It is safe to say that many in the West are deeply disappointed by the results of the recent federal election. After 10 years of economic and fiscal mismanagement by the Liberals in Ottawa, we believed that, finally, we’d have a federal government aligned with our core values and objectives.
This is not Alberta looking for special favours from the feds, but merely looking for policies that don’t specifically target our primary economic sector. Policies like Bill C-69 (the so-called “no new pipelines law”), the oil tanker ban, emissions cap, and crippling carbon tax, to name a few, have contributed to an estimated $500 billion in lost business investment in Alberta alone.
And, this, by the way, isn’t an “Alberta only” issue. Over the past decade, Canadians’ standard of living has increased by less than 1 percent in the last nine years, compared to an increase of 16 percent in the U.S. Canada is third-last in economic growth in the OECD and is expected to have the slowest per capita growth. The Trudeau government doubled our national debt from $616 billion to $1.23 trillion—in just nine years, and it now costs Canadians $1 billion per week just to pay the interest.
It stands to reason, then, that many Albertans, and fiscally conservative Canadians, are wary and distrustful of another Liberal government and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
It has even reignited talk of separation. Over the years, many of us in Alberta have periodically pondered separation when Ottawa seemed completely out of touch. Premier Danielle Smith has now tabled a bill proposing to lower the bar for a citizen-led constitution question to be put on the ballot.
However, how many who are musing about separation would ever support it to its end? The rise in separation sentiment is predictable, but for many, it’s likely to be a fleeting notion. The fact that the bar needs to be lowered to get the signatures to even start the process is just one indicator that there is less than a snowball’s chance that a majority of Albertans would ultimately support separation when faced with the real question. We can’t even get behind an Alberta Pension Plan, an exponentially simpler and less life-altering concept.
Focusing on separation has real potential to undermine investment in the province. It will also risk diminishing Alberta’s influence on the nation at this critical juncture in Canada’s history. Premier Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have both framed the new Carney-led government as an opportunity to reset Ottawa’s relationship with the West. Prime Minister Carney has promised to oversee the biggest transformation of Canada’s economy since the Second World War. What if we held him to his word and put him to the test?
Just two days after the federal election, Carney received the Build Canada Now letter signed by 38 energy CEOs offering not only a concise and timely roadmap to reach his stated goal of having the fastest growing economy in the G7, but the commitment to strategically collaborate with the federal government to the betterment of all Canadians.
There is a plan in place and a will to execute in the West. We are an integral and necessary part of any credible solution to revive Canada’s economy, and we should be demanding that the prime minister act quickly and decisively. There is no room to play both sides, no time except right now to fully embrace the opportunity of the moment.
There has not been a time in recent history when Canada has needed the West’s leadership as it does now. So let’s lead.
