BRAID: Alberta separatism going nowhere but it's a toxic factor in campaign
This would be a much more honest election campaign if separatist bogeyman could be stuffed into dusty closet, forgotten
Article content
Separatism has always been therapeutic for a minority of Albertans. It’s a long-established, comfortable way to blow off anger against Ottawa.
The goal is as unreal as ever, but now it’s a real factor in a national election campaign.
Recommended Videos
tap here to see other videos from our team.
BRAID: Alberta separatism going nowhere but it's a toxic factor in campaign Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
The latest poll from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute shows that 30 per cent of Albertans would vote to separate from Canada if the Liberals win on April 28.
That’s a sizable number. Some people see it and react with fury. Such traitors!
Seventy per cent is a much bigger number, though, and it’s the only one that matters.
Alberta and Saskatchewan aren’t packing their bags to move any time soon, or ever. There’s never been anything close to majority support for separation in either province.
But many Canadians are hopping mad at Premier Danielle Smith and former Reform party leader Preston Manning, who wrote the dumbest election editorial in memory for the Globe and Mail.
He suggested that if the Liberals win, the march to separatism will be unstoppable.
The polls show that’s ridiculous.
The column tends to hurt Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, even though his rejection of separatism is clear.
He is linked in people’s minds with politicians such as Smith and Manning. They’re all from the conservative school that joyfully booted centrists out of their parties.
Also, separatist-leaners are most at home with Poilievre’s party.
Reid says 39 per cent of Conservative backers would vote for their province becoming an independent country. That rises to 42 per cent if the option is to join the U.S.
Among Liberal and NDP voters, support for separatism is barely four per cent.
This is not a good look for the Conservatives when patriotism is rising and the key election question is who’s best able to deal with Canada’s unpredictable adversary, U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rather than shape her rhetoric around this threat, Smith always plays to the provincial UCP base she won with her “sovereignty” pitch.
On Monday, she was asked: “Do you want Alberta to leave Canada?”
As usual, the premier was oblique.
“I want Canada to work,” she said. “I want Canada to be able to meet its potential . . . I also want Canada to work for Alberta, and it hasn’t for the last 10 years because of terrible policy by the Liberals.”
The closest she came to declaring for Canada was: “I really hope that we can get Canada on Team Alberta, because Team Alberta has always been on Team Canada.”
(One strange advantage of being Albertan is you actually understand what she means.)
The scare is difficult for Albertans who want nothing to do with separatism but also agree with Smith’s criticisms of Liberal Ottawa.
This would be a much more honest election campaign if the separatist bogey could be stuffed into a dusty closet and forgotten.
Nobody understands the futility of separatism more than the politicians who deal with it.
Smith has been slagged for saying that if enough citizens want a referendum on leaving the country, they’ll have it.
A referendum would fail no matter who wins the election. She knows that.
The true test is whether Smith would make separation the ballot question in a provincial election.
She won’t, ever. Alberta would be overrun by the New Democrats under Leader Naheed Nenshi.
That’s modern Alberta, whether the separatists like it or not.
Separatism is getting to be an old, tired story.
I recall the night of Feb. 17, 1982, when an oilfield scout named Gordon Kesler won a byelection to become the first separatist ever elected outside Quebec.
Anger ran high because of the National Energy Program. Separatists packed rallies with cries of “Free the West.”
A few months later, Kesler was clobbered in a general election. His party, Western Canada Concept, faded from view.
Voters can be sure of this: Western separatism was a red herring then and still is today.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
To learn more about who’s running in your riding and the focus of their campaigns, check out our list of federal election candidates in Calgary and Southern Alberta.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.