Did you know …
In 2018,
25%
of Albertans
(of 400 Albertans polled)
agreed with the following statement:
‘My
province would be better off if it separated from Canada.’
Source: Ipsos 2018. (Click here)
Ipsos significantly downplayed Albertans' sentiment (click above to see the title of their article). However, a "majority" federal government routinely governs with less than 50% of the vote. It looks like Peter Lougheed was prophetic when he said the following:
To: All Albertans
From: Peter Lougheed, 10th Premier of Alberta
"You
will determine whether or not you want to see more and more of your lives
directed and controlled by Ottawa or whether you want to see a fair portion of
the decision-making determined by Albertans in Alberta."
Source: Alberta Premiers of the Twentieth Century (Click for more)
Since then,
Not much has changed ...
“There
is in Alberta today a ferocious craving to be heard. The Province’s discontents keep multiplying
without ever being debated, much less resolved.
Central Canada’s political elite has yet to accept the notion that
westerners are anything more than bubbas in the boondocks, whose lives are
consumed in envy of the lucky few plugged into action central in Toronto,
Ottawa and Montreal. That elitism has
little appeal to most Albertans, but gaining official recognition of their
distinctiveness does have. What they
will demand with increasing ferocity is greater control over their own
destiny. At the moment, they feel
abandoned by a country that continues to mobilize its best and brightest to
satisfy the demands of Quebec, without ever realizing that another large chunk
of valuable geography has aspirations that are just as urgent and valid.”
Peter C. Newman (Quoted in Mavericks by Aritha van Herk.
Chapter 1 Aggravating, Awful, Awkward, Awesome Alberta pg. 2-3). 2001.
Also in the same book ...
“The
habit of treating Alberta as an exploitable and resource-rich hinterland goes
back three hundred years. And why should
a self-centred Centre change its attitude?” p. 1-2.
And today we have 25% of Albertans (asked) saying they would like an independent Alberta.
And that's where Alberta stands today.
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