The release of a
report last week by the Canada West Foundation had about it something
of the nostalgic. There it was--how to solve western alienation in
ten easy steps.
It was like coming
across a radio station and hearing Roy Orbison sing "Only the
Lonely." When did that come out? Early sixties? Late fifties?
Wow, how time flies!
The CWF replay was
like a whole album: less party discipline in Parliament, a fairer
distribution of Commons seats, annual first ministers' conferences,
more provincial say in federal decisions and programs, more
westerners (i.e. fewer Quebec francophones) in the federal
bureaucracy, monitoring of the regional benefits of federal spending,
provincial input into appointment of senators,etc.
In short, all the
Golden Oldies we've been hearing since when, the seventies? The NEP?
Meech Lake? These tunes were already vintage when 50 Reformers showed
up out of the Blue in Ottawa in 1993.
And in all this
time, how many western recommendations has the federal government
actually implemented? Not one. The country has become more
centralized, not less.
When we sent all
those western Reformers to Parliament ten years ago with "the
list" of suggestions, we were terribly naive. We assumed that
Ottawa would do all these things because they made sense to us, and
because Canada is a nice country run by reasonable people.
It isn't. It's an
undemocratic country run by people who think it works just fine the
way it is and who have no interest in sharing power with the West.
"Sharing" to them means siphoning Alberta money to the
voters in eastern Canada who elect them.
They weaken the
West with federal taxes to weaken the East with federal subsidies.
The only people who actually come out ahead all work for the federal
government. It's called "fiscal federalism," and it's been
going on since the 1960s.
Nobody is worse
served than the people of Alberta. Between 1961 and 1997, Albertans
contributed a net $167 billion to the federal government, and Quebec
consumed a net $202 billion. That's "sharing." Letting
provincial premiers nominate federal senators is not the kind of
"sharing" they do in eastern Canada.
The reality is
that Ottawa will never change anything unless it feels threatened,
and when the Reform Party stalled in Ontario, any threat from that
source disappeared.
A common
grassroots western response now is, "Okay, let's just
separate." Or "Let's threaten to separate. That's how
Quebec always gets its way."
This is no help,
because you don't "just" separate, and there's a strong
minority in Quebec (a third or more) who actually do want complete
independence from Canada. Recall that back in the 1960s there were
Cuban-trained Quebec crazies running around blowing up mail boxes,
kidnapping and even murdering.
I haven't seen too
many pipelines blown up out here. It isn't the way we do political
business, and Ottawa knows it.
There's a much
better approach, but it would require a serious Alberta government to
pull it off. Alberta should take over three federal operations, and
other western governments should follow.
Instead of the
Canada Pension Plan Albertans should have an Alberta Pension Plan.
This would give them the same benefits as the CPP at an annual saving
of over $1 billion.
Albertans should
stop using the RCMP, and establish a provincial police force called
the Northwest Mounted Police. Other western provinces might be
included in it as well.
Alberta should
start collecting its own provincial personal income tax.
Provinces do not
need Ottawa's permission to do any of these. Quebec does all three
for itself already. We should follow its example.
These measures
really would frighten Ottawa, because it would show that westerners
are now setting their own course. Course to where? Well, that depends
on Ottawa, doesn't it.
We can tell our
provincial governments to take these three steps. Or we can go on belly-aching
and writing up lists.
- Link Byfield
Link Byfield is
chairman of the Edmonton-based Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy.
"Just
Between Us" is a feature service of the Citizens Centre for
Freedom and Democracy. The purpose of the Citizens Centre is to
improve the quality of life for all Canadians by promoting policies
that foster individual initiative and personal responsibility.
