00:02:21.300The losing political party or parties regroup, re-evaluate their campaigns, and begin preparing for the next opportunity to contest an election.
00:02:28.420They don't sit silently in the years leading up to the next democratic exercise.
00:02:32.400They spend that time trying to shape public perception along with reconsidering their own messaging in hopes of winning the next time.
00:02:38.880Or if it's a new conservative party like the one in BC, they dedicate their time to ripping their own party to shreds and hope they can rebuild themselves for the next vote,
00:02:47.020which it turns out is going to be right away, but that's fodder for a whole different column.
00:02:51.300The point is, they don't give up, and they don't sit idle.
00:02:54.860Independence advocates are no different, and if indeed a majority of Albertans select option one on question ten,
00:03:00.760and we're certainly still gunning for option two, I mean, guys like me will respect the outcome of the referendum,
00:03:06.520but it doesn't mean we're going to stop making our case.
00:03:08.760To demand another referendum in the immediate future, yeah, that would be unreasonable,
00:03:12.380and that would disrespect the choice of Albertans.
00:03:14.620But to continue to work to create the winning conditions for a referendum a few years down the road
00:03:20.020only makes sense for those who are committed to alberta's independence most albertans understand
00:03:24.980this even if the reactive souls in social media don't polling by abaca data has found that only
00:03:30.10015 percent of respondents thought that the referendum would settle the question for a
00:03:34.900generation and 63 percent felt that this issue is going to keep albertans divided for years to come
00:03:40.820nearly half of the supporters for option two feel the independence movement is going to continue to
00:03:45.460to grow regardless of the outcome on October 19th.
00:03:48.440For the independence issue to be resolved,
00:03:50.420something substantive must change in Alberta and in Canada.
00:03:54.820Even if a strong majority of Albertans choose option one
00:03:57.420in the referendum, and again, I hope they don't,
00:03:59.400the underlying issues that created the alienation
00:04:02.260that led to the referendum in the first place
00:08:53.040The head of Imperial Oil has come out and put his side, his company directly on the side of federalism, saying separation would be obviously a huge problem.
00:09:27.460Elizabeth May obviously got into the drinks cabinet yesterday where she said the Alberta to BC West Coast Pipeline, there's no business case for it.
00:09:38.440I guess she hasn't seen all the tankers heading towards Asia from her Saanich office.
00:09:43.640Well, they're a little blurry in the distance.
00:09:45.240She's actually seen twice as many as most people would.
00:16:39.140Oh, just because the needs of each province are a bit different. They are certainly capable and they can form their own political parties to do the same. But the key is to, first of all, become the voice for Alberta. And our culture, our values, our needs are different from the other Western provinces.
00:17:02.660Secondly, in a two-party system, which we've had, a two-party system that has been totally ineffective for Alberta when it comes to things like fairness and equalization, let's focus on where we can have some impact.
00:17:17.260And that will be, you know, that will be just in the Alberta boundaries, the borders.
00:17:23.400And, you know, we'd like to be the voice for Alberta.
00:17:25.980Secondly, we'd like to elect a few MLAs.
00:17:28.480Third, we'd like to gain some leverage.
00:17:30.160and if we ever had the balance of power,
00:17:32.940that's when things would really start to happen for Alberta.
00:17:36.180Yeah, and I'm certain you've already been hearing it
00:17:38.180and you're going to hear it a lot, though,
00:17:39.440and it'll tie into, well, the stuff that's going on in British Columbia.
00:17:43.260Both of us as veterans of the Wild Rose days
00:17:45.780know that the vote split discussion is a strong one.
00:17:49.600And sometimes, I mean, a partisan effort
00:17:51.560can lead to an unintended consequence that's pretty ugly.
00:17:54.800How do you respond to that on the federal front?
00:17:57.580Oh, this is not vote splitting at all.
00:17:59.620it's totally different constituents if you're going to vote for the conservative party of
00:18:03.920canada what you're saying cory is you're willing to send somebody down there who's even fiscal
00:18:08.900conservative beliefs are suspect at times but always always willing to uh let your vote be
00:18:16.560whipped to uh support a federal or a conservative leader initiative for quebec ontario or the
00:18:22.520maritimes our 37 candidates our 37 members of parliament will be there just for alberta and of
00:18:29.480course, that means conservative fiscal values, but it means, you know, looking at reforming
00:18:35.080equalization, looking at more provincial autonomy, constitutional change has to happen. And it means
00:18:41.720not allowing your vote to be whipped in case somebody needs to win some votes in Quebec.
00:18:46.620It will all be about what's best for Alberta. Well, that's it. I mean, it's supposed to be
00:18:51.640a system of local representation. Our members of parliament, in my view, anyways, the very first
00:18:57.320thing they should be looking at when they're pitching a policy or if they're supporting one
00:19:01.040or opposing one was based on, is this in the interest of my constituents? Not is it in the
00:19:06.720interest of my party winning a majority? Is it in the interest of the people who elected me?
00:19:11.680And when you have federal, you know, a full federal majority government aspiration in mind,
00:19:16.660you can't allow the members of parliament to speak their minds like that because it might
00:19:19.900not pull well in the east. And that's what we're suffering from right now.
00:19:22.700Yeah, exactly what we're suffering from. And Albertans' needs and ideas get forgotten all the time. And your Reform Party example, you know, the Reform Party forced the Christian government into fiscal reform, and it made all Canada stronger.
00:19:38.340Where the reform went south was when they decided to cross the Manitoba-Ontario border and represent all of Canada.
00:19:47.240Then it became the same population control, urban center control, and Albertan values being forgotten.
00:19:55.620It's important that the things that are important to Alberta finally have some of the effect of real representation in Ottawa.
00:20:03.700And, you know, Corey, it's a little deeper too.
00:20:05.240I think back to, you know, how this conservative opposition since the last government vowed strongly that they were going to bring this federal government down.
00:20:15.420And then when they had their chance to, you know, after the budget four or five months ago, you know, Andrew Scheer and Scott Reid actually hit behind curtains until they were sure that the budget vote was going to be passed and they weren't going to have to return to another election.
00:20:30.980You know, the status quo is not working for Alberta.
00:20:33.860the status quo is not working for our freedom, our prosperity, and our families, and it's time
00:20:39.200to fight for that. Absolutely. I mean, so, I mean, a number of our members of parliament, I do know
00:20:45.660them. They're good people, a lot of them, and they've got good conservative credentials and
00:20:50.900genuine principles, though they have, you know, decided that the party will have to come first,
00:20:56.600so they sit quietly, I guess, on regional issues rather than speaking up for them.1.00
00:21:00.420I believe you'd spoken against, though, you're not interested in floor crossers if any of them1.00
00:21:06.060were to come over, but would that not also be a potential way to sort of kickstart things? I mean,1.00
00:21:10.760it's kind of hard to get a party going from a standstill. If you had a few of those members
00:21:14.940who were popular in their ridings and were willing to speak for the locals, would that be a
00:21:19.100consideration? No, it wouldn't. We're 100% against floor crossing. The voters' rights,
00:21:25.880respect for the voters has to be paramount. And so, hey, any Conservative MPs are certainly
00:21:32.940welcome to come to us and seek the nomination in their constituency or one of the 37 Alberta
00:21:39.140constituencies for sure. But let's not forget where these parties get offside and have more
00:21:45.920trouble with foreclossing and statements and stuff being out of the mainstream is when the
00:21:53.160leaders start to nominate and appoint people. Those are the people that are not connected
00:21:58.800directly to the constituents needs and desires. And that's what we have to protect. It's in the
00:22:05.180early stages. We are seeking registration. We're having great, great luck getting our signature
00:22:09.960so far. But Corey, our desire at this point is a grassroots members driven party, fiscal
00:22:16.600conservative values that just runs in the 37 Alberta seats. Yeah. And I would love to see an
00:22:22.260to whipped votes i mean i i really wouldn't be that frustrated if it was a conservative party that
00:22:27.220had a few members say urban and they were in downtown areas that felt their constituents went
00:22:31.780a different way from the party so be it vote for your constituents it's not the end of the world
00:22:36.260and the rural ones vote for how they felt but we never get to see that when i see them lockstep i
00:22:40.820see you know 80 100 or more people on any party that 100 vote the same way i just find it that
00:22:47.220That's not how democracy is supposed to work,
00:22:50.460especially when regions have differences.
00:22:54.400You know, free votes in the parliament and the legislature are so necessary.
00:22:59.140You know, I laughed back at my 11 years,
00:23:01.600and I think it was three different leaders,
00:23:03.100and everybody always said, we believe in free votes.
00:23:05.940But as soon as you said you were going to vote different from the leader or caucus,
00:23:10.260oh, they did everything they could to talk you out of a free vote behind closed doors.
00:23:15.620You know, Corey, like it's important that democracy be open and transparent and constituents especially know what their elected representative is doing.
00:23:25.180But maybe it's important that the leader doesn't know.
00:23:27.840Maybe from time to time in the legislature or the parliament, we need a secret ballot so people can truly vote, you know, the way that they think is best.
00:23:38.200Yeah, well, in a sense, and I know it's kind of getting a little higher level, but for some of the members, it could be empowering when you don't have a party that could, for example, form a cabinet.
00:23:48.520I mean, that's always been the thing that can be used as the carrot or the stick to kind of control caucus and maintain the aspirations.
00:23:56.340I mean, hey, even a backbench opposition conservative member of parliament, they're doing OK.
00:24:01.940You can pay the mortgage. You're going to be doing all right. It's not a bad gig.
00:24:05.200and I think people could be resigned to saying
00:24:07.380that's where they will maintain where they're at
00:24:09.200and then they can just stick to principle.
00:24:10.620They're not striving to try and, you know,
00:24:13.300find a cabinet seat or something like that
00:24:17.320it's just not even there in the first place
00:24:18.740so they can just stick to their mandate.
00:24:20.640Yeah, you're, again, you're right on where the problem is.
00:24:24.160The leader has a lot of cookies and goodies to give out
00:24:27.500from a cabinet post with considerably higher pay
00:24:30.600to media time to question period time.
00:24:33.240So all that has to be addressed. But, you know, that's what I like about our Alberta Now initiative. We're just going to be focused on 5 million Albertans, 37 Alberta constituencies. We're not going to have to worry about some of those distractions.
00:24:47.520and in our system which is so broken and with our constitution you know really it's an immovable
00:24:54.860force right now when you need seven out of ten of the provinces with 50 percent of the population
00:24:59.940to vote to change it that is not going to happen so within the system Alberta now will will hopefully
00:25:05.760someday gain us a voice gain us some leverage gain us the balance of power Corey look at how
00:25:41.900it will work for Alberta as well. Yeah I mean in a minority government situation a regional party
00:25:48.280could be very very powerful actually and we could get far more accomplished I think in that
00:25:52.720circumstance if it came about than even if a conservative party won a majority because majority
00:25:56.520conservative parties don't want to shake up the system but a case where you have a minority
00:26:01.860government you could cut a deal that might make some real changes. You mentioned the bloc though
00:26:07.140and I mean this will have to be addressed as well I mean the bloc is at least ostensibly
00:26:11.320a party that supports full Quebec independence eventually, where would Alberta now land on that?
00:26:16.900I mean, it's a question you wouldn't be able to fully avoid. It's certainly brewing right now,
00:26:21.200and it would be an ongoing one. Yeah, yeah, thanks for that question. Alberta should absolutely be
00:26:27.840the freest, most prosperous place in North America. And if that's part of Canada, that's great. If
00:26:35.920that's not part of Canada, that's great as well. So again, I envision Alberta now following the
00:26:42.680will of Albertans. And if that's to push for independence, we will be there. If that's to
00:26:48.340push for a stronger part for Alberta within Canada, we'll be there. You know, Corey, but it does start
00:26:54.340with getting some of the correct information out of there. Again, I'm such a Western Standard
00:27:00.160supporter because of all the subsidies and all the bias in the other mainstream media.
00:27:05.920But I'm looking at, you know, the fact like landlocked, you know, we are always pushed with this idea that we're landlocked.
00:27:12.420Well, my goodness, every day we sell about 3.8 million barrels of oil to America.
00:27:18.240You know, it's, you know, 1.5 million pounds of pounds of beef, tons of wheat every day that Alberta does to lead the country in prosperity and make Canada stronger.
00:27:30.180And it's time to insist on some recognition for that.
00:31:58.840I saw one question coming up from an individual in the comments section saying,
00:32:02.580you know, why dedicate these resources to another party when, you know, we could be putting that
00:32:10.260towards independence. I mean, in my view, I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And
00:32:15.280there's, the thing is, we have to have federal representatives all the way until we're independent
00:32:20.480anyhow. And I'd rather have them serving us as well as possible in the period to whenever that
00:32:28.200may happen i mean they're going to be there regardless uh i do understand resources energy
00:32:34.200time they're finite uh resources in general so uh you know splitting it in and doing some federal
00:32:41.560work as well as some provincial can be difficult now if talking about say an expressly independent
00:32:47.480minded federal party i don't know i mean i can't speak for them but as as drew kind of covered it
00:32:52.600i don't know if that's necessarily a route to go i mean independence has to be a provincial
00:32:55.800initiative anyhow. So that's the realm of the provincial world. I mean, everything kind of
00:33:00.460overlaps. You get the same supporters, you get similar goals, things like that. And a federal
00:33:05.900party, like you can see envisioning like the bloc, which is supportive of, of course, the
00:33:10.080independent side in Quebec, but they can't directly do anything towards it necessarily
00:33:15.660either because they're in the House of Commons, not in the National Assembly, as Quebec calls it.
00:33:20.240So I see it as an important thing. I don't feel, I'm just fully withdrew on this. I don't feel we're being properly represented federally. I don't think it's because the people in that party are bad, whether it's the elected members or the hardworking volunteers and the EDAs all around either.
00:33:38.160but they're working on a mathematical formula that means that you are trying to win a majority
00:33:43.800government across this country and everything you say has to be tempered with how is that going to
00:33:52.040be received in Toronto and Montreal and an Alberta-based party with no aspirations of
00:33:59.220trying to win over there doesn't have to ask themselves this when they're going to work in
00:34:03.960the House of Commons or when they're talking to their constituents. All they can be focusing on
00:34:08.540or should be focusing on is what do my constituents want to see? What's in it for us? Call it
00:34:13.540selfish if you like. It doesn't matter. That should be the nature of representative democracy.
00:34:18.900I don't think members would be going forward wanting to harm the rest of Canada. I would
00:34:24.100imagine, say, if we had a government that was in a minority position and this party
00:34:31.080had a balance of power, well, the MPs will be deciding to vote based, again, yeah, first on
00:34:36.060the interest of their constituents, but they're not inhuman. Let's see if it's in the interest
00:34:41.140of everybody. They can make that choice for themselves as elected members. I'm just going
00:34:46.320to be watching with a great deal of interest. I really want to see that void filled, and I'm
00:34:52.040looking forward to reporting on its progress as it moves along. There's the hard part, I guess,
00:35:00.800as i said there's a lot of good people in the existing conservative federal party and some
00:35:04.880people are going to be upset wondering if this is a shot at them i don't think it should be
00:35:08.480personal they got to realize it's political it's just that we need direct real representation and
00:35:14.800it can't be done through the old uh system the way it's sitting right now we've come full circle
00:35:21.440kind of back to where reform was and i did have a couple people because i was talking on a different
00:35:24.960live stream about how thrilled i am to see this coming about wondering if i'm looking to go that
00:35:28.960that route. No, not whatsoever, by the way. I have zero electoral aspirations or ambitions. I like
00:35:35.000where I am in the setup right now as a voice, as an activist, sure, an advocate in a lot of things,
00:35:41.780but no, electoral politics are not in my future. They're not going to be there. So I'm supportive
00:35:47.960of this, but no, I like where I am right now. I don't have a membership in any political party.
00:35:54.220The only thing I guess I kind of have a membership in is the third-party advertising group that I
00:35:57.980started on my own, but I'm not a member of other groups or things like that. I can support and not
00:36:02.440support other things. I like that fluid ability. Plus, in not having a membership in all of those
00:36:08.080things, and I do say it bluntly when people say, well, you know, why can't you get a membership
00:36:13.780with the UCP or this party or that? Well, because I look at my job as, my job is also to rip the
00:36:20.400heck out of you when you screw up. My job is to be critical if things aren't going in the correct
00:36:25.860direction and if i have a membership in one of these parties or groups though then i've already
00:36:30.260got a built-in bias and i might not be able to properly offer critique in what i would see as
00:36:37.140constructive i guess but if i'm entrenched within it then i'm not giving a good view on things i
00:36:41.860mean i'm a biased person i don't beat around the bush this is an opinion show i write opinion columns
00:36:48.180but i like to be open about it like my interests to be in what i see for alberta not necessarily
00:36:52.260for a party that I'm a member of and whatnot. And Ken Finlay says, so let's just kind of pivot a
00:36:58.660little. Let's talk about some of the weirdness of partisanship and everything. Saying how credible
00:37:02.600is Jeffrey Rath's allegations of bribery? I guess you're talking about that story. The Western
00:37:06.500Standard covered it about allegations that Jeff Rath was offered millions of dollars by
00:37:12.000somebody connected with the UCP to be nicer on Daniel Smith. I don't know. It just sounds
00:37:21.280extremely hard to believe. I don't want to get into the mire on that whole thing, but it's just
00:37:26.680bizarre. I really doubt it. I'll leave it at that. I don't want to get into it with Jeff again and
00:37:33.060whatnot, but there's just a lot of strange stuff going on in there in general. For the time being,
00:37:37.760that's one of the things, you know, I was set to speak at an event the night before last in
00:37:43.440Northeast Calgary, and I did speak at it. It was a packed house, actually. It went very well,
00:37:47.040but Jeff Rath was also supposed to be a co-speaker, and Mitch Sylvester was there, and I guess
00:37:51.160the organizers decided or something had happened in short notice and said to Mr. Rath they'd rather
00:37:57.960not he came and spoke there and canceled his appearance. And some people said I should boycott
00:38:03.920it or not show up in that case. Well, no, Jeff can speak for himself and do what he will.
00:38:08.240But there's one of the things we have going on in the independence movement in a sense that
00:38:12.360we can have different advocates still all pushing for the same outcome. Jeff and I
00:38:18.620agree on 80% of things. We agree on wanting to get Alberta independent. We want to get people
00:38:25.640voting to keep this moving and get onto option two. So right now, when it's so important and
00:38:31.300we're working on a campaign, I don't feel like getting into a big scrap with Jeff on the 20%
00:38:36.220of things we fight about. We can fight about that on October 20th, perhaps, if we really still feel
00:38:40.120so inclined to get on each other's cases. But there's strange stuff going on in there. Jeff
00:38:45.480hasn't been, you know, he's always been vocal. There's, there's no doubt about that, but he
00:38:49.520hasn't been really in any formal role or speaking for the movement necessarily itself or anything
00:38:54.140in some time either. It's been moving up, you know, uh, uh, parallel to what he's doing. So
00:39:00.180we'll see what's going on. There's a lot of weird things happening. You know, it's going to be
00:39:05.500the latest report of the, over, I think 600,000 mail-in ballots have now been ordered. It's just
00:39:11.780weird. I'm getting concerned about that. I'm still, I've talked about others. I know there's
00:39:17.060the controls that are in Elections Alberta and things like that. I'm still not worried about
00:39:20.160rigging of the election, but I am worried about this thing just being overwhelmed.
00:39:28.740Elections Alberta has not shown good competence. They haven't shown good planning. I mean,
00:39:33.000they didn't even get the attestation correct on the ballots they sent out for mail-in ballots,
00:39:37.620something that an intern with 20 minutes should be able to proofread and look at and say,
00:39:41.060hey, wait a minute, we might want to correct this before we send it out to half a million people.0.84
00:39:45.240So not so much rigging, but I could see it being such a gong show disaster trying to manage it0.80
00:39:50.960that nobody is going to take the results seriously.