We continue to get mixed messages from this provincial government.
We are told Alberta should become more self-reliant and that government wants to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that has always defined this province, yet we continue to tie that entrepreneurial spirit to decisions made in Ottawa.
We are told Alberta will have greater autonomy like Quebec, yet we continue to hesitate when it comes to exercising the provincial powers we already have.
Quebec has long negotiated and exercised greater control over its own affairs. It administers its own pension plan, maintains its own provincial police force, and has significant authority over immigration. Rather than waiting for permission, Quebec has consistently asserted provincial jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Alberta is rich in natural resources, innovation, and hardworking people. We have everything needed to build a strong and prosperous future. What we need is the freedom to develop and export our resources without Ottawa attaching ideological conditions that increase costs, undermine competitiveness, and leave Albertans paying the price.
A pipeline is only meaningful if Alberta is free to produce, transport, and export its resources without unnecessary federal interference or conditions that leave taxpayers footing the bill.
If Alberta wants greater autonomy, then let’s start acting like it. Self-reliance means exercising our constitutional powers, making decisions in Alberta’s best interests, and reducing, not increasing, our dependence on Ottawa.
If Alberta can only have a pipeline by accepting Ottawa’s ideological agenda, that is not free enterprise. If Alberta can only develop its own resources by accepting costly ideological conditions that make those resources less competitive, that is not a real victory.
And if those closest to the Premier have to spend their time defending this deal on X and telling Albertans they simply don’t understand how good they have it, perhaps they should take the hint. When the people you were elected to serve are raising the same concerns over and over again, the answer is not to argue with them. It is to listen.
“It’s not often a new $4.6-billion energy project that will help unlock a booming new industry for Alberta — data centres — gets overshadowed by an even larger announcement.
But that’s the kind of day it was in Alberta on the eve of the Calgary Stampede.”
- Chris Varcoe | Calgary Herald
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