Hill’s Wexit leadership bad for Canada
Former Harper whip gives movement to leave Confederation purpose and focus
A highly credible new leader has stepped forward to lead the Wexit movement. For Canadian federalists, like me, it’s bad news; for Western separatists it’s great news.
Jay Hill, the former whip and House leader in Stephen Harper’s federal Conservative government, has taken the reins of the Wexit movement — a fledgling entity that aims for Western Canada to separate from Canada.
In an understated announcement made on the Wexit Canada Facebook page Tuesday at 5 p.m., Hill was declared the new interim leader, taking over from Peter Downing. So why is this 67-year-old former Reform party MP launching this seemingly impossible task?
“Simply, in one sentence, I’m doing this for my grandchildren,” says Hill, who has three preschool-aged grandkids.
“It’s that simple. I’ve thought long and hard about this. With my background, I think people understand that I gave close to 20 years of my life to federal politics. I followed Preston Manning — the West Wants In.”
Now, however, Hill says the West Wants Out.
“I gave some of the best years of my working life to the service of my constituents and my country, and I came to the realization over the last while that things are never going to change. So, really, it’s just another extension of that definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result,” says Hill, who was the member of Parliament for the riding of Prince George-peace River from 1993 until his retirement in 2010, when he settled in Calgary with his wife, Leah.
“Western Canada is never gonna get a fair shake from the rest of Canada. Confederation does not work. It cannot work. It is not structured to work.
“Those in the Golden Triangle of Quebec, Toronto, Ottawa, they don’t care about the West except as a cash cow to feed Quebec and the Maritimes,” said Hill.
He says he knows Wexit is a difficult task, but he was there at the beginning of Reform and knows how to rally people behind a cause.
“I’m not naive,” said Hill. “This is going to be a difficult task, but I’m gonna put some effort into this along with other credible, like-minded people and hopefully we can convince the majority of westerners that they would be better off forming their own nation.”
He says he believes the majority of western Canadians, “will reluctantly come to the conclusion that while we love Canada, we’re tired of not getting any love back.”
Recent polls show that more than 60 per cent of Alberta and Saskatchewan residents believe they do not get a fair share within Confederation. They’re right. We don’t. The hard, objective numbers prove it.
But does that mean those same people would vote to secede from Canada? It’s a huge leap.
A University of Calgary School of Public Policy report released Monday shows just how unfair Confederation is, particularly to Alberta.
The report, entitled The Regional Distribution of Federal Fiscal Balances: Who Pays, Who Gets and Why It Matters, clearly lays out how unfair equalization and fiscal transfers are to Alberta, which since 2015 has lost 130,000 jobs and total income in the province has plummeted by 20 per cent, as our deficit spiked.
The 41-page report, authored by Robert Mansell, Mukesh Khanal and Trevor Tombe, reveals that Alberta, B.C. and Ontario were the only net contributors to the county’s bottom line from 1961 to 2018.
Ontario was the largest net contributor at more than $768 billion, with Alberta coming in at $631 billion and B.C. at $138 billion.
“Alberta’s contribution was by far the largest in per capita terms at over $3,700 per person per year over the 1961-2018 period and over $5,000 per person per year in recent decades,” states the report.
Quebec was the largest beneficiary with net inflows of nearly $500 billion. Outside the territories, Prince Edward Island saw the largest net fiscal benefit of over $8,600 per person per year since 2010.”
All of that money flowing out of Alberta affects where Canadians choose to live.
“In the case of Alberta, for example, recent analysis suggests net federal fiscal outflows lowers its real incomes by over eight per cent and its population by about 12 per cent. As income shifts to lower productivity regions, the national impact may be a reduction of 0.8 per cent in Canada’s real GDP.”
And that leads to less political influence for Alberta and more for the regions that get our money.
Hill says if these rules couldn’t be changed under the Harper government, then the likelihood of them changing in the future under other governments is as good as zero.
“You know, just like in a dysfunctional personal relationship, there’s a time to just cut your losses and say this is not working, and I believe there’s thousands of others across Western Canada who believe that now is the time to make that regrettable decision.”
Alberta’s recent Fair Deal Panel report recommendations — which include establishing a provincial police force and collecting our own provincial pension plan — are simply not enough to get a fair deal for Alberta or stem separatist sentiment, says Hill.
He points out that in the French language debate for the federal Conservative Party leadership race last week, front-runner Peter Mackay said if he were prime minister, Quebec would be given a veto over any energy pipeline travelling over its territory.
It’s maddening, yes, particularly since Quebec is the largest provincial recipient of Alberta’s generosity. But how would Alberta separating help it get a pipeline to tidewater through Quebec or British Columbia?
“We could limit their rail and road access through our country,” says Hill.
Isn’t he concerned that, just like Reform did, forming a new federal small-c conservative party will split the vote again, ensuring more federal Liberal governments?
“Could it get any worse?” asks Hill. “Currently, we have a Liberal minority government that should be forced to negotiate every single item going through the House. And I know better than most because I was the whip and then the House leader trying to promote and pass Stephen Harper’s legislative agenda when we had minority governments.
“Now we have a Liberal minority government that is operating not like a majority but like a dictatorship,” says Hill.
“This is the only way we’re ever going to get taken seriously,” said Hill. “And my vote is that we don’t just threaten it. We do it.”
Here’s hoping this successful politician finally hits a losing streak.