With Liberals back in, more in West want out

Separation talk simmers over perceived lack of influence in nation’s capital

CALGARY The day after the re-election of the federal Liberals and a near Conservative sweep in Alberta and Saskatchewan, feelings of frustration in Western Canada were fuelling talk of separation.

The Votewexit Facebook page, with its motto “The West Wants Out,” went from 2,000 or so members on Monday to 170,000 and counting Tuesday afternoon.

“Wexit” Alberta founder Peter Downing, a former soldier and RCMP officer, said his group received more than $20,000 in donations and membership fees overnight. Downing said his group is pushing for Premier Jason Kenney to call a referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada. “The idea of Canada has died in the hearts of many, many western Canadians,” Downing said.

Mount Royal University professor David Taras said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has few options following Monday’s election results, other than appointing someone to the Senate who has support in Alberta, then having that person serve in cabinet.

“I would say that’s probably the way he’s going to go, to, I guess, artificially ensure that there’s a voice at the table for Alberta,” Taras said.

Martha Hall Findlay, president and CEO of the Canada West

Foundation, said that as the person most responsible for national unity, Trudeau needs to take on the natural resources file himself.

“You cannot separate natural resources now from national unity,” she said.

After responding to the election results in the Alberta legislature, including detailing a five-page letter he sent to Trudeau, Kenney told reporters that Albertans should not let Trudeau and his policies “make us feel unwelcome in our own country.”

“We have provincial governments who’ve got our back on a number of these issues, including a fair deal for our resource sector and our oil and gas sector,” he said. “So we’re not isolated, we’re not alone.”

The premier added that landlocking Alberta through separation is not a solution to the problem of a campaign to landlock Alberta.

“We’re not going to get one inch closer to a pipeline by closing in on ourselves as a landlocked jurisdiction,” he said.

Taras called the lack of Liberal seats in Alberta and Saskatchewan “a festering wound” for Trudeau.

“In the battle of federal-provincial relations, the battle over climate change, the battles over energy policy, the battles over transfers, things can get very ugly and very raucous and very mean,” he said. “At the end of the day, he has to ensure that the government of Canada and the economy can function properly without a big, internal civil war.”

Michelle Rempel, who was re-elected in Calgary Nose Hill, said it would be easy for Canadians “to mock or dismiss sentiments of alienation” in Alberta. “It’s a real feeling that a lot of people have very justifiable reasons for.”

Taras said while talks of separation are fuelled “by real anger and discontent,” wanting to leave Canada is a different question.

“I understand the anger, but do people really think that it’s a good idea to need a visa to go to Kelowna or to go skiing, or to visit relatives in Saskatoon?” he said. “If Alberta has difficulty getting its product overseas now, just wait until it’s not part of Canada.”

We’re not going to get one inch closer to a pipeline by closing in on ourselves as a landlocked jurisdiction.