Securing an independent Alberta

Every nation is faced with multiple security challenges that range from the need to protect against armed attack, through internal subversion, to the theft of intellectual property. In a 1943 paper titled, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” American psychologist Abraham Maslow constructed a hierarchy of human needs. Security was at the very top. Put simply, nothing that we humans do, aspire to, enjoy or utilize is possible unless we enjoy security. Security tops ever other human need. That would be no less true for an independent Alberta than it would be for Canada as a whole, or the United States, or any country.

To aspire to provide as much security as possible for the people of Alberta — or Alberta and Saskatchewan if Saskatchewan decides to secede — it is necessary to look at the geopolitical variables of this new political entity.

Alberta (and Saskatchewan) will continue to exist in a friendly North American environment. Invasion from north, east, south or west is unthinkable. The ties of commerce, trade, investment, etc., that now bind most North American centres to other North American centres will continue to exist. The new political entity will be a liberal democracy with strong capitalist instincts. Thus it will not need more than a small token military with a limited expeditionary capability more to show solidarity with its Canadian and American neighbours than any other factor. Alberta is currently home to several major military bases. Cold Lake is one of two main Royal Canadian Air Force bases. Edmonton is home to an entire brigade group. Wainwright is the main automated training base for the Canadian Army. Suffield not only houses important Canadian military research facilities, but also contains within it the British Army Training Unit, Suffield, where British armoured formations train annually.

All these bases should be leased by Alberta to Canada, the United States or Great Britain with the proviso that the small Alberta military would be entitled to train at one of these facilities on a regular basis. Indeed, Alberta ought to undertake to raise and sustain a battalion-size force to operate in conjunction with the Canadian or American military.

“Security” today involves many more issues than would have been the case two or three decades ago. Security for Alberta must begin with: the safeguarding of Alberta's borders; maintaining the security of all national infrastructure; sustaining criminal law within Alberta; securing Alberta, including its citizens and its corporate entities and private organizations, against the theft of intellectual property; providing oversight of all police and judicial operations; deploying an effective highway patrol or Alberta sheriffs force to guard law and order outside Alberta's cities; developing or co-ordinating a capacity for special police operations throughout Alberta when necessary; the establishment of penitentiaries; the safeguarding of cyberspace within Alberta; and the protection of businesses and industries in Alberta from any type of illegal interference in the operation of those enterprises.

An independent Alberta will need a robust cybersecurity infrastructure to guard the privacy of its citizens and the intellectual property of its corporations. The theft of intellectual property is the main activity of global espionage today. A new idea stolen can mean the loss of huge investment capital and the illicit transfer of that idea to other nations, saving them both time and money.

Like any modern nation, Alberta will have within its borders a vast and expensive infrastructure that must be maintained and constantly improved. Although there is some marginal danger that parts of the Alberta infrastructure could be physically attacked, or blockaded, the greatest danger is, once again, cyberattacks that could put the lights out in a major city, endanger the water supply or disrupt air traffic. Once again, Alberta will need to put in place the tools necessary to guard against such threats.

We have seen the impact of pandemic across the globe. Such pandemics are not frequent but they produce immense social, psychological and economic damage. Alberta must be ready in future to fight a new pandemic with the medical knowledge and the protective equipment that will keep Alberta safe.

The economy of Alberta must be safeguarded from actors who would penetrate it with malevolent intent through buyouts, mergers or acquisitions of major Alberta corporations such that the administration of those companies is not changed from the pursuit of profit in a free market to the pursuit of a foreign political agenda.

And finally, Alberta will have to guard against the penetration of Alberta by malevolent foreign entities that would take over broadcasting and news corporations, in order to propagandize within Alberta.

None of these measures is impossible, or even particularly difficult, but with a population base of 4.3 to 5.5 million people (if Saskatchewan joins), they will be very expensive. Currently Alberta enjoys most of these measures, but they are paid for across a population base of 37 million people. That will not be the case in an independent Alberta.

THE NEW POLITICAL ENTITY WILL BE A LIBERAL DEMOCRACY WITH STRONG CAPITALIST INSTINCTS.