The war within

Of course, they’ll lose.

Alberta won’t leave Canada, any more than will the other guys. Actually, without our agreement, nobody’s going anywhere. But between now and 2029, the 51st state-loving, Wexiteer Albertan yahoos can inflict damage on the rest of us. If the premier doesn’t stop promoting the rebels she will be complicit in putting her own political skin ahead of the nation. But we knew that already.

In case you missed it, in less than two months Danielle Smith will hold a vote on whether to proceed with a formal referendum on that province leaving Confederation. It’s absurd, whiny, puerile and selfish. The rebs think they can be richer being part of Montana than Canada. It’s all about money and the allure of a Trumpian utopia free of regulation where the oil flows free, the climate doesn’t change, taxes are low and you can love your weapon.

In fact in Montana there are no firearm permit requirements, no registration mandates and no waiting period to buy a gun, plus no training needed. Anyone who’s 18 or over can possess one and carry it as a concealed weapon without a permit. Open carry is entirely legal for anyone over that age. In other words, it’s wide open. Make my day.

Seriously. They want that. They call it ‘freedom’.

This week the Alberta NDP leader (Naheed Nenshi was the popular Calgary mayor) said Smith is crazy to go through with the October 19th vote given the trade war with Trump. It’s the same conclusion the forever separatist Parti Québécois and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon reached days ago. First we stand together. Later we can bicker.

“It’s time to call off the referendum,” says Nenshi. “The premier’s pandering to separatists just shows weakness; it shows that Canada is not united.”

Smith doesn’t care, of course. Unlike almost everywhere else in Canada, Alberta has not removed American booze from retail shelves. Instead of saying, “we’ll see what happens and decide later” she has told the world Albertan energy will continue to flow south – removing a big Canadian bargaining chip. She knows US State Department officials have met with the secessionists and done nothing about it. And she is the only premier to have gone to Mar-a-Lago to do selfies with Trump.

Meanwhile evidence flows that by sanctioning this insane referendum she has opened the door to foreign interference (Russian and American interests are actively promoting Albertan separation with online disinformation), destabilizing society. Alberta residents have been told they can leave Canada, become de facto Americans while still having a Canadian passport and collecting child support payments, CPP and OAS from Ottawa.

Meanwhile polling shows fewer than one in five people would support leaving Canada, and there is no doubt the matter will die. Alberta’s going nowhere. And that’s without even considering the First Nations’ ability to block such a boneheaded move, plus the roadblocks of the federal Clarity Act. Plus, this is Canada (not Montana) so they can’t even shoot their way out.

So why is Smith doing this rather than being a Canadian patriot? Does she not realize that as October approaches Trump will use this fracture in our family to prove that Canada is an artificial construct and doesn’t work? How can a separation vote in a major province during an international trade war not weaken and discredit the notion of nationhood and undermine its federal leadership? Or is that the goal? Is Danielle Smith doing this merely for Danielle Smith, since the wackos are her political supporters?

She demurs. It’s all about direct democracy, she says. Seven hundred thousand people signed petitions on the issue.

Which is true. Her government initiated the petition process, made it easier for citizens to trigger a referendum and engineered the process. A total of 222,597 rebels signed up to split. And 404,293 people petitioned to stay. Fully 78% of Albertas ignored the whole thing. And still, the premier insists on throwing this in the face of all Canadians, the prime minister, the American president and the world.

No wonder house sales in Calgary have started to slide again. Business investment has been sidelined. The Chamber of Commerce figures Alberta risks losing up to $15 billion in capital investment this year alone because of the insane vote. It’s claimed that 80% of local businesses in Calgary think separation would wound the economy. A fifth have iced expansion plans and 15% are researching moving out of Alberta. Business leaders warn this could chase away global capital and raise borrowing costs for Alberta-based industries.

And that makes sense. Why not build your new factory in kiss-my-ass Ontario or even socialist BC?

Yeah, the Wexit rebels are going down. But at what price?

Do the right thing, Danielle. Man up.

About the picture: “Once again, WUL here,” writes Kurt. “You have featured my son’s rescue, Lilo, before. She likes to suss out the dangers in my ‘hood from the balcony. In the Beltline of Calgary. She’d make a good regulator of markets to make things fair in the investment world.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘[email protected]’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/08/26/the-war-within/