Calling himself a “patriot” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called any independence threats from Alberta as “empty.

“I regard it as an empty threat, and I think making a threat like that would be counterproductive,” Kenney said in a news conference Friday morning.

Kenney was responding to Cypress-Medicine Hat UCP MLA Drew Barnes who has written his own report to the premier urging a much stronger stance against Ottawa for the province to get a fairer deal in confederation, adding that the issue of Alberta independence needs to be on the table.

Barnes sent Kenney his letter the same day the Alberta Fair Deal panel released their report.

“First of all, I am an unqualified Canadian patriot and I don’t believe you can qualify your patriotism. Either you love your country or you don’t, and I love Canada,” Kenney said at a Friday news conference.

Kenney said independence from Canada doesn’t make sense for Alberta and would cause more problems than solutions.

“The real crisis in this province is an economic crisis, it’s a jobs crisis,” Kenney said.

“We’re not going to get our economy growing again or get jobs back here if, first of all, we landlock ourselves with no potential access to the coasts for pipelines.

“We’re certainly not going to get investment to bring jobs back in Alberta if we create a crisis of confidence by having a vote on separation.”

Kenney said he doesn’t think a lot of Albertans are talking about leaving the country.

“I understand the frustration that has driven, not a significant number of Albertans, to talk about separation. But I fundamentally believe that’s the wrong path for Alberta,” he said.

A large poll conducted exclusively for the Western Standard in May found between 45% and 48% of Albertans would vote for independence.

“You don’t make a threat that you’re not prepared to keep, and I have not seen a single public opinion poll that indicates we’re anywhere close to the majority of Albertans voting to leave Canada,” Kenney told reporters.

“I love it (Canada) to the point where I want to improve it so that the federation works as it was originally conceived,” Kenney said.

Barnes has written his own report to Kenney urging a much stronger stance against Ottawa for the province to get a fairer deal in confederation, adding that the issue of Alberta independence needs to be on the table.

“I am grateful to you [Premier Kenney] for giving me the opportunity to listen to the thousands of Albertans that came to share their vision with the Fair Deal Panel,” said Barnes in a press release moments after the Fair Deal Panel report was released Wednesday.

“With an increasingly hostile government in Ottawa, you have had the foresight to understand that Albertans will no longer accept the inequities of being a second-class people under the constitution. My colleagues on the panel have given thoughtful consideration to the proposals before us, but it is necessary for me to express clearly to you and to Albertans what I feel in my heart must be done.”

In his letter, Barnes recommends the following:

• A firm referendum date six months from now expressly forbidding Ottawa from legislating any kind of Equalization program.
• Alberta should collect its own provincial and federal personal and corporate income taxes.
• Alberta should hold a referendum expelling Ottawa from spending inside areas of provincial jurisdiction and transferring the tax points of the Canada Health and Social Transfers to the provinces.
• Albertans should elect a constitutional convention to draft a provincial constitution, to be ratified in a referendum.
• An Alberta Constitution should include the right to initiate referenda and recall elected representatives.
• Alberta should immediately take back control over its own immigration under its provincial jurisdiction.
• Albertans should hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment to not only elect senators, but to equally and justly determine how many seats each province holds.
• Alberta should hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment to clarify and strengthen internal free trade provisions, including the right to move our resources across provincial boundaries.
• Albertans should hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment to strictly firewall off any encroachment by the federal government over the internal development of our natural resources.

Barnes said his proposals should be voted on in two broad questions proposed to Albertans in a referendum: one on actions that Alberta can make unilaterally without federal consent, and one on constitutional amendments requiring the consent of the federal and other provincial governments.

“As we do so, we should be clear with Ottawa and the other provinces that if the people of Alberta vote for a fair deal of constitutional equality within confederation, but these proposals are rejected, that Albertans will be given the opportunity to vote on their independence,” said Barnes.

“While I appreciate that my colleagues on the panel do not believe that Alberta can raise the prospect of independence under any circumstance, I must respectfully disagree. A free people must be willing to at some point of injustice without rectification, to draw a line and make a stand.

“I do not make any of these recommendations, and the last in particular, lightly. I was born a Canadian, and sincerely wish to build a reformed Canada that treats all of its people equally and fairly.

“In fact, this is another opportunity for Albertans to lead the way, for by finding equality and fairness for ourselves, we can create the framework for others to find the same. Ultimately, this will help to build a stronger, freer, prosperous, and more united Canada.”

Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard

dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com

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