Whatever you do, don't forget to mention Alberta. Welcome to your #1 resource for answers to any question in the world about anything, answered by at least one Canadian. But it may also provide a pressure valve for separtist sentiment. The big difference between 1980 and today is that Alberta is a much larger player in the Canadian economy and in our national life than it was then. What's the deal with Alberta? Baked into that moral calculus is an implicit political one: its a very fine thing to wipe an industry off the map in a part of the map that doesnt matter. Shut down the oil sands and avoid the much harder questions about why they exist. Around $100,000, Albertans pay less than Ontarians but still more than people in B.C. FIRST READING: Alberta really, really doesn't like Jason - nationalpost The first: Are they serious? But how many people does this actually represent? Finance Canada recently completed a review of Equalization but the government refused to make any substantive changes to the formula. A similar kinship was seen between the Atlantic Province, though Alberta was also in the mix as one of New Brunswick . Landlocking ourselves through separation is not a solution, he said. Email us at:calgarytheroadahead@cbc.ca. Here, we answer common questions and dispel some myths about the most resilient Alberta bogeyman. An Albertan looking at equalization with the glass half-full might say the province's wealth, relative to the rest of Canada, means it's too rich to need help and that's a good thing. Answer: I suppose so, but not many people including Premier Jason Kenney seem too worried about Wexiters (really, really bad branding, by the way). From a purely environmental perspective the arguments used against the oil sands can be deployed against these, too. bothered by it. Why would we give them what they want?. More than four in every five Albertans surveyed stated that Quebec was unfriendly towards their province, while views from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and even neighbouringOntario were around the same all at more than 50%. I have no doubt that Wexit is siphoning some of the far-right populist fuel that keeps websites like Reddit and 8Chan blinking with discontent well into the early morning hours on weekdays. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Alberta, they explain, just should have voted for a Liberal party that hates it. Absolutely. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. Its a sign of open disrespecteven war, in some places. Joignez-vous aux dbats dOptions politiqueset soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant cesdirectives. Whats more, Ottawa needs to be on the ground in Alberta in a way it hasnt been before, and it must be seen by Albertans to be making policy changes in Albertas interests. Friday's letters: Why do Albertans need assault weapons? Now as then, figuring out how to provide westerners with power in a government in which they have no elected representation is a major preoccupation in Ottawa. In a bid to woo Albertans in the recent Conservative Party leadership race, Maxime Bernier said he would freeze the program and completely rethink it. Low-income and high-income Albertans, meanwhile, enjoy the lowest taxes in the country. These richest Albertans also pay alarger share of the total income taxes collected in Alberta, compared to the wealthiest people in other parts of the country. Why are Albertans so mad? If each of your parents are of 2 ethnicities, do you wind up with one of each or are you a quarter of each? Prince Edward Island was omitted from the chart due to too small of a sample size. Tensions have been high between Canadas westernmost provinces, with Alberta and BC being at odds over the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project for the better part of 2018. And 77 per cent of Albertans say that Saskatchewans a friend; 75 per cent of them reciprocate that feeling. What to know about the PM's brother, Federal government reaches agreement for a new wage deal with striking workers, Jamie Sarkonak: Censorious Liberal attempt to block news article shows why they want to control the internet. Never mind that Goldy had showed up uninvited and offered her own rants from a cherry-picker located a block away from the main stage. The rally began with a presentation that heavily implied that Canada is on the verge of a communist takeover; that the environmental movement is a front for a communist plot to establish some kind of one-world government. The survey also asked respondents if they thought that there might be one province in the Federation that gets more than they give by being a part of Canada, and the consensus overwhelmingly showed Quebec as that province even from Quebecois themselves. With apologies to Anne McLellan, who was tapped to be an informal advisor on Alberta to the Liberals, this lack of representation seems solely a concern to people who live in Ontario. Many Albertans circle this square with the assumption that Trudeau bought the pipeline to kill ita conspiracy that doesnt make much sense when you consider the expansion would be dead already if the federal government had done nothing. But in the end, I tell them, it is a telling example of Albertans' belief that their economic might, their enterprise and their hard work have again been taken for granted by a Liberal government that promised to be different, open and inclusive. The starting point could be the creation of an Alberta Economic Development Agency, as distinct from Western Diversification, the existing federal agency that covers all of western Canada. That's a Federal Government problem, not an Alberta/Quebec problem. Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Perhaps Albertans would be more amenable to talking about this transition if this countrys commitment to climate change didnt seem so selective. Rather than shame the province out of the folly of separatism, I fear this will have the opposite effect. The former lacks even the veneer of democratic legitimacy, though it is constitutionally valid. You are either with Alberta or you're against it. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Kenneys hostile handling of the environment file, his abandonment of Rachel Notleys consumption-based carbon tax and climate-change strategy risks riling the very green activists who had previously been appeased. Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Thats our term for ourselves. Why wouldn't someone from the Alberta government even an MLA with an hour of time to kill meet with Greta Thunberg in Edmonton? In this case, the Angus Reid Institute found that the most disliked province was none other than Quebec. That was enough to attract the support of eight MLAs from the province. Why do Qubec and Alberta hate each other? - City-Data This goes a long way back to the corrupt and irrational politics of Alberta. What the institute found was that many provinces saw a kinship with their border-sharing neighbours though there were a few exceptions. That does not mean that Albertans hate people from Quebec, it means that Alberta want to stop subsidizing Quebec when the Alberta economy is in trouble. Robson Fletcher's work for CBC Calgary focuses on data, analysis and investigative journalism. This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Well, I'm glad you asked. ago Favoured Alberta Son? And they are not of Alberta, but rather of Canada. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Secondly, I would say that we should not let Justin Trudeau and his policies make us feel unwelcome in our own country. We are a country in which proximity or geography may or may not play a role in how close we feel to each other, very much depending on the other factors at play, Kurl explained. In Alberta, 56% of respondents agreed with the statement, "Western Canada gets so few benefits from being part of Canada that they might as well go it on their own," up 28 points from 2010 . As you can also see from the interactive chart (by comparing the yellow and blue columns) the advantage for high-income earners would increase with a return to the flat tax. There are now calls for Ontario to close its borders to people living Now that Alberta has been downgraded to a non entity do we still have to send billions in equalization payments? Yes, all the way back to the 1930's. Right now it has roughly 20-25% support, and we can all guess exactly which 20% that is. As if he needed the boost. While Canada as a whole is a gorgeous country, you'd be lying if you said you didn't have special feelings towards at least one province. Oh yes. Source:National Post,Angus Reid Institute. Not only are Canadians surprisingly willing to throw theirleast favourite province under the bus, but it seems that a lot of Canadians also share the same feelings. There are random questions. But the bust was inevitable and predictable. The delays included resistance from Albertans who weren't sure they had enough material to sell East and a preference to sell to the United States. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. A recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News found that roughly half of all Canadians entertained racist thoughts they wouldnt speak in public. It isnt calling for a values test for new immigrants. There is a militancy to some of Wexits language and memestalk of civil war, for exampleand pictures of men in full military garb, that could foreshadow something darker and more violent. Payments from the federal government to have-not provinces are based on their fiscal capacity, but wealthier provinces receive nothing. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. That makes Alberta the best province, from an income-tax point of view, to be living on low income. An earlier version of this story didn't factor in the abatement on federal taxes that Quebec income-tax filers receive.