Standing united for Alberta

By Nathan Cooper Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA

As many of you already know, the government of Alberta recently released the Fair Deal Report. The report included 25 recommendations, after the panel gathered information and testimony from more than 40,000 people across our province. Options included holding a referendum on equalization, the creation of an Alberta Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP.

I am certain there will be much debate about these and other recommendations in the days ahead. But before we dive into that debate, I think it’s important to take note of the importance of this turning point in Alberta’s history.

The Fair Deal Report and the government’s response to it aren’t about determining if Alberta is being treated poorly. The debate over whether Alberta is getting a raw deal within Confederation is now over.

Whether it is Ottawa’s constant and malicious infringement of provincial jurisdiction, the unfair application of federal regulations designed to single out Western Canada or the massive multi-generational transfer of our wealth to provinces that steadfastly refuse to address their own systemic failures, Confederation is a deck stacked against our province.

As our American cousins would say, that truth is “self-evident.”

The Fair Deal Report and the government’s response to it are about giving our citizens the tools necessary to force Ottawa into action.

In the past, federal leaders may have chosen to ignore or deny Alberta’s concerns. For folks across Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, that is no longer acceptable. People are more than fed up, and I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not just here. As the first interim leader of the United Conservative Party, I toured much of the province and heard similar concerns everywhere I went. In all corners of our province, people reported feeling increasingly ignored and voiceless. If Justin Trudeau thought the issue would just go away, or that we would stop at only words, he once again misjudged the character of this province and the tenacity of our people.

Constituents in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills want action and they want it yesterday. Alberta has not been treated fairly, and the more time passes, the less likely it is that Ottawa will miraculously come to its senses. That we must take unilateral action to force Ottawa to listen is unfortunate. It should never have come to this.

But this is where we are now, and Albertans will stand united.

(Nathan Cooper is MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills – which covers a large portion of Wheatland County – and Speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly; 403-556-3132, oldsdidsbury.threehills@assembly.ab.ca)