A Letter to All Albertans
Just the other day,
I was re-reading a very old self-help book
that I keep for bathroom reading.
I started to read the section called
“Some Common Institutional Victim Games”
and quickly realized that this entire section
could easily apply to us - Albertans - today.
Three “victim games”,
really stuck out:
1. Making the institution (Canada) “a person”
2. Swearing your allegiance first and forever (to Canada)
3. Falling into the jargon trap (ie. equalization)
Pierre Berton (famous Canadian author) once wrote,
“Our love affair with Canada
has been long and slow,
never a sudden infatuation.”
If you didn’t know that “Canada”
was just a country
– an alliance of provinces really –
you might believe “Canada”
to be the name of a woman (person)
whom he loves.
In fact,
Canada is just a corporate entity,
which receives and redistributes our money
to people we (mostly) do not know
and to places we almost never go.
I have often heard
Canada described in terms of a family
– complete with parents and siblings.
Contrary to popular belief,
unless you are a corporate lawyer,
provinces are not real “people.”
Is the province of Quebec
going to care or cry
if you die tomorrow?
Probably not.
And I doubt very much,
that even Quebecers, themselves,
(who live very far away)
took notice when Ralph Klein,
Alberta’s beloved premier, died.
Albertans have been
swearing their allegiance
– forever - to institutions
– like the Canadian federal government -
as long as Alberta has been a province.
Where has this
“Canada first and forever allegiance”
gotten Albertans so far?
Many Albertans risked
their financial futures on Alberta,
only to find that their contribution
(decades of paying
hundreds of billions
more in federal taxes
than they received
back in benefits)
was neither respected
nor even remembered.
And now,
to add insult to injury,
unemployed and underemployed Albertans
(some of whom used to be employers)
are being told,
that the prime beneficiaries
(ie. Quebec)
of their extra taxes,
would rather buy their oil
from a nation (Saudi Arabia)
that has little regard
for human rights
let alone so-called Canadian values.
And now
that we are on the subject of values,
it seems that this “person”
– Canada –
has made words like “equalization”
and “health transfer payments”
into
the most respected Canadian values.
And what amounts to “wealth transfers”
– from Albertans for the past 5 decades –
have gone on,
unchallenged,
in the name of “fairness.”
This is just “jargon”
- confusing
and meaningless talk.
It took me a lifetime
to realize
that it wasn’t our Alberta government
that simply cut
an “equalization cheque”
or “transfer payment”
to others.
In fact
it is the Canadian federal government
that takes
more tax from Albertans
to give to others.
And Albertans are told,
by the “Canada” jargon experts,
that the federal formula
for “equalization”
is far too complicated
to easily communicate.
And there you have it.
Albertans’ victimhood
is complete
in three easy steps.
First,
believe that the “machine”
you are dealing with
is a living and breathing “person”
that you can love.
Second,
swear your undying allegiance
to this “person”
forever.
Third,
like a subservient wife,
believe every word
that your abusive husband
tells you
– because this Canada “guy”
deserves your love
more than
even yourself,
your family,
your friends,
or your neighbours
– even if others tell you
that “he’s (Canada)
no good for you.”
(and we mean
no disrespect
to the real abused women
– our hearts go out to you).
Sincerely,
Corinne + Jay Bortnik
Albertans
Our letter
was also published by:
March 7, 2019 - Meridian Source (Lloydminster) <<< CLICK to see
March 2019 - Kerby News (Calgary) Page 9 <<< CLICK to see
February 28, 2019 - ECA Review <<< CLICK to see
February 26, 2019 - Vermilion Voice Page 6 <<< CLICK to see
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