106 Replies to “December 28, 2020 – Reader Tips”

    1. True, but he may not be allowed to take office.
      On the other hand, Biden could be facing a problem in the Ukraine:
      https://youtu.be/hKDXVo-OKeQ
      How could it be ok for someone to take office as a head of a democratic country while accused of extortion, money laundering influence peddling. It’s outrageous.

      1. How could it be ok for someone to take office as a head of a democratic country while accused of extortion, money laundering influence peddling.

        It worked in Canada, didn’t it?

    2. biden – “We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics!”
      Uh, Derek, ya wanna try that again??

    1. I was discussing that sort of issue with a relative of mine on Christmas Day. I told him about how people verbally attacked me a few weeks ago when I claimed an exemption and didn’t wear a mask.

      He likened me to someone who, during the London Blitz, refused to switch off the lights during the nightly blackout.

      That same relative claimed at one time that he had a high IQ. He also has a Ph. D. from a boiler room university that went out of business after he bought his degree, so I guess he knows what he’s talking about, eh?

      I think it’ll be a while before I speak with him again.

      1. Yes, well, the media is now fully in the bag for all government proclamations and orthodoxy. Anything remotely contrary is verboten and all are branded as conspiracy theory.

        No mentions of internment camps yet.

        Funny how when governments go fully left, the media falls in line, without questioning any policy, decision, or strategy.

      2. My relatives are mostly sane, give or take a couple of Karens (but they avoid me like a plague anyway, good) but neighbors or acquaintances are another story. They just don’t process that the police state is a real danger, far greater than the Wuhan Kung Flu. Every time I mention that we’re living in some bizarre Kafkaesque/Orwellian world, they look at me in utter disbelief and reply “but but but COVID….”

        Hate to see civilization go down the drain. Got two passports and skills marketable in the old country. We’ll see.

      3. Things could be worst like your post from Rebel News last night at 7:49pm showing a poor girl who has bruises, a cracked rib, an arrest and fines for not wearing a mask, this should be a good warning to people:

        “EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Officer arrests mom with medical mask exemption on Vancouver SkyTrain” on YouTube
        https://youtu.be/M3HQhsodeOU

        P.S. noticed too late that this was already repeated today at 1:41.

  3. This summary shows that there are a lot more qualified people wanting more explanations about this COVID virus than what has been given by govts so far. Even the CDC reversed some of its guidelines recently.

    https://principia-scientific.com/covid-19-holiday-news-round-up-from-boom/

    There have been so many contradictions by so many ‘experts’, nobody knows what to believe anymore.

    Perfect example in Canada is ‘No knee jerk reaction’ Trudeau refusing to stop flights from China which were obviously carrying the virus. The first 12 cases in Canada were all travelers. Even though China locked down 50 million of it’s own people, Blunder Boy refused to close the border when it was the most important time to do exactly that.
    And now Blunder Boy took all of a 60 seconds to close the border to UK flights.

    The Liberal communist stench out of Ottawa is becoming unbearable.

    https://principia-scientific.com/covid-19-holiday-news-round-up-from-boom/

    1. Did you also notice how the “new strain” developed from a country that is about to leave the EU?
      Just a coincidence of course.

      1. As I always say, just a coincidence or a conspiracy until it isn’t. Still just another mutation or variation whatever the hell they want to call it. It ain’t going to kill us all.

        1. There were 4 “mutations” back in January, by the time COVUD left Chinah. One was fed directly to Italy with continual influx direct from Wuhan itself. The rest went east and west, as Chinah locked down Wuhan. Can’t give the link because that version of HarryChenPHd was taken down by Twatter not long after. Hat tip to Chairman Xi.

      2. It’s just like whenever there seems to be an end to a phase of this phony-baloney plague, son of a gun, something else comes along to justify clamping down even harder.

        Gotta be coincidence, right?

        1. Yup, just a total coinkydink, right on time to extend the lockdowns, just more fear porn for the media to bellow ad nauseum! Danger Danger, Danger!

          Of course it’s not deadlier, but they quietly bypass that factoid.

          There have been mutations from the start, it’s not the first. They don’t have enough statistical data or time to prove their theorem, yet, it’s a certified, unquestionable fact, according to our betters.

          I remember a time not so long ago when the media questioned everything government said. Now? They are simply the government broadcast arm. Thanks Unifor!

      3. May not have originated in the UK; they have the most comprehensive lab testing so discovered there.

    1. Import Turd World, become Turd World. The epicenter of Ontario Wuhan Flu infestation is Browntown. Same story virtually anywhere.

      1. It is still the damn flu, black, brown, white or shades in between it is not going to kill us all, the government may but the flu won’t.

        1. There is plenty of room between “just a flu” and “going to kill us all”. Wuhan Flu is neither. It is much loser to the former than to the latter but it is not trivial. It is not a good reason to destroy the middle class and embrace the police state.

          Original point still stands, everywhere you look, those who reject civilization get infected at disproportionally higher rates, Browntown, Brooklyn, Bronx, Sweden etc, the story is all the same. Their rejection of civilization also has other consequences that result in comorbotities. Turd world is what turd world do.

          3. “those who reject civilization get infected at disproportionally higher rates, Browntown, Brooklyn, Bronx…….”
            Them Chinah guys was real sneaky about that, eh? Or prophetic. Worsh yer hands, Brown Town. Among other parts. Bet a buncha Chinah folks found that out the hard way, too. No loss in Ximan World, methinks the thinking was. In their mind a local “cull” was probably factored in. Gave ’em plausible deniability. The rains and floods in Chinah last summer, washed away the evidence. The Pacific is a Big Place. Have some fresh caught shrimp. It’s no wonder the Chinah Fleet fishes off South America. Worlds apart.

          4. “Or prophetic. …”

            Was thinking along the same lines, it is like a plot from John Ringo’s Troy Rising Series mixed with a bit of The Last Centurion.

      2. Well, it certainly is THAT in Calgary….by a long freaking shot.
        Our Brown town encompasses pretty much the Entire NE Quadrant East of Deerfoot Trail. ~350,000 say..??

        Yet I still am not hearing Calls of “Bring out yer Dead’ in punjabi or pushtan..??

        The REality is that Covid is code for “propaganda war” against all WESTERNERS…regardless of their origin…IMO.

        1. It is partly a propaganda war, sure. It is being used to destroy the middle class and the western way of life. But it is more. It came from a Chicom bioweapon lab…

          As for who is overrepresented among Wuhan Flu infected and dead? Turd Worlders are. The same pattern emerges in every civilized country.

        2. BTW by Browntown I refer to Brampton where the major is Patrick Brown, but yes, it is a turd world country north of Moronto.

        3. Things certainly changed in my old stomping grounds.

          When I lived in Marlborough in the late 1970s, the neighbourhood was largely white. Even when I was in the Brooks area and made day trips to Calgary during the mid-’80s, it was still that way.

    2. Pretty sure Canada’s stats would be similar to Swedens as far as how it got here and how it spread

    3. Sweden has one of the lowest average citizens per household in the world. Immigrants however are quite a bit higher than their average.

      Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that household density is a huge factor.

      1. Of course it is all about household density, and not about personal hygiene or civilized norms or behavior. Sure… funny how population density in Browntown Morontario is not higher than in adjacent municipalities, the degree of civilization however…

  5. Where do you go, when agents break in your house and tie you up in your truck?

    Downtown.

  6. L- The list of physicians who put medical ethics and a professional Standard of Care above Mandated Marxist Medicine continues to grow. Who are you going to trust ?
    ———————————————————————————————————————————-
    Kulvinder Kaur MD Retweeted
    Kulvinder Kaur MD@dockaurG
    2020 has been catastrophic due to immense harms from our govts’ unethical, unscientific and unconstitutional lockdowns/restrictions

    Here’s a superb thread by Harvard Prof @MartinKulldorff
    : a call to return to the 12 core principles of public health. Humanity’s blueprint for 2021
    https://twitter.com/dockaurG/status/1343279714509721606

  9. Watching the idiots that Crowder talks to does not give one confidence for the future of the human race.

  10. Like any SDA-ster, I avoid watching the CBC like the Wuhan plague. But yesterday I was watching “Lights Out” on the Movietime channel (a safe place way up on the upper TV channels), when during a break came a 15-second CBC ad promoting CBC News.

    It ran something to the effect like “Get the latest on the Covid virus from the CBC!”. Then, with the background video changing to a clip of Justin Trudeau speaking at a cottage presser, the ad blares “Watch as Canada rolls out the vaccine to fight the pandemic on the CBC!”.

    So essentially the CBC is playing a promo ad, ostensibly prompting its so-called “news”, but instead the ad promotes Justin’s Liberals. And claiming we have a problem-free rollout. Geesh.

    1. I see the CDC has said that 6% of so called cov2 fatalities were “from” the virus all others were “with” the virus, that of course includes those shot to death, killed in car accidents and any other damn thing that will kill us. Those two words from and with are poles apart.

  11. The Liberal Party’s CBC is excited that a Karen snitched on a church gathering in Quebec. Police swept in and charges are pending.

  12. Yesterday I posted a long investigative article by the G&M exposing the stark corruption within Public Health Canada. People posting replies rightly complained that the article is under a paywall, and that interested people cannot access it. With that in mind, I below is a pasted of the first seven or eight paragraphs of the article, a “hook”, where the writer describes how Global Affairs Minister Champaign purposely lobbied on behalf of China to keep China-Canada passenger air traffic open:

    “As a global pandemic began to take root in February, China held a series of backchannel conversations with Canada, lobbying the federal government to keep its borders open.

    With the virus already taking a deadly toll in Asia, Heng Xiaojun, the Minister Counsellor for the Chinese embassy, requested a call with senior Transport Canada officials. Over the course of the conversation, the Chinese representatives communicated Beijing’s desire that flights between the two countries not be stopped because it was unnecessary.

    ‘The Chinese position on the continuation of flights was reiterated,’ say official notes taken from the call. ‘Mr. Heng conveyed that China is taking comprehensive measures to combat the coronavirus.’

    Canadian officials seemed to agree, since no steps were taken to restrict or prohibit travel. To the federal government, China appeared to have the situation under control and the risk to Canada was low. Before ending the call, Mr. Heng thanked Ottawa for its ‘science and fact-based approach.’

    Around the same time, with the death toll rising and the virus spreading internationally, preparations were made for a phone call between Minister of Foreign Affairs François-Philippe Champagne and his Chinese counterpart. According to speaking notes prepared in advance of that discussion, Canada’s key messages were to ‘express sympathy’ and to convey how impressed ‘Ottawa was with efforts deployed to contain the outbreak, and the transparent approach taken by China thus far.’ ‘The government had ‘full confidence’ in China’s ability to contain the virus.

    It was a critical moment in the looming pandemic, but the Canadian government lacked the full picture, instead relying heavily on what Beijing was choosing to disclose to the World Health Organization (WHO).”.

    If posting a few paragraphs is kosher, I would like to paste another set tomorrow, describing how Public Health doctored a senior official’s resume to make her look like she was medically trained (she wasn’t). The article is dynamite, but I fear the media cartel will ignore the stark findings.
    “

    2. I received a copy of the Globe article that David is quoting from in an email from a friend, who is a Globe subscriber and who cut and pasted the article into an email so I could read it. The article may be the single most important piece of reporting on the China virus that has yet appeared in the mainstream media (although it does have flaws). The bottom line: complete disregard for the well being of Canadians by the China-loving Libranos, and gross incompetence by the federal government’s senior health bureaucrats.

      To ease the burden on David, I am pitching in with another excerpt from the Globe article. This excerpt (call it Part 2) from the article follows the first part of the article which David quoted:

      Globe article: Part 2

      “Ottawa’s ability to independently know what was going on in China – on the ground and inside hospitals – had been greatly diminished in recent years.

      Canada once operated a robust pandemic early warning system and employed a public-health doctor based in China who could report back on emerging problems. But it had largely abandoned those international strategies over the past five years, and was no longer as plugged-in.

      By late February, Ottawa seemed to be taking the official reports from China at their word, stating often in its own internal risk assessments that the threat to Canada remained low. But inside the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), rank-and-file doctors and epidemiologists were growing increasingly alarmed at how the department and the government were responding.

      “The team was outraged,” one public-health scientist told a colleague in early April, in an internal e-mail obtained by The Globe and Mail, criticizing the lack of urgency shown by Canada’s response during January, February and early March. “We knew this was going to be around for a long time, and it’s serious.”

      China had locked down cities and restricted travel within its borders. Staff inside the Public Health Agency believed Beijing wasn’t disclosing the whole truth about the danger of the virus and how easily it was transmitted. “The agency was just too slow to respond,” the scientist said. “A sane person would know China was lying.”

      It would later be revealed that China’s infection and mortality rates were played down in official records, along with key details about how the virus was spreading.

      But the Public Health Agency, which was created after the 2003 SARS crisis to bolster the country against emerging disease threats, had been stripped of much of its capacity to gather outbreak intelligence and provide advance warning by the time the pandemic hit.”

      https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-we-are-not-prepared-the-flaws-inside-public-health-that-hurt-canadas/

    3. One of the flaws in the Globe article is the claim, made without evidence, that the budget of the Public Health Agency of Canada was slashed, first by Harper and then by Justin. These are the relevant numbers that you won’t find in the Globe article.

      The number of employees at the Public Health Agency declined from 2,800 in 2010 to 2,340 in 2020, a reduction of 460 . Meanwhile, over the same period, the number of employees at Heath Canada (a sister organization to the Public Health Agency), increased from 10,566 to 11,223, an increase of 657. In other words, a reduction in one part of the Ottawa health bureaucracy was more than offset by an increase in another part.

      What happened is that decisions were made by senior bureaucrats and politicians to shuffle people and functions within the Health bureaucracies, and change priorities. Claiming that health budgets were slashed is not true.

    5. DM thanks for this.

      I don’t subscribe to the G&M. They do occasionally produce some worthwhile long form journalism – a rarity these days.

      It seems like each passing day governments are being exposed for their covid blunders. This will intensify as the be nice grace period expires. Opposition parties are pretty much expected to rally behind the government during times of crisis.

      The Bong has plenty to answer to.

      1. The Bong has plenty to answer to.

        Sure, but will there be any consequences for him? I think we know the answer to that one.

        1. Love the names “Bong” and “Justhin”. Maybe “Justhin Bong” or “Justin the Bong”?

  13. The Liberal Party’s Toronto Star explains that blacks and indians are mistrustful of vaccinations, because Canadians are racist bastards.

  14. Wearing underwear on the outside so the government can check is pretty much the norm these days in the Land of Stupid.
    Stupid Ontario is the only jurisdiction in North America to close ski hills.
    That’s right, no skiing even if you’re wearing your underwear on your head.
    I think we should switch planet names with Uranus.

  15. The Elite Top 1% who demand we cut fossil fuel etc and pay huge Carbon Taxes produce 2x as much co2 as 50% of humanity. They need to have their activities controlled. No private jets, only one modest size home, one vehicle, and double the taxes. Even worse is our Government Elite who lecture and RULE OVER US. Remove all Unnecessary travel and all fossil fuel powered transportation from their use. Only allow them small electric vehicles. Probably golf carts in summer and winter clothing allowance in winter to get around in the cities. Enough of the Bullshit.
    Demand they do as they force us to do. https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottsnowden/2020/09/24/carbon-emissions-of-richest-1-more-than-double-than-those-of-the-poorest-50/?sh=7267fd8a3c98&fbclid=IwAR3EDrwyrkmQKgfmnaEvAA0ApoCedAZRzgUdIMiVA0euqk4niXp82HE1OKg

  16. Breitbart reports that the Trump administration and Britain are trying to reach a trade deal before Dementia Joe takes over. Biden is a well known hater of the British.

    1. Biden is a well known hater of the British.

      Uh, Joe? The Revolution’s been over for close to 250 years…..

  17. We didn’t hear much about gun violence in the headlines this year. The left didn’t need to play that card. I’ve noticed the past couple of weeks that shootings are beginning to return to the headlines, certainly to warm us up to the idea of repealing the 2nd amendment under President Harris.

    1. One of the symptoms of “covid death” is small concentrations of lead in the body.

  18. Rachel Notley wants all of us to cough up more money, so frontline workers can get more pay.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/RachelNotley/status/1343444193591533570

    Uhm Rachel, they have jobs, many of the rest of us don’t.

    We are faced with higher taxes, higher energy prices, higher food costs, etc. with little to no INCOME.

    I note that Notley hasn’t taken a pay cut. We’re in this together? Ha!

    And now Guy Smith, the head of the Alberta Public Employees Union, is saying on the radio that they want raises (contract negotiations are just starting).

    1. About 2 months ago, someone from the Edmonton area wrote a letter to a certain newsrag about the medical workers wildcat strike. She whinged about the government not honouring its side of the contract blah blah blah.

      I wasn’t surprised that she wrote that. I knew her while I was an undergrad and over the years, she turned into a hard-core radical leftist. The NDP could do no wrong as far as she’s concerned.

      Someone responded to her with the idea it would be nice if the workers from a certain oil company could go on strike and get their jobs back, reminding her that the provincial government is broke.

      1. Much appreciated!
        (I’m into the POMPEII comedy and have 2 episodes of TRAFFIK left, thumbs up!)

          2. Many of the items on the weekend and holiday feeds are repeated shows, usually consisting of items such as what I posted. If you miss it now, it’ll probably show up again in a few months.

          3. Dr Eric H. Cline’s book (“1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed”) about the Late Bronze Age collapse offers what I would consider excellent background reading for Homer’s classic “The Iliad and the Oddessy.” (Wish I had it 50 years ago as a go to reference. I found the latter laborious until I got into it and eventually liked it)

            Below is an excellent lecture and it is what you linked a few weeks ago. I particularly enjoyed his slide show  and complete presentation:

            “1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Eric Cline, PhD)” (1:10:17)
            https://youtu.be/bRcu-ysocX4

            I also enjoyed the 4 part interview with John Batchelor because there was some discussion there that was not covered in the 1 hour + lecture on video.

            The reason for the collapse of the civilization in question at approximately 1177 B.C. —  the symbolic date, is likely attributed to many reasons, as Dr Cline stated, such as climate change, (famine and drought) earthquakes or the invasion of the Sea Peoples.

            I see this scenario as being similar to the situation of the present collapse of the Western Civilization. History is repeating itself. The People of Communist China, the new Sea People, are currently invading the West for their own benefit. Their ambitions of total World dominance and the acquisition of the bounties being taken are clearly more evident now than when Eric Cline’s book was published in 2014.

            Cline’s book is an important one.

          4. Today’s government collapse of civilization, as we know it, is history repeating itself.
            Your link repeated at 12:17 is relevant.

    1. No, he doesn’t. It’s sheer fantasy to believe that the VP has unilateral power to disqualify electoral votes.

      Trump has lost and Biden will be inaugurated on January 20. There is no stopping it now. There really hasn’t been any chance to stop it since Thanksgiving at the latest.

      1. Did you even watch the video? The duties and authority of the VP, acting as President of the Senate, are outlined in the Constitution.

        1. I won’t waste my time on nonsense. I’m quite aware of the VP’s constitutional powers. They are somewhere akin to “nil”. I’m also aware of the legal role given to the VP in presiding over this special joint session of Congress to count the electoral college votes. Such role is effectively symbolic in nature and he has almost no real authority.

          It is what it is. Trump has lost and Pence cannot and will not reverse it.

      2. Not quite. The American people can stop it, if they have the courage.

        That is the question.

      3. The US Election was obviously stolen. It is in everyone’s interest to stop this fraud. Surely final authority is with Congress. And, there seems to be a process in place to allow Congress to exercise its authority in stopping an illegitimate, criminal candidate from taking office.

        1. The thuggery openly displayed by the Democrats in their theft of the election remind me of some students I once had.

          The twerps cheated on one of their exams. I knew they cheated. They knew I knew they cheated. Their justification was: “If I didn’t cheat, I wouldn’t have passed your course.”

          I drew this to the attention of their department head. He, in his typical “I’m retiring in a couple of years and don’t want any hassle now” fashion, did nothing.

  23. What Denying Election Fraud Accomplishes
    [He offers five categories of election fraud deniers]

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/12/what_denying_election_fraud_accomplishes.html

    This one seems to neatly encapsulate the first 5-10 minutes of that interview posted in a separate thread that I could withstand.

    Some election fraud–deniers of this kind go even as far as to insist that if we cannot (or don’t want to) fight them (the election fraudsters and power-grabbers), then we may as well join them.  That may be a nice little trick that may work, to some extent, in low-stage games, but not when submission of once free people to the power of the government that is not accountable to them is at stake.  Such submission is almost always permanent, and the longer it lasts, the more difficult it is to abolish. Clearly, if the president is determined not by the will of the people, as prescribed in the Constitution, but by rigged elections under control of determined and ruthless cabal, then the president, and other elected officials, is accountable to the cabal and not to the voters.

  24. F.Y.I.

    Dollarama Store (TSX $52.86 CAD +0.15 [^0.28%] Dec24 disclaimer)
    will be replacing the liquidated (Peter) Nygård Fashion Park Centre, Shawville Blvd, Calgary, AB (RioCan Shawnessy Centre RioCan REIT$17 CAD Dec24) situated across from Wal-Mart.

    Lammle Western Wear and Tack has relocated to where Pier One once was in the same neighbourhood of the aforementioned RioCan locale.

    We may be down and out in Calgary but we’re not dead yet.

    Do try to shop locally when possible folks.

    From N.R.–  concerned citizen.

    1. The nearest little town to me about 3000 pop. has probably 15 plus stores out of business and even broken windows on main street including one bank. I read several months back that Albertans can expect to reach levels not seen since the Dirty 30’s am beginning to think it could be true.
      Still a lot of rural crime and no policing except for SWAT style covid mask take downs.
      Alberta needs to get out of the Gulag called Canada. Remember how I said we would be gagged. Now it is gagged with a beating.

      1. How true. But, that’s awful. I had no idea about smaller towns.

        This morning I saw a person sleeping inside the C-Train Station waiting room. There are the usual panhandlers around including one who has a big dog. A dog. Imagine that.

        And last summer I saw 2 people in a C-train station shooting up. One was injecting the other.

        Coming from a big city like Montreal nothing shocks me. However I never saw anything terribly severe in N.B. but people with alcohol problems. Once saw a shocking incident of someone collapsing from alcohol withdrawal i.e. the DTs. His wife threw him into an ambulance and the treatment he got at hospital was more booze, she later told me. Sad old guy. He continuously verbally abused people.

        We are witnessing a politically motivated collapse of civilization. These sad stories are the result of poverty and a depressed society.

        I took an hours walk today. Shook my head a little. Thoughts of doom and gloom aren’t too far away.

        But I’m still okay. How about you guys out there?

        1. We are witnessing a politically motivated collapse of civilization.

          I saw that in Fort St. John ever since I started going there regularly after my father died. There are a number of places that have been empty for at least 3 years. One used to be an ice cream parlour which has been vacant after the previous occupant re-located elsewhere. Another is a restaurant which was closed before that establishment.

          I’m sure much of that was a result of policies started by Red Rachel and, later, Prinz Dummkopf. Horgan’s election only made matters worse.

          1. Nancy’s statement about a “politically motivated collapse of civilization” is so true! Great thought and a great way of putting it. The more I read comments here, the more it seems Wexit is the way to go.

  25. Get Woke, Go Broke, Israeli edition:

    This month it became clear what Arab princes had to gain from making nice with Israel—laundering money through assets in the only stable developed economy in the Middle East ahead of the dark day the oil money runs out, and co-opting Israeli institutions.

    What’s less clear is what Israel has to gain from allowing the cream of Amalek’s elite to escape the collapse of their countries.

    Among the new acquisitions of Bibi’s new Emirati friends is Beitar Jerusalem, famed for the Jewish patriotism of its fans.

    Needless to say, the fans are not amused about the team’s new Arab owners.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-55229118

    1. Sheesh, an Israeli football team accused of racism toward arabs.

      C’mon this stretches credibility…

  26. Conrad Black at the National Post writes about whether Canadians are racist or not. Leftist heads explode in the comment section.

    2. Buddy – There have been comments to the effect that her students are going on-line and finding better ways to solve the problems than the one she taught them.

  29. My apologies for the length. But I have no link it was originally in the Calgary Herald, but could not access archives. So adjust the Prof. numbers up from 2005.
    Let’s Get While The Gettin’s Good
    LEON HAROLD CRAIG

    This year, Alberta is celebrating a century of existence as part of the Canadian federation of provinces. What better time, then, to take stock of Alberta’s place in this arrangement, of how well it’s been served in the past and what are its prospects for the future?

    The moment is especially propitious, since the whole country is being treated to a rare public exposure of how corrupt the federal government, historically dominated by a Liberal party centred on Ontario and Quebec, actually – routinely – is.

    To be sure, the $250 million of graft involved in the Adscam racket is but a small portion of Alberta’s annual donation to keeping Quebec tenuously tethered to the rest of Canada, barely a week’s contribution of the $12 billion Ottawa sucks out of Alberta every year in “equalization” payments (which the Liberal party then uses to buy votes east of Cornwall), a mere $60 of the almost $3,000 that every man, woman and child in Alberta pays per year for the privilege of remaining in a federation governed for the benefit of Ontario, Quebec and cronies of the Liberal Party of Canada.

    Kept here, that same money would provide every family of four a $35,000 car every three years. I’d rather have the car.

    Better still, use the $12 billion to reduce the taxes on Alberta’s citizens and businesses by that amount; let people spend their earnings as they please, and transform Alberta, already the most vibrant part of Canada, into the most attractive economic environment in all of North America.

    True, the population would double within 10 years, but Alberta is a big place, of almost unlimited potential. However, to realize that potential, we have to do one small thing: Declare our independence – withdraw from the Canadian federation, become an independent commonwealth with our own sovereign government, directly answerable to no one but the people of Alberta.

    The political reality Albertans need to face is that the sponsorship scandal is not an aberration, but the epitome of the Liberal party’s secret of perpetual success; it is its norm, and unusual only in the combination of brazenness and clumsiness that allowed it to come to the public’s attention.

    However, it is the reaction of that public that reveals the depth of Canada’s sickness. For as is now clear to even the meanest intelligence, the problem is not merely one of an arrogant, cynical ruling party that uses every unscrupulous and several criminal means to maintain its grip on power; nor that the bloated federal bureaucracies are thoroughly politicized, led by careerists who understand their self-interests to be wedded to Liberal party fortunes; nor that something similar is increasingly true of both the national police and the military establishments; nor that the opposition parties offer no credible alternative (as has become painfully obvious).

    All that is true, but what makes Canada’s political sickness practically incurable is that a substantial majority of the citizens east of Thunder Bay are essentially debased.

    Like many hard truths people would prefer not to face, this bears repeating: a majority of eastern Canadians are not worthy of their civic heritage, as is shown by their passive acceptance of the revelations of the Gomery commission and their casual indifference to the Liberals’ squalid shenanigans in Parliament.

    Doubtless many Albertans naively presumed that the vast majority of eastern Canadians would be thoroughly disgusted by Liberal party hacks skimming and outright looting public money under the guise of promoting national unity. Or at the very least, that they would ashamed to admit to pollsters that they would still vote for a party led by people who should be in jail.

    But obviously they are not. Thoroughly propagandized in the fantasy that Canada is the greatest country on earth, they are too cowardly to admit the fact that it’s become a third-rate nation, a disgrace to its own history and traditions, and is governed like a banana republic. And so they haven’t the gumption to throw the rascals out.

    If ever there was a people that got the government it deserved, Canada is the place. But it doesn’t have to include us: we are not like them, and have no wish to become like them.

    An independent Alberta would be every bit as politically and economically viable as Norway, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand and several other advanced countries of comparable population (but of far less natural resources).

    Begin with the economical considerations, which fall into two broad categories.

    First, what is the cost of remaining within the present Confederation? The costs are very high. And what is the money we pay for the privilege actually being used for (besides Adscam and other Quebec payola)? Gun registry, bilingualism, aboriginal affairs mismanagement, the Kyoto scam, etc.

    In the short run, the savings in transfer payments – to say nothing of the enormous expense of supporting another whole level of unnecessary government – could be used to defray the costs of our transition to independence. But shortly thereafter, the saving applied to tax reduction would make Alberta the most economically attractive locale in all of North America.

    This bears directly on the second set of considerations, the viability of an independent Alberta.

    Professional economists have repeatedly shown that it would flourish, which our being able to offer the most attractive tax regime in North America would only further enhance. Even now north-south trade is as important to the Alberta economy as east-west trade. Among other consequences, our population would increase dramatically within the first decade, as disaffected Canadians of enterprise and sensible social views moved here, replacing several times over the incorrigible Liberals sentimentally attached to Canadian Welfare Nannyism – who (one hopes) would move to Ontario, where they would feel right at home.

    You can’t beat that: a perfect “win-win” outcome.

    However, the economic benefits would not be the most significant advantage of independence. Far more important is the fact that we would gain effective control over the social and political culture in which we live our daily lives. We would no longer be subject to the dictates of Liberal appointees to the Supreme Court of Canada pursuing a political agenda Albertans would reject were they given the chance to vote on it.

    Instead, as what could then be a genuine democracy, the laws and policies of a sovereign Alberta government would reflect the views of the people who live here – on crime and punishment, on marriage and other family matters, on environmental protection, on religious freedom, on wildlife management, on firearm regulation, on narcotics, on immigration, on relations with the U.S. – all without regard for whatever “higher enlightenment” happens to be in fashion among Toronto’s pontificating class and the mandarins of Ottawa.

    We can establish a social environment that will nurture the qualities of character that we naturally admire – self-reliance, enterprise, honesty, fairness, attachment to liberty, loyalty to friends – and thus belong to a country we can be justifiably proud of, one that is tolerant but principled, that actually stands for something positive, governed by one primary concern: the common good of Alberta. That is, our legislators, in framing laws and policies, would no longer be saddled with the necessity of keeping one eye on the feds, on their use of our money and absurd Charter interpretations to manipulate our affairs.

    We could leave the problems of Canadian federalism and its endemic corruption behind us, once and for all.

    Whereas, if we remain subject to the decadent cultural and moral influence of central Canada for another generation, we will ourselves become increasingly infected with the qualities that since the Trudeau era have come to define Canadian “national” character – sanctimonious, resentful, whining, spiteful, hypocritical, preening, cowardly, feckless, weak.

    Some basis for pride.

    And what a contrast to the Canadian character of the preceding century, now sadly forgotten and even mocked by a majority of the population elsewhere in the country.

    Recently in a column for the Western Standard, Mark Steyn argued that the socio-political collapse of Europe is imminent, and that Canada – “an honorary member of the EU” – may soon suffer the same fate.

    I wouldn’t bet against it. As a ship of state, Canada is structurally unsound, sailing aimlessly in a perpetual fog, captained by an endless succession of faux-genteel poseurs, pilferers, con artists and outright crooks.

    Sooner or later, it is bound to end up on the rocks and founder, and there is nothing we Albertans can do about that.

    But there is no reason for us to go down with it.

    Any naive hope one might have placed in the reconstituted Conservative party has been short-lived. The depressing spectacle of its desperate efforts to avoid doing or saying anything that might upset the welfare mentality of the Maritimes, or provoke the wrath and ridicule of the so-called national media (actually the public voice of the Toronto-Montreal axis), while vainly pandering to the sensibilities of Quebec, simply confirms for the umpteenth time that nothing short of regime change can salvage political decency in Canada as a whole. But there’s no chance of that.

    One can hardly blame the Conservatives, for they’ve done the math: two-thirds of the seats in Parliament are at the disposal of voters in Ontario and Quebec, people cowed and corrupted by two generations of degenerative Liberal maternalism and endless streams of self-righteous propaganda. And being politicians, the federal Conservatives wish for success now; they have no stomach for spending years in the wilderness vainly striving to reform the moral posture of that decisive sector of the Canadian electorate.

    The basic facts determining the distribution of political power will not change, hence the “me, too” character of their public policy positions. And, hence, the practical impossibility of structurally reforming the Canadian regime, wherein the Liberals have every reason to regard themselves as its natural rulers in perpetuity, and so can and do treat the whole country as their fiefdom.

    For anyone who understands the political reality of Canada as presently constituted, “The West wants in” is a foolish irrelevance; our slogan should be “the West wants out!”

    Why stay? Why fritter away our resources to remain in association with eastern provinces so alien to us that demonizing Alberta – portraying it as rustic, benighted, intolerant, selfish – is the Liberals’ most effective electoral strategy (as the recent federal election once again clearly showed).

    Why stay? Consider Canada’s position internationally: it has become such a nonentity that there is no advantage in remaining a part of it, and some serious liabilities resulting from the souring of our inescapable relationship with the United States.

    The federal Liberals have done enough stupid things of late to attract all the wrong kind of attention to Canada. Nor were these merely temporary lapses on their part; the gratuitous, and largely ignorant abuse of the U.S. issues out of a petty, resentful mentality that has been long and deeply cultivated, and is now the permanent mind-set of a majority of eastern Canadians.

    Simply compare Canada’s standing in the world right now, repeatedly disparaged by its NATO allies for its feeble contribution and despised by the nation it relies on to protect it. Compare this with the status of Australia, a robust, loyal, and active ally of the most powerful nation on earth – and as such, respected by all nations. Were we on our own, would we not be able to have a far more productive and wholesome relationship with America?

    Why stay? This is a serious question, and it deserves a serious answer – not vacuous platitudes and emotional rhetoric, but sober, solid, rational analysis addressing the economic, moral, cultural, and political advantages of staying.

    I do not believe a case for staying can be made. And whatever temporary dislocations would attend separation are negligible compared to what we risk by doing nothing, allowing ourselves to drift further into the morass of contemporary Canada.

    Our province, having been a distinct political entity of a hundred years existence, with an established institutional and geographic integrity, our focus must be on achieving independence for Alberta. We should not, that is, become mixed up with some amorphous “Western separatism,” which to succeed would require creating an all-new political entity, a prospect subject to endless practical difficulties. If other provinces similarly opt for independence, that is their business, and we would wish them well. Or, if other provinces, or parts of provinces, should later wish to join an already sovereign and flourishing Alberta, that would be a matter for subsequent negotiation. In the meantime, our personal relationships with friends and family elsewhere in Canada need not be in the least affected by our becoming independent.

    We should undertake a move toward independence with a whole-hearted intention of achieving it, not as simply a tactic whereby to get (temporarily) a “better deal” from Ottawa (i.e., get some of our money back, provided as a sop to assuage “western alienation”).

    What Albertans have to understand is that the present Canadian reality is profoundly prejudicial to the interests of our children and grandchildren – economically, culturally, morally, politically – and that there is no realistic prospect of it ever getting better in their lifetime.

    Quite the contrary: there is every likelihood that it will only get worse, as Canada goes the degenerating way of Old Europe: stagnant, corrupt, spiritless, impotent.

    Independence is not an impossible dream. It would take time and planning. The first step should be enactment of something like the “firewall” agenda: establish our own provincial police, collect our own taxes, take charge of our retirement and health care systems, etc.

    Equally important would be a sustained effort of public education to get the Alberta populace used to the idea (overcoming anxiety about its consequences, appealing to pride and a sense of enterprise and adventure, detailing ad nauseum the incorrigible moral bankruptcy of Canada as presently constituted and governed).

    Ultimately, success will depend on the emergence of some committed, shrewd, attractive political leadership. But if the ground is sufficiently prepared, someone of suitable political qualification and ambition will see the opportunity it presents, and seize it. Alberta has produced such leaders in the past, and can again. Build it, and they will come.

    The single greatest obstacle to our declaring independence is sentiment. As the whole contemporary world bears witness, sentiment, and emotions, generally, are of massive importance in politics. Hence, rationality in politics depends on people coming to feel what their reason indicates they ought to feel.

    We ought to feel indignation. But for now, Albertans’ sentimental attachment to Canada remains very strong. A succession of polls have shown that Alberta is the most patriotic province in the country; this is part of our virtue, and we should be proud of it.

    But we could as easily – and far more justifiably – be proud, patriotic Albertans. For the Canada that Albertans love is partly one of an illustrious but (sadly) bygone history; mainly, however, it’s the Canada we know firsthand, and that is Alberta – truly a distinct society unto itself in the alien context of the New Canada fostered by the political establishment of the central provinces.

    We need have no fear of what could be a great adventure: founding a new country. Think of it. Think of the adventure of becoming masters of our own political house. Is this not an enterprise that could engage the spirit of Albertans, young and old? The only real obstacle is in ourselves: our misplaced sentimental attachment, which must and can be transferred from a weak and pacifistic Canada to a sovereign Alberta, strong and free.

    LEON HAROLD CRAIG IS A PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA.

    1. “An independent Alberta would be every bit as politically and economically viable as Norway, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand and several other advanced countries of comparable population (but of far less natural resources).”

      This is true. We would in fact be viable as the Country of Alberta.

      I see the bones of a declaration of Independence all over in this piece. It was thoughtful and well written. Why not WEXIT, what have we got to lose?

      If this doesn’t happen in our lifetime I believe future generations will see the necessity of leaving a dysfunctional post national non-existent entity that used to be called Canada. We should not have to be answering to a foreign Dictator just because we have a poseur head of Country who admires them for turning around their economy on a dime while they alledgedly steal from us and others.

      Yes, why not WEXIT, what have we got to lose?

      Thanks for this article Mr B.

    2. I totally agree with all you have shared, and give kudos; it is more clearly written than I (or many others) could have done.
      One additional point, if you don’t mind:
      Most of the corrupt, laisses faire support of the Liberals is a direct result of our education system. Yes, we could (and should) do a Wexit. But unless we reform our education system, we are only delaying the collapse by 1/2 generation at the most. As long as our “education” system actively promotes all things Leftist, we will be constantly fighting a re-education battle with our younger generation. Real Life may NOT have the desired affect if they are insulated from it by a gov’t job, sitting in an ivory tower being indoctrinated long enough, or just being too stubborn or self-absorbed to admit that an individual’s problems are usually the direct result of said individual’s choices.
      So many posters in schools proclaim “Education is the Key” or “The Children are our Future.”
      I would agree. But unless we are willing to go in and totally reform the Education System, those are not hopeful slogans.

  31. With growing concerns about Operation Sloth Speed and outrage that people are still flying in without China virus screening, Blackie and his loyal media had to come up with a distraction. And so we have his loyal, drooling media rant all day that Ford is Hitler for not giving vaccinations on Christmas Day. And the grand finale was China Patty issuing a statement late in the afternoon trashing Ford. Just ignore that it was the hospitals that asked Ford to cancel vaccinations on Christmas because of staffing issues.

    1. Nope. Nothing to see here. Question that and you’ll be accused of plotting a coup against someone who “clearly” won fair and square.

      A few days ago, I chatted with an old acquaintance of my father. He’s convinced that Trump was illegitimate as President, but Biden, however, is. Personally, I think his comments were a result of combining age and strong drink.

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