Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper cautioned against the prospect of Alberta separation in a column Friday, writing that even voting just to “send a message” would represent a fraught approach.
Those pushing for separation know this. They’re looking to benefit themselves not Albertans.
Harper is smart enough to know that the entire case for separatism is built on lies and ommissions of relevant details, but instead of using his influence to call them out he’s legitimizing the question by avoiding the same truths the separatists glaze over.
He’s in league with them just unwilling to stand with them in public.
Wanting more autonomy for Alberta is not the same as wanting Alberta to leave Canada. The UCP is absolutely a separatist party. The CPC, while absolutely going full MAGA, is not. And I’ve not seen any actual evidence yet that Harper falls in either camp. Happy to be corrected, though.
Separation would bring no benefit, but separatism may have had a hand in the next pipeline being declared in the “national interest”. That’s a benefit for somebody.
I mean anything’s possible, but when did the government start talking about this pipeline and when was the referendum announced? Separation or not, we’ve needed to reduce our dependence on the US since the start of Trump 2.0. We actually should have started before that.
I don’t remember things around a western pipeline really picking up until Carney and Smith signed their MOU, and separatism was definitely a thing before that. The referendum being announcing just changed the appeasment from trying to avoid a referendum to trying to get a good result from the referendum.
Harper is showing face to make Kenney’s hypocritical federalism seem convincing.
He is ONLY showing his young-earth-creationist, IDF-leading face to get Jason “separatist-light” Kenney in power.
I’m gonna need a very large citation on that.
It will bring benefit to the US when the traitorous chuds join as the 51st state.
Future map of Canada:
He is one of the voices that fueled this fire in previous decades, and now he is speaking against it?
That’s like Sam Altman warning about the risks of AI…
Waitasec. When did he explicitly advocate for separation? He advocated for more autonomy, which is not unprecedented (see also: Quebec), but I’ve always seen him as pushing for more freedom within confederation, not freedom from confederation. Happy to be corrected.
When did he explicitly advocate for separation?
That’s not what I was referring to.
He stored the fires of western alienation and anger at Ottawa.
Eh. I’d say he had help. Trudeau senior wasn’t exactly Alberta’s friend. Not to mention the 90’s were all about Quebec.
He brought the Reform Party into the Conservatives. That’s why the crazies seem so loud nowadays.
He also lead the IDU and works for the UCP controlling the thing he hates most since he was young: Alberta pension.
