Nine thoughts on Alberta after the trade rupture:
1 - What has occurred is an existential threat to Alberta and Canada.
2 - Far too many Canadians still seem convinced that everything will somehow return to normal.
They do not understand what has changed.
3 - Canada is in the process of failing.
We are in FAFO territory.
4 -
#AlbertaIndependence is no longer an abstract constitutional argument.
It is becoming a question of economic survival and control over our own future.
5 - The federal government’s actions are unconscionable. If this confrontation continues escalating, the economic and human consequences could be enormous.
6 - Canadians, especially working-class Canadians, are going to bear the consequences through jobs, prices, investment and purchasing power while much of the Laurentian political and institutional elite remains insulated from the damage.
7 - Canada now faces a fundamental question about what the country is actually for.
If a federation cannot protect the economic interests of its constituent regions, cannot maintain stable access to its overwhelmingly largest market, and cannot reconcile profoundly different regional interests, then the legitimacy of the arrangement deserves serious examination.
8 - Alberta must immediately start acting like a jurisdiction responsible for its own survival.
Open direct channels with American governors, legislators, industry and the administration.
Use every lawful power Alberta possesses to defend Alberta’s interests.
The old system is failing. Alberta cannot simply wait for Ottawa to save us.
It’s sink or swim.
9 - Albertans need to prepare for
#AlbertaIndependence.
Not someday. Now.
We need to build the institutions, relationships, infrastructure, fiscal strength and public support required for Alberta to determine its own future.
Alberta must be prepared to secure its own future.