Jordan Innes

Food for thought. Canada’s constitutional crisis did not appear overnight. It is the predictable result of decades of economic policy that penalizes productivity, suppresses resource development, and redistributes wealth away from the province that sustains the federation’s fiscal base. Alberta’s looming referendum on separation should surprise no one. IMHO the core issue is not separatism. It is asymmetry. Quebec has long exercised economic and political latitude, often backed by the credible threat of secession. Alberta, by contrast, is expected to finance the federation while accepting federal policies that undermine its primary industry. That imbalance is no longer tenable. At the center of the dispute is Canada’s equalization regime. In theory, it ensures comparable public services across provinces. In practice, it has become a structural transfer system that rewards stagnation in recipient provinces while disproportionately burdening Alberta’s economy. One province produces. Others redistribute. The incentives are backward, and the politics are corrosive. This might be manageable if federal policy were neutral toward Alberta’s economic strengths. It is not. Over the past decade, Ottawa, backed by the Trudeau Liberals and the NDP, has pursued an industrial strategy explicitly hostile to oil and gas development. Pipeline projects have been delayed or canceled outright. Regulatory hurdles have multiplied. Global capital has taken the hint and moved elsewhere. The consequences are clear: declining investment, reduced growth, and a measurable erosion in Alberta’s standard of living. Meanwhile, provinces less exposed to resource development continue to benefit from transfers financed in large part by Alberta’s shrinking surplus. This is not simply an economic grievance. It is a crisis of legitimacy. No federation can endure when a productive region believes it is being systematically disadvantaged by national policy. Whether Ottawa sees its agenda as climate leadership or not is beside the point. In Alberta, it is experienced as economic containment. A referendum is not yet secession. It is leverage, something Quebec has used effectively for decades. But it is also a warning. If Ottawa continues to dismiss Alberta’s grievances, it risks turning a bargaining tool into a break. Canada’s unity has always rested on a basic sense of fairness. That foundation is now cracking. Alberta’s referendum is not the cause of the crisis. It is the consequence.

I can only speak for what I see around me, in my community, in Ontario, & I assume across the country - but given the desperation for (not kids, ADULTS) those under 30, the horrible job market, the out-of-reach rental/housing market, & the numerous other ways (yes, we did just a smidge of this during the pandemic) we've robbed people born after 1995 of opportunity, responsibility, accountability, joy, success, prosperity, & even being able to FIND OUT if they have a great work ethic.... They have every right to be angry, furious, confrontational, aggressive, & unforgiving. Our parents worked to fulfill a social contract to allow opportunity for our generation (70s/80s kids). We still had to put the time in, do the digging, accept the failure, accept starting on the bottom rung of the ladder (those were the only jobs I had from 1989 as a 17-year old busboy until moving to Toronto at age 36. You start as the new guy & work your way up. It's my entire goal in my career & my time away from my work now: FIX THIS. It's really us....against them. You either want a brighter future for this generation, or you do not. It is absolutely no coincidence Canada is where it is - & we've signed up for (at least) a 15 year contract with a federal government that has CLEARLY destroyed the economic fabric & social contract we all had agreed was in existence for decades. Do we want to help people under 30 or not? Do we want to ease their suffering or worsen it? Do we want better health care, better schools, & better opportunities or not? I absolutely am well aware how much trouble we're in the next 2 1/2-3 years with this tired, self-important, arrogant, & unpatriotic federal government. We have ONE more shot at this to save Canada, IF we have that. Get thinking about it now. Vote for municipal leaders who will challenge politicians at other levels of government when it appears they're not getting things right. It's a knife edge to save Canada. Many of us want to stay, want to remain, want to fight - but watching what we've done to our youth, our future, our cities, our towns - I know we owe an entire generation an apology for so, so much. They've tolerated our mistakes & malfeasance. The next time we vote - at EVERY level of government - it must be about them.