A question for Albertans.

In my travels through the internet, I stumbled across the following post on Free Dominion by Gordon Stamp of Edmonton. He asks Albertans to ponder the following:

…I want to keep Canada whole but something I heard a few months ago has convinced me that I would vote to separate if given the choice on a ballot. The scenario outlined to me was “If Alberta was not a part of Canada, would you vote to join under the following terms and conditions?”

1. Every taxpaying Albertan would send $9,000 more annually to Ottawa than they would receive in benefits.
2. Ottawa would NOT appoint elected Senators from Alberta / rather the appointees would be the Prime Minister’s chosen ones.
3. Alberta (with a population greater than all of the Maritime provinces) would only have 1/4 of the Maritime representatives in the Senate.
4. Ottawa would lock up Alberta farmers for selling their wheat to the United States without an Ottawa bureaucracy’s approval.
5. Ottawa would arrest and charge peaceful protestor’s who were opposed to federal government policies. (gun registry)
6. Ottawa would implement environmental policies (Kyoto) that hurt Alberta while giving exemptions to Ontario businesses.
7. Ottawa would give more grants to the Prime Minister’s riding than all the western provinces combined.
8. The Prime Minister would have total authority to appoint Judges to the Supreme Court of Canada / these judges would decide the laws of Canada.
9. The Prime Minister would answer only to an Ethics Commissioner the the Prime Minister appointed.
10. Any attempt to have a Prime Minister elected from Alberta would be met with ridicule and contempt from Quebec and Ontario.

I know that if I were given a ballot today, I would not vote to join Canada.

I and many tried to change the system through the Reform Party, the Canadian Alliance, and the newly formed CPC. But time is running out,…

The question is not: As for separating from Canada, why do it? Why not work within and make it a better place?

The only question is “How much longer are we expected to stay in this abusive relationship????”

While I am not yet convinced a majority of Albertans will ever feel strongly enough about independence to vote in favor of it, it will be interesting to see what transpires in the next few months. Should there be a meltdown in the Canadian Conservative movement, and if the Liberals, NDP & the BQ renew their push to implement the Kyoto Accord, then all bets are off…