It’s time for Albertans to be heard in Ottawa

Kenney in a good position to drive the message, writes George Brookman.

At the conclusion of the election coverage on Monday night, what came to mind was the expression “When life deals you a lemon, make lemonade.”

But I think the people in Alberta and Saskatchewan might want to reach for something a bit stronger over the next few months. This unholy trinity of Trudeau, Singh and Blanchet is a basket of lemons for sure, and we had better hope that our leaders in Edmonton and Regina have a very powerful lemon squeezer to make sure that we are not forgotten or ignored by this divisive group of dysfunctional Canadian leaders.

Many of my friends on Monday night said things like “What a mess” and “What chaos, how could this happen in Canada?” But it is actually not hard to understand. The Liberals, and especially their leader Trudeau the Second, are regionalists. He is focused on his base in Montreal and his power bastion of Ontario. He is driven by an ideological vision that somehow, by destroying Alberta’s energy industry, he is going to change the world environment and perhaps land himself a seat in the United Nations.

Jagmeet Singh will be so desperate to hold on to his parliamentary salary that he will bow down and do whatever Justin Trudeau wants and be prepared to support a minority government that lasts longer than any minority government in recent history.

On the other hand, if you have ever had three egomaniacs at a dinner party, you know how difficult the conversation and the discussions can be. I cannot imagine how these three men — one worried mostly about his image in rolled-up sleeves; another determined to destroy Canada’s energy industry and all of the union jobs that go with it; and one determined to take Quebec out of the country — can agree on anything. It is going to be something to watch.

As always, for every crisis, there is an opportunity. If there is one thing that the Liberals know, it is that they have managed to divide our country into three great parts, and no matter how many votes there are in the 905 and 416 area codes, a house divided cannot stand. It is obvious that the country is in trouble and there will be much hand-wringing in Liberal backrooms as to how they can put this nation back together again. We have all read Humpty Dumpty, and certainly, Trudeau still believes that he represents all of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men. Therein lies the potential opportunity for Alberta.

Albertans know what we want. We want a healthy, robust economy driven by a well-regulated and diverse energy industry. We want a reasonable deal in the Canadian equalization program and we want our fair share of the industrial fiscal largesse that the federal government seems so anxious to spread around in Ontario and Quebec. If there was ever a time when we need a strong provincial government to stand up for Alberta, that moment is now and hopefully, Premier

Jason Kenney is in a prime position to start the negotiations immediately. The old expression “The West Wants In” should now be replaced with “Here’s What the West Wants” and, along with Saskatchewan, we should be delivering that message with all the enthusiasm and force that we possibly can.

For all of my life, I have heard the stories of Alberta’s treatment at the hands of Ottawa. Beginning with the fur trade, the infamous Crow Rate and the National Energy Policy — all examples of the frustrations that I learned about while growing up. Today, this current fear in Ottawa, that the West and especially Alberta were growing too strong, and their desire to keep the financial centre of Canada in Ontario has finally come home to bite them. The actions of this federal government have done more to divide Canada than anything I can recall in my lifetime. This has to end now, but that will only happen if all Albertans step up to the plate and let their voices be heard. George Brookman is CEO of West Canadian Digital Imaging Inc. and former president of the Calgary Stampede.