Pierre Who? Carney's Media Have A New Target In "Separatist Danielle"

“Well, they are an angry people, and they have every reason to be angry.”

Preach, @JohnIbbitson, as everyone east of Central Time wakes up to the Danielle the Menace. 

"From the time the provinces were founded, when Albertans, Saskatchewan, were not given the natural resources powers that other provinces had, to the latest regulation from Ottawa limiting the development of the oil sands for environmental or other reasons, Albertans have been put upon by a central Canadian elite, looks at them as something of a colony.

"And the result of that indifference and condescension from central Canada is this referendum on a referendum. We're responsible for that here in the centre.”

No sooner had Ibbitson dropped that pearl on a government-sponsored CTV panel than the S world was everywhere in the land. S as in separatism. A referendum on Alberta’s place in Canada this October 19 is being compared to Fort Sumter in 1861.

Needless to say Ibbotson was instantly pummelled by the Carney bots who everyday find some new reason to demonize the “Petro state” to their West. And by the NDP  in Alberta (led by a guy who picks his nose) which sees no irony in supporting an eastern-based high-speed rail project ( est. cost $60 B ) as a “national project”.

People in the 514/ 613/416 who think Alberta is much not more than the Calgary Stampede, Edmonton Oilers or signing equalization cheques suddenly are asking… no, demanding, that the province can’t be allowed to decide on its own future. The Andrew Coyne choir hissing that the feds and First Nations will strip-mine the province if the UPC have the temerity to do what Quebec has teased. Go all the the way.

“We’ve been so nice letting them sleep over at our house, and the way they thank us is with a midnight move!” 

A point we’ve made here many times is that Alberta doesn’t want to separate. It was loyal even though Laurier in 1905 split the prospective province of Buffalo into two— Alberta and Saskatchewan— to lessen their power. The problem is that the rest of Canada— the people cashing the equalization cheques— left the West culturally a long time ago. Three guesses when that happened, and they’re all 2015. Anno Justin.

If we have to tell you then you don’t know. In the hands of more skilled politicians this schism moment might never have arrived. People like Bill Davis, Peter Lougheed, Ed Broadbent or Bob Rae would have seen the warning signs and pulled back. They’d put unity ahead of pet causes. 

Then along came the nepo baby PM Justin Trudeau who put performative Theatre ahead of GDP. A fop who thought diversity was a food court with different cuisines. A black-faced dandy who explained away his sexual assault by saying the woman experienced his lust differently. Who thought it was okay for Hamas to call for death to Jews on Canadian streets, but truckers to honk horns and use Bouncy Castles? Or who jailed mischief makers but allowed FNs to blcock the main train lkine in Canada for weeks without a peep.

The next thing you knew climate cultists on the Left decided it was okay for the feckless mayor of Montreal to stop a pipeline to the East, a true “national project”, by saying things like, “Petroleum isn’t in our culture”. And letting that intransigence stand, because Quebec has hydro and underprice it to keep getting Alberta’s equalization billions.

Their blind spot on wanting Alberta to keep its valuable energy resources in the ground is a mile wide.  Imagine Ottawa telling Ontario it can only make half the cars it does now and use the Great Lakes five days a week. Because weather. And then telling Ontario what a great friend they have in the Liberal Party. That's how absurd Trudeau’s Laurentian grandees sounded to Westerners. 

Have they heard of the Velvet Divorce between Slovakia and Cechia 30 years ago? The two nations are happy now with the liberty they both have freed from a manufactured marriage. No one went bankrupt. Putin hasn’t invaded. But large sections of the power elite in Ottawa think the outcome predictive. They prefer to fight, not settle on the real issues.

To paraphrase Mr. Katy Perry the media and pollsters apparently don’t experience the contradiction the same way. Instead they grind out peppy propaganda:  Liberals lead by 12 nationally —59 percent approve of the Carney government — a new high for Carney’s personal. Pro tip:  It’s not polling in a nation where media is paid for performance. The numbers are really just a measured absorption level of liberal policies disseminated by purchased media. 

So far they’re buying what Carney is selling. Which is that Alberta will be reduced to ruin unless they keep letting Carney package them as a derivative in Davos. That Canada's climate goals would be met overnight without Alberta's oil sands emissions.

Using MAGA as its meme Carney’s bot platoons cannot conceive of any alternative, because living in Canada is a box with one-way mirrors. Look at modern Canada as a Colbert talk show. The audience needs guidance, so the media supplies the certainty of smug. It binds so they can go to bed feeling they belong. It gives them the courage that they can be as tough as Elbows Up Gordie Howe. 

They tell you just so much about your reality-- and then no more. Extrapolate this to Canada's approval squad, ie CBC's The National and its sister platforms telling CDNs what to believe. In this model Trump performs his same function as in America. He's the whipping post they all can jeer as a means of belonging to a country that hasn't existed since Stephen Harper left. 

So Danielle must be stopped before she has them in a vise. Carney has to produce miracles -- quickly--on pipelines before his Brookfield pumpkin appears. In short, Colbert killed comedy. Trudeau/ Carney destroyed the real bonds of Canada and replaced them with a Rogers guy at your door looking to sell you the past. Gee, it's great to be alive in the Elbows Up.

To wit, economist Jim Thorne. “The core issue is not separatism. It is asymmetry. Quebec has long exercised economic and political latitude, often backed by the credible threat of secession. Alberta, by contrast, is expected to finance the federation while accepting federal policies that undermine its primary industry. That imbalance is no longer tenable.

At the centre of the dispute is Canada’s equalization regime. In theory, it ensures comparable public services across provinces. In practice, it has become a structural transfer system that rewards stagnation in recipient provinces while disproportionately burdening Alberta’s economy. One province produces. Others redistribute. The incentives are backward, and the politics are corrosive.

This might be manageable if federal policy were neutral toward Alberta’s economic strengths. It is not… Alberta’s referendum is not the cause of the crisis. It is the consequence.”

Still The Other better not get any clever ideas about joining Trump’s America. To enhance their chances the Yes Alberta people need to study René Levesque who cloaked the question of independence in "sovereignty association". A question like "Do you authorize the province to explore a new relationship inside or outside Canada?" You'd get close to 50-plus-one on that.

And let the bidding begin.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his 2023 book Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, was voted a Top 20 greatest professional hockey books of all time by bookauthority.org . https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1770415300?linkCode=gs2&tag=uuid0a1-20 His previous book with his son Evan, Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed Hockey is now available on Amazon. His new poetry collection In Other Words is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca and on Kindle books at https://www.amazon.ca/dp/106980270