46.340And Albertans clearly said that they don't want any part of separating from CPP or CMP or other federal programs.
00:09:52.660Recently, Danielle Smith was told the same thing by Albertans, but for some reason, she keeps on asking that question until she hears the answer she wants to hear.
00:10:05.620Albertans are very clear about the fact that, you know, our country is not perfect.
00:10:12.420And by no means am I proposing status quo, but there are mechanisms where we can negotiate and we always have successfully negotiated our interprovincial and federal-provincial relationships.
00:10:24.780But none of those conversations should be with this proverbial gun being held to everybody's head of separation.
00:10:33.180Separation is not viable, but just this conversation about separation has the potential of causing a lot of economic damage.
00:10:55.980This is your own suspecting Albertan who doesn't know the history of what's been happening to Alberta.
00:11:03.300Those who haven't taken the time to look into the reform party of Preston Manning and how those folks tried for decades.
00:11:13.740The whole the West wants in the whole the West wants in campaign was all about that, about making the necessary reforms to make Alberta more equal in confederation.
00:11:33.280They all wanted to stay within Canada.
00:11:37.220Again, the whole campaign was the West wants in and they failed.
00:11:41.880The East didn't want the West in and they don't to this day.
00:11:46.360They're not going to make reforms the way that kind of structured is created so that the West continue subsidizing the East.
00:11:54.880And in order to make those changes, those reforms that this guy talks about, you need the approval of those who benefit from the status quo.
00:12:05.640He says he's not promoting the status quo.
00:12:14.340But again, let's say that you're a person who wants to see real reform in Canada because you want all you want is for Alberta to be treated equally and fairly.
00:12:23.280Why would Quebec give up the power that it has?
00:12:27.300Why would Ontario give up its power to benefit Alberta?
00:12:38.220For decades, the grievances and the in the in the real issues that Alberta has had within confederation has have been going on for many decades.
00:12:52.620Albertans voted in a referendum a few years back, 61% in favor of getting rid of equalization payments.
00:13:02.54061% of Albertans voted against having 20 billion taken from the Alberta economy and being redistributed to Quebec and other have not provinces.