48 Replies to “I Want A New Country”

  1. The best part is we westerners let them enrich themselves off of us. We know how the table has been set and we refuse to do anything to change it.

    We should have left this unholy confederation 40 years ago when our place in Canada was made clear.

    3. Never gonna happen. You lack the balls to do it. Quebec has more balls in Montreal than the entire west does.

      2. Unfortunately I don’t think that Alberta will leave. I blame all the bloody easterners who have moved here. I know a lot and they continue to vote Liberal as well. If it was still the same type of Albertans that were here in the 80’s, a good chance we would leave.

      3. As I have said before, Alberta, if it ever leaves at all, will leave on a gurney; not on its own feet.

    4. I don’t think the idea of western Canadian provinces joining the US is crazy at all. We would love to have you guys. We would welcome & appreciate you all. What have you got to lose?

  3. Are there locks on the Great Lakes? If not then an option would be to go around Quebec. Set up a port in Ontario and ship the oil by pipelines to this port then ship it out via the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence river.

    1. Yes! Canadian-made lakers, crewed by Canadians, bringing Canadian hydrocarbons through the lakes. Not ideal due to lakes freezing but that works

    2. Interesting idea. I’m not sure, so feel free to correct me, but isn’t the seaway, and the ports along the seaway (even the Port of Montreal) under FEDERAL jurisdiction?

    3. Another option would be to punch that S.O.B in the mouth and get Premier Furey to hit the kill switch on Churchill Falls. Queerbec makes some of its only money by reselling virtually free hydro to New England.

      All that is small ball. Alberta and Saskatchewan need to start banging the referendum drums. It all collapses with out them, don’t let the idiots drag you down.

  5. Canada simply cannot get out from in front of itself. Most Canadians are wedded to the status quo, whatever that was, seeing no need to change any of it. Deluding themselves with visions of Canadian exceptionalism. Now it’s going to all come crashing down.

  6. It’s fascinating to see how a few zero-cost tweets, verbal barbs, and tariff threats from Trump are making our confederation Jenga tower wobble. It’s not hard to imagine PDJT leaning over, grabbing a handful of Vance’s popcorn, and chuckling, “I’m gonna call him ‘governor’ again, let’s see what happens THIS time.”

    To paraphrase E.H. Carr, if an empire collapses as the result of a single battle, the battle itself is less interesting than the pre-existing conditions afflicting the empire that made its fate devolve upon the outcome of a single battle. The current crisis is laying bare a whole host of internal pathologies which, if we fail to resolve them, will end the Dominion as assuredly as foreign annexation, but without any of the post-facto benefits (such as a real bill of rights as opposed to the qualified and therefore nonsensical one that was foisted upon us in 1982).

    I hope that Canadians are paying attention and engaging their grey matter instead of indulging in the mindless jingoism that the least patriotic government in the nation’s history is attempting to invoke. There are important lessons here, and if we fail to learn them, it won’t matter if we “survive” as an independent polity, because even if we do, it will only be until the next home-grown catastrophe, inherited or (just as likely) elected, finishes us for good. When that happens there won’t be any talk of welcoming a 51st state; anyone who feels like it will be able to waltz in and pick up the pieces at garage-sale prices. People are acting as if the status quo is an option; it is increasingly feeling like that is not at all the case.

    1. The moment we become a protected state of the US is upon us.
      Or better yet as a protectorate.
      You get a non-voting seat in Congress.

    2. Yup.
      My feeling here,is that neither Trump or his advisors saw how hopeless Canada real was.
      Now?
      They may be considering the most gain for least pain routes of handling a failed state on the northern border.
      For this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
      To extend the USA,join Alaska to the lower 48 so cheaply..

      Imagine trolling a pretentious loser out the door,to discover a pot of gold that wants to give itself to you…

      I would settle for economic union as the Nation of Buffalo, but Territorial Status as the future State of Buffalo leaves our children many more options,while negating the petty machinations of Ottawa parasites.

      We have always been a wholely owned subsiduary.
      The pretention of nationhood have only served to enrich a bunch of fools and bandits,at huge cost to the rest of us.
      We are trillions in debt,without military and out of choices.
      That “Long March through the Institutions” brought us here.
      And those who killed the Nation,now seem to believe it still lives.
      I know what those who rule Can Ahh Duh think of me..
      They can expect the Lead Lifejacket..incoming as they drown alongside .

      1. Well said, JR.

        Imagine an airplane called Canada. In flight, an entire wing falls off the plane.
        As those on the right side don oxygen masks, life-jackets, then brace for impact; those on the left laugh and shout,
        “Ha! We still have our wing!”

  7. The time is right to declare independence. Western Canada needs the east like a fish needs a bicycle.

  8. Is Quebec 100% “green renewables”? If not, how do they obtain their hydrocarbons; truck, train, pipeline?
    Why does Quebec want to share in revenue from “evil hydrocarbons”. The only ethical thing is for them to divest themselves from this revenue.

  9. We in the west would be prudent to advance our autonomy and see where that leads us.
    The west is where the power is if we just open our eyes and shed the battered wife syndrome.

  10. Fwoggie is speaking to his base. Rallying the troups. October is election time in quebekkie.

    None of this will help the libranos. What are they going to say to lower the rhetoric?

    Fwoggie does mean it. No pipelines are crossing his border.

    Solution #1: Build a pipeline to Thunder Bay. There is already a right of way. Build an LNG plant and a coupla ice breakers. Problem solved. The maritimes cashes in. New European markets open up.

    Solution #2: The pipeline goes to the deep water port of Churchill Manitoba.

    Canada wins. Quebekkie loses

    1. And if GoreBull warming is real, the deep water port at Churchill will be open year round, cost savings on ice breakers!

  11. Canada desperately needs the Trump tariffs. canadians, politicians and civil servants will not address the crime and corruption in canada , unless they are smacked upside the head with a very large stick.

  12. There is no economic cost for Quebec blocking projects that would be beneficial to other provinces and Canadians. There needs to be a carrot and stick approach to prevent Quebec from blocking such products.

    For example, a stick: add up the annual revenue for the finished project and deduct that amount from Quebec’s annual equalization payments. A small change to the equalization program formula.

    – Alberta is projected to make X Billion per year from energy east pipeline.
    – Canada would make Y Billion per year from energy east per year.
    – The Atlantic provinces would make Z revenue per year.

    Quebec’s annual equalization payments would be reduced by the sum of X,Y,Z every year they block the energy east pipeline.

    1. I think Western hydrocarbon income should be exempt from Equalization Payment calculations, just like Quebec’s hydroelectric income has always been. Too bad the existing rules are etched in stone for the next few years, but it should be on the list for the next negotiations. Unfortunately, about 25% of the Canadian Population lives in Quebec, so no Federal party is going to piss off that big of a sector. Western Canada (Including BC) contains maybe 45% of Canada’s population. If you deduct Manitoba which is a perpetual Equalization recipient, and BC who’s major population areas are very lefty, you are looking at Alberta and Saskatchewan with maybe 20% of the Canadian population that would support any change to equalization formulae. We in Alberta and Saskatchewan must decide whether we want to go fishin’ or just meekly keep cuttin’ bait. No wine selection pairs well with bait.

  13. I doubt there is any way of changing the minds of those in Quebec, without an economic blockade lasting for months / years, or an actual outbreak of violence.
    Either stopping the rails from advancing to Montreal, and possibly blocking road transportation into Quebec as well, as this will not be over in a matter of weeks.

    Old Canada made the rules which Quebec abides and benefits from, but Old Canada is gone, it doesn’t exist anymore. I’d expect the SCOC to side with Quebec in this fight, at which point the country would break up and this will be settled in some other way.
    I don’t think Canada has the spine for this fight.

  14. That New Country?
    What shall it look like?
    What rights and freedoms shall we have?

    Can we write a better document than The USA Constitution?
    Is it worth having our very own unit of trade currency?
    Can we afford a Army?
    One bigger than a National Guard Unit?
    What are these choices?
    What do they cost?
    Is Welfare necessary?
    At the National Level?
    Is a State Run Healthcare System workable?.
    Can we police ourselves?
    Are we even capable of having a rational discussion of these details?

    1. Good questions John. A point I always make is that Canada nets about 10 to 20 billion from Alberta annually. (This includes federal income taxes and eq payments minus fed transfers). A brand new Ford class aircraft carrier costs about 9 billion to build.

      That’s the magnitude of money that is taken out of Alberta every year. Minimum. Money is not an issue if the anchor that is Canada is cut loose from the prairies. The problem will be as you alluded to, is forming a govt that isn’t another corrupt gaggle of thieves.

      Albertans need to honestly ask and answer the question: “What benefit does Canada give to Alberta and Albertans?” I have yet to hear anyone answer that question without bringing up some sentimental drip.

      Joining the USA has some immediate benefits of having a lot of those problems sorted out right off the hop. The constitution is a great document outlining individual rights and putting up barriers for govt intrusion.

      JMHO.

    2. The biggest problem with Canada is we always think small. No nation on earth has as much potential as Canada and we spend all our time navel-gazing about what ‘could be’ instead of getting on with it. A national strategy is needed to get every Province working together for prosperity. But I digress. Every Province has control of their resources, I get it, but as someone posted here already, a carrot-stick approach may be necessary to achieve this. In reality, there is only one Province that needs the stick and we all know the one. We have the carrot. Why is there no stick? They really don’t have the stomach to leave and they have proven it twice. Next time let’s hold the exit door open for them and call their bluff. The St. Lawrence Seaway is federal, Northern Quebec, aka, Ruperts Land, belongs to the First Nations… That doesn’t leave much room for those wanting to separate. Time to play hard-ball. There is too much at stake to prevent the prosperity of an entire nation by one Province. Quebec has just as many resources they could bring to the table if they weren’t so intent on being a welfare state. Time to kick them out of their parents (Canada’s) basement.

  15. Consider both federal debt and equalization re-payment,
    Alberta will be owed approximately $490 Billion upon independence:
    ($490B equalization balance + $1B inflation adjustment, less $12B Alberta share of federal debt)

    Likelihood of repayment? Zero,
    So, Alberta absolves Ottawa’s debt,
    in exchange for BC & Sask.

    Likelihood of that? Alberta holds all the cards:
    Including “negotiating” shutting in all Eastern Canada’s Natural Gas,
    TransCanada mainline and others,
    which also supplies New York, and the Yanks aren’t happy with Ottawa already.

    Also the Canadian budget will be another $14B in deficit,
    (w/o Alberta’s annual equalization)
    with no way to pay (which the markets know),
    plus a sudden crashing Loonie,
    and Ottawa is on its knees.

    Thus, upon Independence, Alberta is sitting pretty,
    with access to the Pacific,
    while Ottawa is in crisis.

    There’s more good news for Alberta too.

    1. Very few nations have zero debt.
      Alberta would join that club.

      The Alberta Independence Interview:
      The Roughneck Magazine, March/April 2019

  16. Premier Houston did the right thing, this once, but he is a small minded dickhead too. Nova Scotia has both gas and oil shale, you know the stuff making North Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania so wealthy? Houston supports a ban on fracking, while getting ready to subsidize offshore wind FFS. He is another go along to get along sheep.

    1. Peter – I agree with what you are saying but I will take his support on this issue any day. If he wants to screw up Nova Scotia to stay in power, there isn’t much we can do about that, but his public support for a project that benefits the West and all of Canada (and beyond) is welcome.

      1. Maybe, but his support and $8.99 will get you a Starbucks coffee, blech. It is all arguing about angels and pinheads anyway, when Trump brings the pain (harder, please) the empty shell which is Canada gets exposed, then each shall be on their own to make best arrangements.

    1. That is about the truest statement I’ve seen in…I don’t even know how long.

      Time to start swimming.

  18. 24 senate seats for the 4 western provinces, 24 for Ontario, 24 for Quebec and 30 for the Atlantic provinces. I WANT A NEW COUNTRY

  19. Yep, same old, eh? Don’t mind spending the tens of billions in equalization (i.e., charity) handed out to them over the decades, a huge part of which came out of the west’s energy industries. But don’t have the time of day for the west when it comes to pipelines to keep those dollars flowing. Forget that Quebec is sitting on its own reserves of hydrocarbons that they won’t allow anyone to touch.

    Had my way, tell ’em from here on out regarding equalization bucks they can go pound salt where the sun don’t shine.

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