‘Sadly separation is looking like the only logical and clean choice.’ Readers react to Alberta’s separation survey and a possible sales tax

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Readers respond: Alberta government survey asks residents if they support separation

Alberta suffers from "tyranny of the majority,” which means that the region of Western Canada can never protect their interests due to the majority population votes of the East. Tyranny of the majority is two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. The East will never water down or cede power to Western Canada to help protect regions from an overreaching central government. It cannot be fixed. This country is broken demographically, culturally, geographically, economically and politically. There is a lot of quiet thinking and weighing of options going on in Alberta these days. Sadly separation is looking like the only logical and clean choice. (The alternative is endless constitutional wrangling.) The social contract with Alberta has already been broken. The referendum is just the paperwork. – Brenda MacFarlane

Separation? Such annoying nonsense. We live in one of the, if not the, greatest countries in the world and need to work together to keep it that way. Separate? From Canada? Really?

Lately, Alberta is furious because they haven’t gotten their (our, actually, as I live in Alberta) pipeline yet. Do the Wexiters really think that negotiations will go better if Alberta is a different country? Do they think it will go better if Alberta is part of the United States? Did they know that the U.S. has big problems of its own? Honestly, it makes my head hurt. And my heart. – My2CentsEh

As a native Albertan, can I separate from the usual talking heads like Jason Kenney and Preston Manning? They only speak for half of Albertans, but they seem to suck up all the oxygen. – luv2ski

Here’s a free tip for Jason Kenney: If you’re a federalist and want Alberta to be part of Canada, then go and advocate for it instead of constantly complaining how hard done you are by Ottawa. Also take a look at what the U.K. Conservative Party did with regards to the European Union and how that ended. Of course, if you’re just the usual politician who says one thing but means another, then also look at the U.K. and learn on how you will end up winning what you proclaim you do not want. – M. Kalus

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The notion that Alberta would be more successful being on its own is absurd. Anyone who believes that has zero understanding of what separation actually means. Yes, Alberta would no longer send money to Ottawa, but it would just have to use that money (and likely more) to run the functions of being an independent country and to make up for lost income that is derived from the benefits of being a province of Canada. Separation would not be a windfall for Alberta, and frankly, they would likely have less than they do now. Just like with Quebec, separation is a dumb idea. Work to fix any problems there are within our union. It’s not easy, but it’s not as hard as going it alone. – Rationalthought

If, as many experts predict, the fossil-fuel economy collapses within a generation, Alberta will be left with nothing. Literally nothing. Imagine compounding this economic disaster with the folly of separation from Canada. Alberta is not Quebec: Quebec has a highly diversified economy and its great resource, hydro-electric power, is here for good. Were Quebec to separate (it won’t), it would be fine, but it’s better off within the federation. – Eric Savoy

In 1988, Preston Manning’s Reform Party led with the slogan “the west wants in." After five years under the rule of Justin Trudeau and the “Laurentian elite,” Albertans will soon be saying “the west wants out.” – pondus

Rachel Notley did a good job during an economic downturn and had the right approach to Alberta’s problems, which she inherited. Jason Kenney engineered a merger of parties, and a takeover to become premier, so he knew what he was getting into. Seems a bit petty to whine about it. His approach is to blame everyone else and fan the flames of separatism. I suggest we resist piling on. Alberta got used to being rich and the downturn has hit their egos and pocketbooks particularly hard. Bankruptcies are up substantially and I can imagine many wish they had saved more for a rainy day. I believe that was what the heritage fund was set up to do. I do not believe that our current way of living is sustainable in either an economic or environmental sense. At the same time, the world is destabilizing politically and there will be fierce competition for the world’s resources as the planet heats up. Regardless of our problems, this country needs to pull together if any of us are to survive. – Hedra

And if it happens, Alberta will still be exactly the same distance from tidewater, won’t it? – Allan Ross

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Readers respond: If Alberta taxed like other provinces, it would have a huge budget surplus

Your editorial is 100-per-cent correct. For decades, Albertans have crowed about their low taxes, made possible by resource revenue. Now that this source of income is declining, we hear a good deal of whining about the unfairness of it all. If the Alberta government had the guts to introduce a provincial sales tax of 7 or 8 per cent, the situation would look very different. – MH39

If Alberta simply spent its existing tax revenue at a per capita level comparable to British Columbia or Ontario, it also would have a surplus without the need for a sales tax. Why would The Globe want Alberta to emulate the misery of other provinces? High taxes are also highly correlated with huge government debt – evidenced by Ontario, one of the most heavily indebted subnational governments in the world. Even better: If Alberta families didn’t pay about $20,000 per year in taxes sent to Ottawa that is never fully returned to them in federal program spending, we would also have an enormous provincial surplus or a huge tax cut. Being a member of this unravelling federation is a terrible deal for Alberta families. – globelog1

If Alberta taxed like other provinces, it would be tempted to spend like other provinces. I’ll take the Alberta method any day – tax less and spend less. – sanctimonious

If Alberta can continue to manage without a sales tax, power to them, several U.S. states also don’t have a sales tax. No sales tax is something to strive for not frown upon! A provinces requires a sales tax because they are spending on things that are not needed. – kbaumgart

I live in a district called Mount Royal in Calgary. Do you have any idea how much more in taxes my district contributes to the city of Calgary and the Alberta government than we receive back? Massive amounts more. I am starting a separation committee. We in my district have had enough of paying for the whiners in downtown Calgary, the whingers in rural Alberta and their complaints about equal access to health care and other government services. I want every one of my tax dollars, federal, provincial and municipal, spent where I live. It’s my money! – JAMESJOHN2650

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