Hold a referendum on separation

Alberta has been and will continue to be economically devastated by the practices of other Canadian provinces. Meanwhile, the federal Liberal government is largely standing by and watching this demise of Confederation. Robert J. Iverach

Re: “Notley furious over pipeline hurdle,” Jan. 31.

Enough is enough!

Alberta has subsidized Quebec and the East through federal transfer payments for many years and never received a penny in return.

Now, Quebec has reduced its income tax rate and is balancing its budget, but it continues to receive transfer payments as if it still were a have-not province. Alberta has become a have-not province, but continues to pay.

Then, Quebec opposed the Energy East pipeline to carry Alberta oil to the Maritimes, and it was cancelled. That pipeline would have allowed Alberta oil to replace millions of barrels of imported Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan oil, would have added to our balance of payments, and created thousands of new Canadian jobs.

Now, British Columbia wants to stop increased Alberta oil shipments to the West Coast, in violation of Canadian constitutional law and interprovincial trade rules and co-operation.

Alberta has been and will continue to be economically devastated by the practices of other Canadian provinces. Meanwhile, the federal Liberal government is largely standing by and watching this demise of Confederation.

It is time for Alberta to call its own referendum to separate from Canada and begin discussions to join the United States. Perhaps Saskatchewan would like to come along as well. With our extensive oil and gas and agricultural sectors, we would be a very welcome addition.

Robert J. Iverach, Calgary

B.C.’s actions come as no surprise

Albertans shouldn’t be surprised by the audacity of the B.C. government. The political spectrum there has always been wonky.

For the most part, B.C.’s “save the whale,” be the “motherland for the good of the people,” has always been counter-productive. This time, they are going against a federal mandate with these window-dressing studies, hoping the problem goes away. Just like any left-leaning government, they think the birds and bees will fill government coffers.

The thinking is the government believes it knows what the people want, no matter how wrong it is.

Don Caponigro, Strathmore

Notley’s NDP has credibility problem

Whether it be oilsands or pipelines, a full and comprehensive environmental assessment must be undertaken by fully qualified environmental scientists (not know-nothing, heavily funded anti-oilsands and pipeline environmental protesters) and approved by the government.

A licence to proceed must be granted before any project can go ahead. Protesters have every legal right to protest, but once the licence to proceed has been granted, there is no legal right to prevent a licensed project from proceeding.

Back in 2011, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips was an opponent of the oilsands and pipelines, so the problem here is one of hypocrisy and credibility.

Our NDP government has now switched sides and is trying to promote pipelines, while still promoting the environmentalist protesters’ scientifically fraudulent climate change dogma on which pipeline protests were based.

Norm Kalmanovitch, Calgary