Western Standard - What an independent Alberta would look like

00:00:00.000 Hello, I'm Melanie Rizdin with the Western Standard. Thanks for joining me.

00:00:03.680 Also joining me today is Catherine Kowalczyk. She is a Calgary lawyer, but is now actually

00:00:09.060 going to be running for the Independence Party of Alberta leadership. So we're going to just

00:00:15.320 chat with Catherine a little bit today, and we're going to find out a little bit more about,

00:00:19.940 first and foremost, what Alberta independence looks like and why this is near and dear to

00:00:26.200 your heart, Catherine. Well, thanks, Melanie, for having me here today. First of all, as you know,

00:00:32.540 I've been quite involved in the freedom movement and quite outspoken the past few years in particular

00:00:39.320 with respect to the government mandates and policies that have come out with respect to

00:00:45.160 lockdowns, masking and COVID-19 in general. And that is really what motivated me. That and,

00:00:53.780 quite frankly and honestly, the fear for my children's future. You know, I've been paying

00:01:01.700 attention for quite some time now, even prior to COVID, about the trajectory of our, where our

00:01:08.300 society is going. And quite honestly, I don't personally agree with where it's going in many

00:01:17.320 respects. And so I felt that it was necessary to pivot from my advocacy, not necessarily as a lawyer,

00:01:26.900 because I'm still a full-time lawyer, and I'm still advocating from that perspective. But I realized

00:01:32.700 that I needed to do something different, which included, in my belief, a political solution.

00:01:39.580 Because right now, what the Independence Party is advocating for primarily is a referendum on

00:01:48.580 independence and giving back to Albertans a voice so that they are the decision makers in their own

00:01:55.840 destiny. And that really appealed to me. You know, I wasn't always necessarily in favor of a separatist

00:02:04.240 type of movement. In fact, I really didn't give it much thought. But earlier this year, I became

00:02:11.800 informed and realized that under the Clarity Act, that this, this referendum on independence is a legal

00:02:22.140 and viable option to increase our negotiating power, so that Alberta can achieve the things that we've been

00:02:29.700 trying to achieve, which is a fair deal within Confederation in Canada for decades.

00:02:35.640 Now, you've been a practicing lawyer for 20 years in family law. And I know you and I have spoken in the

00:02:43.460 past, we chatted about a ruling that came down for one of your clients with regard to he was he was

00:02:51.540 looking to protect his child from being vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine as his wife would would have liked to

00:03:01.040 have seen. So, so I'm, I'm guessing that as a lawyer and watching some of those situations and cases unfold and

00:03:10.080 seeing seeing these rulings, that's sort of the background that you're coming from the idea that you're

00:03:15.700 watching, you know, our justice system be affected or, or, you know, some would say infected. So, you know,

00:03:24.980 let's talk a little bit about things from the legal side of your perspective.

00:03:30.900 Yeah, certainly, you're, you're absolutely right. And in fact, when that decision and it was a father,

00:03:36.680 a separated father, divorced father, who was trying to, well, his position was he wanted to wait and see

00:03:42.200 before vaccinating the children. They weren't, they had received previous vaccinations. So it wasn't

00:03:49.220 that he wasn't in favor of vaccination, but he wanted to wait and see so that he could make an

00:03:54.500 informed decision. And his ex-wife obviously thought otherwise. And the children did have some

00:04:01.980 reservations around it too, of course, but you know, children are children and, and they don't

00:04:07.440 necessarily know all the facts. So when that case, when that ruling came out, and that ruling was

00:04:13.440 really indicative of what had been going on across the country up until that point from a family law

00:04:19.520 perspective. Now, I've been practicing primarily in family law exclusively for the past eight, eight or

00:04:25.180 nine years. But I do have other, I did practice in other areas of law before that. But, you know, when I

00:04:32.020 chose family law, thing that appealed to me about family law was the true human to human connection

00:04:39.540 and really helping families who are going through really challenging circumstances and navigating that.

00:04:45.560 And there's nothing more that I dislike is ending up in a courtroom to have to, to have to litigate an

00:04:53.900 issue. But it is necessary in some cases. But what was pivotal for me was the ruling in that case

00:05:01.000 not only was the mother given the ability, the authority to vaccinate the children, she was also

00:05:10.640 given primary health decision making over all healthcare related matters, which was up until

00:05:16.400 that point, the parties had not had a previous history of not being able to make those decisions

00:05:22.320 together as joint guardians and joint decision makers for the children. So the judge ruled in that

00:05:29.280 way as well. And also, very disturbingly, the justice ruled that my client and he was not allowed to permit any

00:05:38.640 third party to ever discuss COVID-19 or the vaccinations with the children again. And, you know, as we've seen in

00:05:47.280 other cases, in other cases, like, you know, Justice Germain's ruling earlier, that compelled speech, that's very

00:05:58.720 problematic in a democracy. And, and I think that we, there's a group of us lawyers, but for myself in

00:06:06.720 particular, I was really optimistic at the beginning of COVID that the courts were going to be the sober,

00:06:14.160 um, reasoned, uh, decision maker with respect to the government overreach. But the absolute opposite

00:06:25.200 has occurred. And so knowing that the likelihood of getting a fair result, a just result in the courts was

00:06:34.160 unlikely. Um, that's really, um, another thing that's motivated me to shift, um, into, into a political

00:06:42.240 realm to see if we can make some changes where it counts. And that is to become the, the lawmakers.

00:06:48.800 Mm-hmm. Now you, uh, had sort of banded together and sort of co-founded Lawyers for Truth. Uh,

00:06:55.920 is it more of an advocacy group or were you, uh, with that group representing people? Um, what was,

00:07:01.840 what was happening with that group? Uh, well, Lawyers for Truth is not a law firm. We're very clear

00:07:06.000 about that. And we're a group of people, lawyers and other professionals who came together as a result

00:07:11.760 of the mandatory masking right at the, uh, at the very beginning. And, um, we don't, uh, Lawyers for

00:07:18.560 Truth. So Lawyers for Truth does not take on any legal cases per se. We refer people and connect

00:07:24.880 people to lawyers across Alberta and across the country who are either facing fines, employment,

00:07:33.120 issues with respect to wanting to maintain their bodily autonomy, um, and also family law issues as,

00:07:41.120 as well. Right. And so with this background, 20 years of, of working within the law, seeing how it is

00:07:50.800 shifting or how it has shifted over these couple of years, um, would you say that's, that's a good

00:07:56.800 qualifier for you to become a leader in Alberta? I think so. Yeah. I, I, I think that, you know,

00:08:04.640 as much as lawyers have, you know, people have their opinions about lawyers and, you know, I often say

00:08:09.920 to people that I speak, you don't hold that against me. I do think that, you know, lawyers go to school

00:08:15.360 and are trained in a unique way. And we're trained to know, understand the legislation and really do a

00:08:23.920 thorough cost benefit risk analysis for their client. You know, we're trained to look at all

00:08:30.960 angles of a particular issue, regardless of what it is to help our clients make their own informed

00:08:37.920 decision about the instructions that we receive. And, you know, I'm very, very proud of my practice

00:08:43.920 because I, you know, I said earlier that I don't like going into court and I have gone into court,

00:08:49.200 but I really pride myself on my reputation and track record for getting my clients matter resolved

00:08:58.240 outside of court. And I would say the vast majority over 90% of my cases settle, um, either through a

00:09:06.560 mediation process or just through negotiations and discussions between counsel. And I think that is

00:09:13.040 really, um, what I would bring to the table with respect to what, what really is, um, essentially a

00:09:22.400 divorce from Canada. What else qualifies you to be a good, uh, candidate for running Alberta?

00:09:29.920 Well, I'm, I'm 100% dedicated to this. I, I, I, I have the courage. I think I've demonstrated to

00:09:38.080 Albertans through my advocacy, particularly in the past two years that I am, I'm not afraid and that

00:09:45.120 this is something that is near and dear to my heart and living in a society where the laws are respected,

00:09:52.400 the rule of law is enforced and that people are held accountable is very important to me because

00:09:58.960 what I've seen over the past number of years is that many, many politicians and other, um, elites,

00:10:07.360 let's call them, might go through the exercise of, of seeming to be held accountable, but nothing

00:10:14.160 ever comes to fruition. And I really believe that because I've been so outspoken and, and I'm passionate

00:10:21.680 about this issue and about, um, making sure that Alberta is the best province and most prosperous

00:10:27.840 province, uh, possible that I, I, my personality and my integrity stand for itself.

00:10:37.440 There's probably a lot of people who have heard discussion of, of the separatist movement or,

00:10:44.000 you know, Alberta sovereignty, um, and, and discussion around the sovereignty act.

00:10:50.080 Why don't you paint a little bit of a better picture for people who may not understand what

00:10:54.560 an independent Alberta would look like? Well, not only does, um, the independence party advocate

00:11:01.840 for the referendum on independence, which will provide us with the leverage in Ottawa to either

00:11:08.320 open up, um, negotiations with Ottawa to get a better, a deal for Albertans or for us to chart our own

00:11:15.280 course. And, and without that leverage, uh, I, I think that what we've seen with previous politicians,

00:11:23.520 including, um, uh, Jason Kenney's response in how he dealt with the referendum on equalization,

00:11:29.200 for instance, which was basically a letter writing campaign, if that to Ottawa, um, regarding

00:11:35.840 Albertans desire to change equalization. I think that, um, an independence minded government

00:11:44.480 will be a government and under my leadership will be the government that will address, um, a myriad of

00:11:51.040 things. Uh, some of the things are, that are on the top of my list include doing a robust independent

00:11:57.920 inquiry about the handling of COVID-19 and also, um, to hold these people who were pivotal, um, or

00:12:06.480 connected with the decision-making and the rollout of, of all aspects of, of the last two years accountable,

00:12:13.760 both civilly and criminally. And the other thing is, um, I, I think that an independent, under my

00:12:20.080 leadership, I'm seeking to not only hold elected governmental officials accountable. I'm hoping,

00:12:27.040 I want to address the bureaucracy. I think that as a society, we've become too accepting and

00:12:33.760 complacent of a nanny state type of top-down government where the government dictates to

00:12:40.160 the citizens more like subjects rather than citizens that, uh, what they are to do and how

00:12:46.480 they are to conduct their lives. And I think, um, the majority, uh, a vast majority of the bureaucracy

00:12:52.240 needs to be fired. And it's a strong word, but I, I don't, I don't see any other way of sugarcoating it

00:12:58.800 because, um, we are a highly regulated, uh, province. We're a highly regulated country and it's impeding,

00:13:07.600 um, commerce and it's impeding and encroaching on basic, um, the abilities for families and individuals

00:13:18.000 to do basic things. And, you know, you need to relate a regulation or a fund or a, um, license or a fee

00:13:26.400 to do almost anything these days. And, and I want to see that end. And so I'll be looking at, um, reducing

00:13:34.960 government substantially. Uh, also, I, I believe I'm well, um, qualified to tackle the legislation.

00:13:43.600 We need to look at the legislation that has violated, that violates the, um, rights and freedoms

00:13:50.400 of individuals now. And we need to repeal it. So for example, the public health act, the public health

00:13:56.560 act is a very problematic and it's been on the books for over 20 years, but that legislation gave, um,

00:14:04.960 uh, Dr. Dina Henshaw, I call her hee-haw, um, the power to do what she did. And, uh,

00:14:13.440 the fact that a bureaucrat was given that much authority must never happen again. And so

00:14:21.600 legislation such as that, that violate these rights and freedoms must be repealed. You know,

00:14:27.840 all of our laws are subject to, uh, you know, the charter of rights and freedoms and the bill of

00:14:32.640 rights, Alberta bill of rights. And the Alberta bill of rights, um, in the preamble talks about how

00:14:39.440 all laws regulations need to be subject to bill of rights, right? So what I've seen though, is that

00:14:47.840 laws are being created, regulations are being created that are absolutely, that contradict and

00:14:53.040 apply in the face of these fundamental principles that we've grown up. I've grown up believing to be

00:14:59.520 true. Um, in addition to repealing the laws though, I think we need to also implement laws to ensure that

00:15:08.800 this does not happen again and be strong in what we're doing. For instance, I want to table legislation

00:15:15.600 very early on upon forming government that, um, prevents any employer for ever discriminating

00:15:22.960 against an employee for health related matters. I want to get rid of the mass mandatory masking.

00:15:29.760 These sorts of things are not within the purview of government, I believe. And, um, you know, I'm a very

00:15:36.240 big advocate for, um, for a limit, trying to do my best to eliminate censorship. And, and I think that

00:15:44.160 we need to restore parent and property rights back to, um, individuals and families where they belong.

00:15:52.800 So in Alberta, you know, I, I guess the idea of an independent Alberta, people who don't really

00:15:59.120 understand what that looks like, how, how does that keep us part of Canada, but yet separate us?

00:16:05.200 I think some people are seeing it as we would literally be cut off from Canada, from the CPP,

00:16:11.920 from, you know, the RCMP, things like that. So your vision of what this looks like for the province,

00:16:18.480 can you, can you sort of speak to that? How do we participate in Canada?

00:16:24.000 Well, I think it's going to really depend on how the negotiations go. Um, ultimately, uh, I'm prepared

00:16:31.120 and the independence party is advocating for and prepared to leave Canada, which means that, uh, what,

00:16:37.040 what would happen is that Alberta would become a constitutional republic, its own country and

00:16:43.760 would have the exact same services that you are speaking about right now. Um, provincial police

00:16:50.480 force, its own pension, um, and public services to same as you would have right now, um, as a citizen

00:16:58.560 of Canada. Now, financially, how is that beneficial for Albertans? I think, I think there's a financial

00:17:05.440 picture and worry that coming out of Canada, coming out of the country, um, would, would be detrimental.

00:17:12.880 Speak to that a little bit. Well, I, I think the actual, um, opposite is true. I think that when you

00:17:19.440 factor in the equalization payments that we give, um, annually and that we only get a third of it back

00:17:25.600 and, um, um, the fact that, um, income tax, federal income tax would be, um, eliminated right off,

00:17:33.840 right off the top. When you look at the policies that we're proposing that we want to enact based

00:17:41.120 on the philosophy that we promote a free enterprise system with little government overreach, um, the fact

00:17:48.640 that we will, um, be very active in, in ensuring that our resources, um, are competitively marketed

00:17:59.440 and that, and, and exported and that we are a strong player worldwide, I think that immediately we will

00:18:06.560 be better off just by reducing federal income tax and by eliminating the carbon tax, by eliminating

00:18:13.440 those, uh, the equalization payment, Albertans will already be, um, better off on day one.

00:18:20.240 And then as far as, uh, as far as, you know, the role of Alberta on the global scale being its own,

00:18:30.400 uh, you know, country as you're, as you're referring to it, um, a bit landlocked, uh, you know, being that

00:18:39.520 it's sort of, you know, separated from any kind of waterways, uh, when it comes to sort of the export

00:18:45.440 of oil, uh, we really are, our option is to go, to go south. Uh, you know, how, how do you plan to,

00:18:53.200 uh, mitigate that challenge or that barrier? Well, I think that it will be in the best interest

00:18:57.920 for our neighbors to, to negotiate with us because we are such a resource rich province

00:19:03.520 that, um, they are going to want, I believe, to work with us in order to facilitate the commerce,

00:19:09.520 um, that will only benefit their, their provinces. And not only that, I believe that, you know,

00:19:15.600 there's a movement, uh, growing in Canada and a general, um, um, distrust of, of especially the

00:19:24.400 federal government in Ottawa and legacy political parties to be able to get the job done. And I suspect,

00:19:30.960 you know, there's a growing movement in BC and in Saskatchewan in particular with respect to

00:19:36.080 this, and they're really looking, um, to Alberta, um, to see with, with, with a lot of interest to see,

00:19:44.240 um, you know, that we can, when we can do this, how it's done. And many people have reached out to

00:19:51.200 the party, um, to, um, start speaking about how they might engage in their own independence movement

00:19:58.880 themselves. And so I don't see it being an issue. And besides which, um, I, I think that Albertans are,

00:20:07.120 because we have such a strong economy, and I think that out of all the provinces in Canada,

00:20:12.160 we have by far the best option, um, and ability to carry out this endeavor that, um, we will be

00:20:20.400 lucrative and successful in, in the ultimate negotiations internationally, uh, to ensure that,

00:20:27.520 you know, the existing contracts, you know, continue, um, and, you know, albeit

00:20:34.320 it's a little bit differently likely under, um, a different governing model that we're proposing,

00:20:41.040 but that I, I think that the majority of, of the people around us and our international partners

00:20:48.320 will probably be, um, quite willing to negotiate with us. So you've been doing a lot of traveling

00:20:55.200 around and speaking with Albertans over the last few months. Uh, and what have you heard from

00:21:01.120 Albertans as far as concerns about an independent Alberta that you can sort of speak to and, uh, and

00:21:09.120 perhaps even some you anticipate, but have a plan to work through? I think most of the concerns stem

00:21:15.120 around fear, um, and, and not understanding, um, what the benefits are around independence. And also,

00:21:26.320 of course, their Canadian identity. I mean, that's a big one and I understand that, but at the same

00:21:34.160 time, um, it doesn't mean that they have to not be Canadian, right? As well, uh, Alberta just needs to

00:21:40.960 do something different. We have been trying, the government of Alberta has been trying to get a

00:21:46.080 better deal with Ottawa since the joint confederation. And quite honestly, nobody's been able to do that.

00:21:53.360 The reform party wasn't able to do that. And, you know, right up until, you know, Jason Kenney not being

00:21:59.280 able to do that, even, even with a referendum to, um, renegotiate or end equalization in, um,

00:22:09.920 in the last referendum. And so, you know, I think that, um, it's, it's that fear of uncertainty,

00:22:19.920 but, um, based on the information that I've read and the research that I've done,

00:22:24.960 I think that, um, it is the only tool, um, that will be effective in giving us the leverage we need

00:22:33.680 to open up the constitution. You know, I'm not, I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know where things

00:22:39.760 are going to go ultimately, but if Ottawa understands that we as Albertans are serious about this,

00:22:47.840 you can better, best be sure that they will come to the table with years to listen.

00:22:53.520 Right. And so, so with that, depending on how the negotiations go, will depend on how, um, the

00:23:01.520 independence party of Alberta pushes forward, uh, with, with how much independence we are seeking,

00:23:08.720 right? Like, so what you're saying is, is if the federal government does, um, come to the table

00:23:14.400 and negotiate, then we could stay within better confederation, but with a better deal, as you call

00:23:19.840 it. Well, and you know, nothing's off the table, right? You know, I, I think that we have to be able

00:23:25.200 to look at the political climate at the time, what is happening to our economy at the time. I think we,

00:23:32.160 we would, but if negotiations fail, IE they're, you know, ignored or obstructed in any way,

00:23:41.600 then that clear majority pursuant to the clarity act will give us the authority to chart our own

00:23:47.840 course. And I think that's really important. And after all, that's what Quebec was able to achieve

00:23:53.200 a better deal within confederation in Canada, um, with their efforts years before.

00:23:59.120 So if we were to be able to achieve similarly, what Quebec has, uh, would that be enough for

00:24:06.640 the independence party of Alberta to stay within confederation? Well, you know what, that will

00:24:11.040 have to be up to the members. Yeah. I mean, and, and, and the citizens of Alberta ultimately, and, um,

00:24:19.040 I'm just one vote and one voice. And so, you know, my style is, um, is to, is to advocate

00:24:31.280 for the constituents and advocate for the citizens of Alberta and what they want.

00:24:36.560 Um, the referendum, if, if we are, if we are, um, blessed with being, um, given the opportunity to

00:24:43.840 form government in the next election, then we believe we have the moral authority based on our

00:24:48.640 platform and our policies and what we stand for to have the referendum within the first year forming

00:24:53.680 government. And that's what we're intending to do. And thereafter, you know, we'll be working on all

00:24:59.280 of these other things that I've discussed, um, in the meantime, as an independence minded government

00:25:04.000 that desperately need to be addressed, uh, so that, uh, we can improve Albertans position just within

00:25:10.320 Alberta, uh, without the constraints of government that are tied to, um, these globalist organizations

00:25:18.960 that have really put us under their thumb. And so I don't want to say, um, that I want to say that

00:25:26.480 everything is possible, but know that, um, my preference is to work for the best interests of Albertans first.

00:25:35.840 Right. Now the leadership vote for the independence party

00:25:39.680 of Alberta is in September. What's the date of that? It's September 10th. Okay. And there is a

00:25:45.200 deadline to become a party, uh, to become a party member in order to participate in that vote. And

00:25:50.560 that deadline is tomorrow. That's tomorrow. That's right. August 20th is tomorrow and it's shaping up

00:25:56.640 to be a really fun, um, political leadership race, and I'm excited about it. But certainly if, if Albertans

00:26:04.480 want to be part of this process and choosing the next leader for this movement, you know, a leader that

00:26:10.800 has a wide appeal to, or could have wide appeal to, uh, the majority of Albertans and has the background

00:26:18.960 and the competency in order to, you know, take the next step to, um, sever ties legally with Canada. Um,

00:26:29.120 this is their opportunity to join the party, become a member, and then vote on, on the 10th.

00:26:37.040 Now you have a website, um, that people can go to, to learn a little bit more about you,

00:26:41.840 get, uh, some more idea on your thoughts and background and strategy. Uh, and then as well,

00:26:47.440 links through to the Indepart, uh, Independence Party of Alberta website where they can become a

00:26:53.280 member. Uh, and the website is? It's www.KatherineKowalchuk.ca. Yeah. And we'll have that up on

00:27:00.240 the, um, on the story as well so that people can click through to it. And I'm also on Facebook,

00:27:05.360 Twitter, and Instagram, and happy to answer any questions. Um, and you can also reach me through

00:27:11.600 email on my website and again, happy to answer any questions. So that's Katherine Kowalchuk,

00:27:17.920 uh, and she is, uh, running for the Independence Party of Alberta. And, uh, Katherine, we just want

00:27:22.880 to thank you for coming in and, uh, sharing some of the vision that you have for Alberta. And, uh,

00:27:28.320 and I think more importantly as well, um, sort of where this has come from for you and why this is so

00:27:35.360 near and dear to your heart. Thank you, Melanie. And thank you for all the work you're doing as well.

00:27:41.600 Thank you for all the work you're doing. Thank you.

Western Standard - August 19, 2022

What an independent Alberta would look like

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