Western separatist group begins publicity blitz in Saskatchewan
Billboards used to spread message with goal to form party, push for referendum
A western separatist group wants Saskatchewan people to ask themselves a simple question: Would we be better off alone? Prairie Freedom Movement has purchased electronic billboard space in Saskatoon and Regina for a seven-day publicity blitz that started Thursday. Peter Downing, a spokesman for the group, said it’s a cost-effective way to plant the seeds of separation in tens of thousands of heads.
He said the group selected ridings represented by members of all three major parties: Liberal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale in Regina-wascana, the NDP’S Sheri Benson in Saskatoon West and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in Regina-qu’appelle.
“They are not representing western interests,” Downing said of all three MPS. “They are not representing the interests of Saskatchewan. They are continuously allowing our wealth to be transferred to places like Quebec.
“We’re being ripped off in the west to bribe the east.”
But an issue with a billboard slated for Fort Qu’appelle prompted two more Regina billboards instead, though one is right outside Scheer’s riding, Downing said.
Downing is based in Alberta. He said his group, Alberta Fights Back, has teamed up with Saskatchewan-based activists from what was previously called the Prairie Freedom Alliance. The alliance had sought registered party status but faced difficulty gathering signatures and shifted gears to build what leader Jake Wall called a “movement.”
The Saskatchewan billboards come on the heels of a similar campaign in Alberta last week, with one still up in Premier Rachel Notley’s riding. Downing said billboards in Calgary and Edmonton were viewed about 90,000 times per day for a full week. They cost just a few hundred dollars, he said.
“In Saskatchewan the rates are even lower,” he explained.
Downing said the ultimate goal is still forming a provincial party that will ultimately push for a referendum on separation. Getting a registered party will take 2,500 signatures, but Downing there’s no rush to get it done before the 2020 provincial election.
He said he’s now focused on building “a strong political organization.”
The billboard campaign is running in tandem with an online fundraiser. As of Thursday afternoon, it had raised $21.99 of its $50,000 target.
But Downing pointed to other signals of the movement’s strength. Its Facebook page has just over 6,000 followers and nearly 5,900 likes. He said there is a leadership core of eight people, but about 100 others who volunteer their time.
He said the federal Liberal government is an ideal recruiting tool.
“Justin Trudeau is the biggest driver of western separation,” Downing said. “We don’t really need to do anything. We just need to sit back.”
Though Downing points mainly to economic grievances — pipeline policy, carbon tax, equalization payments — he said he also views the immigration anxieties raised by the yellow vest movement as “legitimate.”
“Those cultural issues are real issues and I’m not going to tell anyone to shut up,” he said, adding that he, too, has concerns about socalled irregular border crossing.
In fact, he believes that the Prairie Freedom Movement could be a natural home for the yellow vesters if they become sufficiently disillusioned with Confederation.
Immigration isn’t the only cultural debate Downing is willing to wade into. He said westerners are getting “pretty sick of being spoken down to by a feminist prime minister.”
He said the Alberta branch of the movement has been organizing a “toxic masculinity tour” that includes “amateur fight nights.” He said something similar could come to Saskatchewan, though it may require a few tweaks.
“We are looking at something that fits into Saskatchewan a little bit better,” he said.
Downing brushed aside any notion that an independent and landlocked Saskatchewan, even in a western union with Alberta, would be even less able to get its resources to market. He said Canada has signed an international treaty that requires it to afford passage to exports from landlocked nations.
Asked how that would make it any easier to get a pipeline built, he said it certainly wouldn’t make it any harder. He said an independent west would drag Canada before international tribunals if it proved “obstructionist.”