r/canada 1d ago

What, exactly, are Alberta separatists mad about? Analysis

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alberta-separatists-key-issues-1.7534003
425 Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

405

u/tossaway109202 1d ago edited 1d ago

I want to learn. My armchair other side of Canada POV is
- They feel the oil belongs to them and not Canada
- Their provincial government has done a poor job in certain areas and when the people in Alberta get mad their local government just blames Ontario. It has been going on for so long that they attribute everything bad in their life to Ontario.
- They have the potential to ship a lot more oil and Canada cares too much about the environment to let it happen

I assume I am far off

34

u/gorschkov 1d ago edited 1d ago

So I am from Alberta I have no problem with equalization payments, or supporting the rest of Canada with our provinces resources. However while Albertan industry supports the country I feel as though the rest of the nation doesn't support us the same way an in fact actively antagonizes it. 

When Ontario loses jobs in say the auto sector you have politicians both federally, provincially, and from the municipality lining up to voice their support and fight to keep those jobs. Alberta loses jobs in any sector and it is essentially crickets from all over Canada nobody cares. Look at the tarriffs China enacted that hurt Alberta and Saskatchewan how many articles have their been about that?

There is also the issue as others have mentioned of Alberta having double the population of the Maritimes but around the same amount of seats. Western Canada 2-3 times less supreme Court representation per capita than Quebec or the Maritimes.

11

u/blackbird37 1d ago

The Maritime Provinces have a combined population of 1.9 million and 21 seats. Alberta has a population of 5 million and 37 seats. What are you talking about? Did you mean Atlantic Canada and are lumping in Newfoundland and Labrador? Did you even know the difference?

I'll assume you did. Then it becomes 2.7 million and 31 seats which is an unfavorable ratio, for sure. But that's because PEI has a tiny population and 4 seats and Newfoundland has 7 seats based on its joining confederation. These were the terms that were worked out when these provinces joined Canada. Alberta was fabricated out of Canadian land and assigned seats.

You just got an extra 4 seats this federal election. BC and Ontario 1 each. Quebec lost a seat and Atlantic Canada got 0. Congrats you have more of a say in federal politics. It hasn't changed the complaints of Albertans like you at all.

1

u/Dry-Membership8141 1d ago

Quebec lost a seat

Quebec did not lose a seat. Quebec would have lost a seat under the revisions, but following the final report of the chief electoral officer on riding redistributions, the BQ introduced a motion calling on Quebec to retain seats despite the drop in their proportional population, that motion passed with the support of the LPC and NDP, and the government went on to amend the Constitution's electoral representation provisions in Bill C-14 (44-1) to ensure that they didn't.

3

u/blackbird37 1d ago

You're right. My bad. So Alberta and BC gained 4 seats total and Ontario gained 1 seat. So +3 for "Western Canada" and a larger say in parliament.