Walk-in clinics have short wait times. Doctors in Edmonton advertise for new patients. Roads are paved to a farm with two cows. Every village has a rec centre with a swimming pool. We are talking another planet in terms of public infrastructure.
Alberta is just addicted to spending more than they take in, blowing not only all the tax revenues that are taken in, but virtually all of the oil and gas revenues since the beginning of time. But adjusting to a new economic reality is hard. Investors remain nervous about year timeline oilsands investments for which they will be pilloried by shareholders.
Automation and artificial intelligence are hammering the job profile. Texas, with no Trudeau and no NDP and no market access issues, had a full oil industry recovery but left 30, to 40, jobs behind due to automation and cost cutting. So, every crisis demands an enemy, and there is no more convenient one than Rest of Canada, particularly Easterners and Quebecers and British Columbians. Stoking these flames, though, is very convenient for Premier Kenney. A social conservative, he personally hates Trudeau and has yet to show he is keen for nation-building and statesmanship.
However, his early reaction to the Trudeau reelection was more measured than anticipated and his letter to Trudeau shrewdly didn't zero in on his demand that the carbon tax be dumped, leaving that to page three, and instead emphasized on Bill C and equalization.
Now, Alberta faces a new Liberal minority with no cabinet ministers or even MPs in government, all defeated by the groundswell of anti-Trudeau anger. Trudeau and his Ottawa team are mystified that having factually delivered much more cash to Alberta in four years than Harper in nine-plus, buying a pipeline at considerable political expense, they face this level of hostility. A greater chill, though, and even more complex, is the rapidly increasing worldwide angst developing over the effect of fossil fuel use on the climate, and increasing pressure on bankers and investors to pull out of oilsands investments.
An investor recently noted he used to get a call from a shareholder once or twice a year opposing, then once or twice every six months, then it moved to a few a quarter, and now he gets calls every month. Big lenders like banks, big Wall Street Investors, and big insurance companies are all starting to sour on politically charged investments that have year payback horizons.
So, between a government they hate—not dislike, but hate—a slump in oil prices, real challenges attracting investment, and a sense that Quebec, Ontario and B.
There have been waves, over time, of separatist sentiment in Alberta, whipped by ever willing politicians. None has ever resulted in a single separatist elected to Ottawa, and only one ever elected even to the provincial legislature.
The last separatist party disintegrated at its annual meeting. Trudeau starting his speech while Scheer was speaking when Scheer had started while Singh was speaking was immediately pounced upon by failed former Alberta Wildrose leader and hotline maven Danielle Smith as somehow a personal insult to Albertans, even though Scheer is from Saskatchewan.
Clearly, with no Liberals in Alberta or Saskatchewan, and a significant level of anger, the Trudeau government will have an almost insurmountable challenge. Trudeau will have Kenney bashing Ottawa, putting on a referendum on equalization or the constitution, and pushing at him in concert with other premiers.
Trudeau needs to look hard at further amendments to C They just do. Despite the fact that Alberta's current premier was born in Toronto, attended two private schools and has never had an actual private sector job, always political jobs. When I was young, my parents moved to Saskatchewan to buy a newspaper, but insisted that for some summers I return to their family friends farm near Okotoks, then a long drive south from Calgary, now almost a suburb.
This was the real Alberta, complex and nuanced. The farmer was tough as nails after coming back from the war determined to build a future for his family, fiscally conservative and socially progressive. He married an Irish war bride, and she made us all—their boys and my brother and I—take French lessons from her every day after hours of weeding, haying, feeding pigs, and fixing broken equipment.
French, in Alberta!! Farmers were, and are, worldly. Which is why Alberta has had such a high degree of state intervention in the economy, despite outward appearances as far-right fiscal conservatives.
Over time, Alberta has become much, much more polarized and much more emotional about the relationship with Canada. This website uses cookies to personalize your content including ads , and allows us to analyze our traffic.
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Shopping essentials. A rule that made sense a decade ago, when Canada was in recession, might not make as much sense today. Finance Canada recently completed a review of Equalization but the government refused to make any substantive changes to the formula. Equalization is a concept enshrined in the Constitution, but for Alberta, it could become the new NEP if not managed well.
T he big difference between and today is that Alberta is a much larger player in the Canadian economy and in our national life than it was then. The province therefore needs real voice and power in Ottawa today, as Ontario and Quebec have. It will take at least that much to contain Alberta alienation after this election outcome. Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Pierre Trudeau appointed multiple senators from the West to his cabinet.
The Canadian Press, by Jason Franson. Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the Policy Options discussion, and send in your own submission. Here is a link on how to do it.
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