Analyzing Albertans' Alternatives - for the future
Also see "my 40 seconds of anonymous fame" on YouTube
where I summarize some of Alberta's Alternatives.
where I summarize some of Alberta's Alternatives.
(I appear between 1:17 and 1:57)
Click here: Jay Bortnik interviewed on YouTube
Read more on the following options:
1.
Stay within Canada.
2.
Open negotiations to form a new country with British Columbia.
3.
Open negotiations to join the United States of America.
4.
Open negotiations to form a new country with Saskatchewan.
5.
Open negotiations to form a new country with Saskatchewan and
Manitoba.
6.
Open negotiations to form a new country encompassing all 4 western
provinces
– British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchwan and Manitoba.
7.
Open negotiations simultaneously with all parties.
8.
The options described above only scratch the surface.
Why
go through this exercise?
A lot – quite possibly
a majority – of Albertans are trying to convince the rest of Canada that
pipelines are required for the continued stability and prosperity of not only Albertans,
but Canadians as a whole. This has not
been working well. The evidence is in
the news. Pipelines cancelled – even
though pipelines are being built and used elsewhere in North America. And pipelines that are “indefinite.” Carbon taxes are being forced on some but not
others. Low investment and low margins
for Albertans’ exports are threatening to put Albertans out of business (and
out of jobs) in the long run. This
situation has dire consequences.
But through all of
this, we must remember that we are free to choose our collective future as Albertans
in Alberta. The late and great Edgar “Peter”
Lougheed said it himself: “You will
determine whether or not you want to see more and more of your lives directed
and controlled in Ottawa OR whether you want to see a fair portion of the
decision-making determined by Albertans in Alberta…”
Look - we have options
when we buy a house or look for a job.
Some people, I am told, are always looking for a better job and
conversely employers are always looking for their next star employee. They keep their options open. This is key.
Any good negotiator will tell you that there is no negotiation unless
each party has options. Otherwise there
is nothing to negotiate – If one party says, “here’s our offer – take it or leave
it,” this still gives us options. If
they say, “Here’s what we are going to take from you – you must hand it over
now,” – and you comply - knowing no other options. This is not a negotiation, but a
surrender. You might loudly and
vigorously complain, but you comply anyway, because – and this is very
important – you “know of no other
options.” So the first step in any
negotiation is to list all our options no matter what you initially think of
them. Why? There comes a point when each option works
better than your current circumstances.
Here
is just a summary of just some options Albertans have:
1. Stay within Canada.
Continue to cede all
important decisions to others – other Canadians – that live almost 4000 km away
from Alberta. What are these important
decisions? One is where Albertans’
federal tax dollars are spent and the other is whether Albertans can efficiently
and effectively sell their resources for their own benefit. Basically, Albertans would continue to work
within a system “rigged” against them for the benefit of others. For more on "rigged", read:
2. Open negotiations to form a new country with
British Columbia.
I know, I know,
Albertans aren’t happy with BC’s leadership “right now”, but they still have a
lot in common with the people of BC.
Alberta would have “unqualified” access to the Pacific Ocean. BC would stay attached to an economic
powerhouse. Remember, before all of the pipeline difficulties, Alberta and BC
signed an agreement called TILMA
(click here to find out about it). Also remember that Canada has always had a
huge desire to have a country that goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Losing just the “geography of Alberta” –
never mind its federal tax money - from Canadian control could cause significant
change (and needed change) in the rest of Canada.
3. Open negotiations to join the United States
of America.
Yeah I know there are
some anti-America people out there, but Alberta has a lot of American connections. 85% of all of Alberta’s yearly international
exports are sold to the United States.
Alberta’s oil and gas industry was developed by American companies. These companies are still big players in
Alberta’s oil industry. American
settlers also settled in the early stages of Alberta. The advantage is obvious – unfettered access
to the biggest market in the world. The
disadvantage is equally obvious – trading one confederation (that makes it possible
to legally leave) and replacing it with a union (that is said to be “indivisible”).
4. Open negotiations to form a new country with
Saskatchewan.
Did you know that Alberta and
Saskatchewan were “expected” to become one province? However, just before they became provinces, Prime
Minister Laurier – thought that that would make a province too powerful. So he split them up. The main disadvantage
to focusing only on Saskatchewan is that it does not solve the question of
being “landlocked”. However, there are
countries in the world that are “landlocked” – Switzerland is a good example. They are landlocked and have decided against
joining the European Union (look
it up – there is another surprising country that is not part of the EU either). So being “landlocked” is not as big an issue
as it is made out to be.
5. Open negotiations to form a new country with Saskatchewan
and Manitoba.
This new country would have access to “tidewater” at Hudson Bay. For 200
years before Canada, ships came into Hudson Bay to access what is now Northern
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The country is resource rich with oil,
natural gas, and agriculture. Over 6.6
million people (the 108th largest country in the world by population
with almost 200 countries in the world) would inhabit this new country. It would have an area of almost 2 million
square kilometers – making it almost twice the size of Ontario with way more
“inhabited” land area. It would also
make this the 14th largest country by area in the world.
6. Open negotiations to form a new country
encompassing all 4 western provinces – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchwan
and Manitoba.
This new country would
have easy access to both the Pacific and the Atlantic through Hudson Bay. As well, with the addition of BC, it would be
even richer in natural gas as well as international business
opportunities. This new country would
have over 11 million people (the 81st largest country in the world
by population). Remember that by 1931,
Canada had about 10 million people with an area 5 times larger than this new
country. In that same year, the British
Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster, giving Canada control over its
foreign and domestic policy. Canadian
independence from Britain was finalized.
Independence for this new country would be legally easier thanks to the
continued struggles of Quebecers (Something positive from the referendum of the 1990s).
7. Open negotiations simultaneously with all
parties.
Alberta is now the “linchpin”
of Canada or the “pin” that holds the “wheel” of Western Canada to the axel of
Canada. And in recent years, Alberta has also
become a major part of the economic engine of Canada. The rest of Canada not only needs Albertans’
money, it also needs their territory to be within Canada. Two major railways cross Alberta linking the
country together. We have been told that
without these railways, Canada ceases to exist.
The railways will still exist in an independent Alberta. It is just that Alberta, as a sovereign
country can now exercise control over “movement of goods and people” through
the major transportation routes that link this country together. Negotiation can now happen if Albertans
assume an “independence” posture. Right
now the rest of Canada has “nothing to lose” while Alberta has “everything to
lose”. With an “independent outlook”,
Albertans can pursue the best deal with any combination of its 4 closest
neighbours. It doesn’t mean Albertans
have to do any deal with any single neighbour either. It also means that we stop wanting and saying
“they have to do this or that”.
Albertans become the writers of their own future through “civil”
negotiations with all interested parties.
And believe me, they will all be very interested.
8. The options described above only scratch the
surface.
Negotiations can also
include independence with preferred economic relations with any number of
neighbours. The options then become
almost endless for Alberta.
For some reasons why we should:
And read...
Jay Bortnik's
Alberta Trivia?
for December 2018
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