Election putting westerners into alienated mood

Poll shows just 25% in Alberta feel province ‘valued by rest of Canada’

Western Canadians are feeling alienated about their role in the upcoming federal election, suggests a new poll.

While 60 per cent of those surveyed online late last month by Leger believe western issues will be a priority in October’s election, only 40 per cent think their opinions matter to federal politicians, with the lowest figure — 33 per cent — recorded among Albertans.

“People think those issues should be in the conversation but they’re not going to be taken seriously, given short shrift,” said Ian Large, Leger’s Alberta vice-president.

“We tend to think about pipelines, energy development, the economy, equalization, while our perception is when you go east, it’s suddenly not on the radar.”

Just 29 per cent of the 922 respondents said they felt “valued by the rest of Canada,” with that number dropping to just 25 per cent among Albertans.

Only 31 per cent of those polled — 27 per cent in Alberta — see their opinions aligning with those of central Canadians.

Large said that while those results might not be surprising, what is noticeable is how those sentiments have intensified.

“We’ve always had that ‘you don’t understand us’ perspective but those feelings are getting stronger,” he said.

Large pointed to a section of the poll showing 42 per cent of respondents thought Ottawa’s focus on western priorities is deteriorating compared to 18 per cent that saw improvements.

What was initially surprising, he said, is how little difference there is in the degree of views between Albertans and those in the three other western provinces on many of the questions.

“But there’s quite a lot of support for the Trans Mountain pipeline in B.C., for instance, so maybe it’s not all that surprising,” said Large.

He said it’s not surprising the strength of those responses break along party support lines, with Conservative voters taking a more pessimistic view than Liberal loyalists.

But despite those feelings of alienation and possibly political impotence, polls showing a tight electoral race shaping up tell a different story, said Large.

“These votes in Alberta really, really matter,” he said, adding the fate of three Liberal-held seats in Alberta could even be pivotal.

While he’s been adamant about his Canadian patriotism, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has repeatedly warned what he calls Ottawa’s anti-western Canadian policies threaten to fan the flames of western separatism.

But Large said he doesn’t believe that kind of talk has moved the dial on the attitudes expressed in his firm’s poll.

“That’s not the only voice people are hearing — Kenney’s tapping into that sentiment, I don’t think he’s creating that sentiment,” he said.

In an Abacus Data poll conducted in July, 25 per cent of Albertans said they favoured separating from Canada, believed to be mainly driven by economic grievances.

That’s 79 per cent higher than the national average of 14 per cent and nearly as much as support for separatism in Quebec, which sits at 28 per cent.

Public opinion surveys have also shown Albertans to view climate change with less urgency than other Canadians.

Another Abacus Data poll conducted last spring showing 54 per cent of Albertans accepted humans as drivers of climate change while 70 per cent of Canadians did.

It also showed while 60 per cent of Canadians favoured stronger government action on the issue, just 46 per cent of Alberta respondents felt that way.

Leger says the poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.23 per cent 19 times out of 20.