Rob Breakenridge: Rejecting Alberta separatism today is only the first step

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A separate and subsequent analysis released by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce similarly forecasts a shrinking Alberta economy, employment disruption and job losses, costly new trade barriers, and substantial and ongoing structural deficit.

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Acknowledging those enormous costs does not mean that there aren’t legitimate concerns and grievances in Alberta, just as opposing separation does not constitute a defence of the status quo. It’s a matter of factoring in both the dramatic cost and difficulty of a complete tear-down, versus the more realistic path of maintaining and improving Confederation.

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The status quo is not status quo, as evidenced by the past 18 months or even the past eighteen years, for that matter.

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Prime minister Mark Carney deserves credit for taking meaningful steps to wind back policies — and attitudes — that have fueled frustration and discontent in Alberta. Through partnership with Alberta’s premier, we’re also now setting the stage for the sort of meaningful projects and developments that both highlight the benefits of our federation and that Albertans feel have been stymied for too long.

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Furthermore, Stephen Harper, who’s emerged as an important voice for Canada, faced nothing approaching a separatist crisis in Alberta during his tenure as prime minister. Then again, no previous Alberta premier was inclined to allow such a question to go to a direct vote.

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But it is fair to point out that there is no shortage of blame to go around here, beyond just the person responsible for greenlighting this referendum. Again, Danielle Smith may have fed the beast but she didn’t create it.

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And yes, it’s fair to lay much blame at the feet of Mark Carney’s predecessor. Justin Trudeau’s policies, attitudes, and values increasingly seemed very much at odds with most Albertans. If Trudeau had somehow escaped his deserved political fate and clung to power last year, separatist sentiment could burning much hotter right now in Alberta.

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Some of that blame goes further back, to the previous prime ministers who took Alberta for granted and implemented policies that were to the detriment of Alberta — including, notably, another prime minister named Trudeau.

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But still, through it all, Albertans have remained proud Canadians, bonded by our shared history and our shared values. There are likely those drawn to or tempted by the separatist option that deep down still feel that way, but sense that the Canada they knew has become much harder to see — or that it can’t be seen at all.

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That’s been exacerbated over the last decade where many Albertans were increasingly at odds with Ottawa’s direction and priorities, but felt powerless to stop or change anything.

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But that sentiment didn’t exist in the decade prior, and arguably much is changing now. That political pressure isn’t just coming from Alberta; there’s a real and encouraging national consensus around the need for a new direction. In that lies an appreciation amongst Canadians for what Alberta brings to the table as far as Canada’s strengths go.

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It makes far more sense to seize and build upon that opportunity than to squander it all and plunge into a dark uncertainty.

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The separatist option should be rejected on its merits. The idea of separation as a permanently entrenched political fixture and tactic deserves repudiation, too.

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Rob Breakenridge is a Calgary-based podcaster and writer. He can be found at robbreakenridge.ca and reached at [email protected].

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