The Status Quo

I talk to many Albertans about my frustration of being part of Canadian Federation and more often than not the reply I receive is "that's just the way it is". Huh? "That's just the way it is?" I am appalled buy the apathy many Albertans have towards the way we are treated by the federal government.

People think there is nothing we can do about it and for those that do believe there is a way, spout the usual drivel about having a say on election day. Please. We already know the outcome of an election even before votes are tallied from Alberta - we literally have no say. The current Prime Minister is not French for a nice change - even from Calgary - and has anything changed for us? Nope. Nada. Mr. Harper is too busy pandering to the East to ensure his cushy job.

Canadians need to face the facts. And the facts are this: there are too many diverse people, languages, economies, and cultures in this country to be ruled fairly and efficiently under one entity. There is no benefit for Alberta to be part of this country. We give far more to the country than we receive. People ask 'why separate?'and I pose the much harder-to-answer question of 'why stay?'. I have not ever received a convincing reason from anyone as to why Alberta benefits from being part of Canada. I'll throw out some reasons why Alberta should leave Canada and the provinces that leech off us:

-From 1961 to 2002, the federal government has stolen $243 billion from our province. This works out to $105,405 from each and every Albertan for the privilege of being Canadian and with nothing received in return. That money was simply removed from Alberta to spread to the other provinces to create 'equality'.*

-Since 1999, Alberta is the only province with no net debt. We have no power to alter spending policies by the federal government which are responsible for the massive Canadian debt. Albertans have none.*

-Canada has the fifth highest personal taxes in the OECD.*

-Alberta has the lowest corporate and personal taxes in Canada.*

-Alberta is the only province with flat personal taxes.*

-Alberta is the only province with no general retail sales tax.*

-Since 1968, only the 2005 federal election was swayed due to Alberta votes. We have barely made a difference in the outcome of the federal government in the past 38 years. We simply do not have the population and representation for politicians to bother concerning themselves with the Alberta electorate.*

-Properly dealing the recent gun violence in Alberta is completely out of our hands as the laws to deal with the crimes come from the federal government. It is great to see the $1,000,000,000 (yes, nine zeros!) Firearms Registry is working so well to prevent these crimes.

I could go on listing reasons we should leave Canada - there are many. Can some one please give me a viable reason, just one, that trumps all that I have listed as a compelling reason to be part of this country? And, no, I won't take some patriotic, rhetorical drivel as a valid and sane reason for allowing Ottawa to run roughshod over our province.

*Resource