Western Standard - March 16, 2026


CORY MORGAN： Fight the idea, not the vote


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

205.1915

Word Count

859

Sentence Count

27


Summary

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

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 let's talk about independence movements getting rolling and some of the hazards going on so this
00:00:13.440 is an independence movement continues to grow and organize across western canada the most
00:00:17.580 irresponsible and unprincipled thing opponents to the movement could possibly do is block the
00:00:22.460 legal mechanism of separation provided by the clarity act yeah that's exactly what they're
00:00:26.440 trying to do. Never while Quebec prepared to hold independence referenda were Quebecers told they
00:00:31.940 weren't allowed to have the vote. There are many opponents to Quebec's independence movement of
00:00:35.340 course but none of any prominence dared to tell them they didn't even have the right to hold a
00:00:39.380 referendum. In the case of Alberta though opponents to independence are telling Albertans you aren't
00:00:43.620 allowed to leave. In fact you aren't even allowed to hold the question. Is it any wonder the analogy
00:00:48.740 of an abused spouse is often used when describing Alberta's relationship with the federation? You're
00:00:53.900 not allowed to leave. Let's get right to the point. The secession of a province from the Federation
00:00:58.920 in Canada is perfectly legal. The Clarity Act lays out the pathway to get there. People can
00:01:04.280 certainly question whether or not Alberta be able to pass all the hurdles provided within the Act,
00:01:08.360 and it's going to be a tough job to make it through all those hoops and requirements.
00:01:11.780 To say a province hasn't the right to pursue the steps laid out in the Act, though, is an outright
00:01:15.580 lie, and it only heightens division and anger. Alberta NDP leader Nahed Nenshi has partnered
00:01:21.220 with Indigenous chiefs in Alberta to oppose the process of independence. His party has been
00:01:25.120 slipping in the polls and he needs to latch on to something to try and gain relevance.
00:01:29.140 And those chiefs are seeking a court injunction to block the democratic exercise
00:01:33.040 of gathering signatures to hold a democratic referendum on independence.
00:01:37.380 To block that provincial right would be a clear violation of the Clarity Act.
00:01:41.020 We should be confident that a judge will realize that and toss out the application from the chiefs,
00:01:45.320 but we've seen enough terrible rulings from judges already to know we can't rely on common sense
00:01:49.140 from the bench. It's interesting how opponents to independence decry the movement being as one
00:01:53.140 supported by a tiny minority, yet they're terrified at the prospect of putting it to a
00:01:57.180 general vote. I mean, wouldn't they want to put this to bed in a referendum so we can stop talking
00:02:00.860 about it? Look, polling is all over, but it indicates we're looking at around 30% of the
00:02:04.900 province is dedicated to pursuing Alberta's independence. That's a long way from a referendum
00:02:08.420 win, but momentum is on the side of the independence movement, and a lot can change over eight months.
00:02:13.640 When one in three Albertans have given up in the Federation, Federalists would be better served to
00:02:17.800 listen to their grievances rather than try to steal the democratic means of expression from
00:02:21.180 them. To cork the bottle and ban independence referendums would be corking the bottle not
00:02:25.120 just in Alberta but in Quebec. And while the vast majority of independent supporters would
00:02:29.180 never participate in or condone extreme acts, when we're looking at millions of people supporting
00:02:33.520 this, it's not inconceivable that an unhinged soul or two might be inspired to do something
00:02:37.900 dangerous. Those who might not remember, between 1963 and 1970, the FLQ conducted nearly 200
00:02:43.960 bombings and multiple kidnappings responsible the deaths of six to nine people during those years
00:02:49.600 there was no framework or mechanism for quebec to become independent and it created dangerous
00:02:53.340 extremists much of what ended the terrorism being committed in quebec was the presentation of a
00:02:58.560 democratic outlet for their independence movement in 1968 the party quebecois was formed rene
00:03:03.940 leveque was leading and started the process of turning the independence movement there
00:03:06.720 into a political one rather than a revolutionary violent one quebecers aren't violent by nature
00:03:11.620 and they embraced being able to form independence parties
00:03:14.000 and hold referendum on the issue.
00:03:15.680 Even when losing the referendum, the FLQ didn't reappear
00:03:18.700 because people knew there was still a path to independence
00:03:21.060 and they accepted that the province wasn't ready for it.
00:03:25.000 With one in three people in Alberta currently supporting
00:03:27.100 Alberta independence, one in Fort Quebec,
00:03:28.920 it's no insignificant number of people who are so dejected
00:03:31.600 with the federation they want to leave it.
00:03:33.500 Banning the possibility of holding a referendum
00:03:35.300 won't reduce independence support,
00:03:37.380 even if it makes Federalists feel a little better about themselves.
00:03:39.740 so right from the clarity act itself whereas the government of any province of canada is entitled
00:03:44.280 to consult its population by referendum on any issue and is entitled to formulate the wording
00:03:50.020 of its referendum question that's right out of the clarity act guys are opponents of independence
00:03:54.460 prepared to repeal that act there's only going to be one way to resolve the budding independent
00:03:58.320 movements in multiple provinces across the country now hold referendums get the question settled
00:04:03.560 peacefully and democratically fight against the concept guys not the means or things could
00:04:09.260 go badly for everybody.