Alberta in Confederation

By Medicine Hat News Opinion on May 6, 2021.

It is quite evident that Canada’s Confederation is not working harmoniously. Ottawa is failing the regions outside 1867 Canada [Ontario and Quebec]. Such assessment warrants examination.

A 2020 publication, Moment of Truth, includes numerous articles which have been compiled by Jack M. Mintz, Ted Morton and Tom Flanagan, the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. They address particularly Alberta’s experience.

Donald J. Savoie, l’Universite de Moncton, states, “The idea of confederation came from Canada West [Ontario] and Canada East [Quebec] as a solution to their ingrained and unsolvable political problems and was designed by their delegates to give full advantage to the economic interests of the two Canadas. First the Atlantic provinces and then the Western provinces were added, more as appendages than as partners.” This helps to explain many of the federal decisions from 1867 to the present.

Preston Manning and the Reformers endeavored to convince provinces to elect nominees for appointment to the Senate. It could evolve to have a triple-e senate, equal, elected and effective. These nominees, if appointed, could be effective in opposing any legislation against their provinces/regions.

Except for Alberta, this movement failed. Prime ministers Mulroney and Harper appointed Alberta’s nominees, but Jean Chretien and Justin Trudeau did not. They were neither interested in reforms, nor in stronger voices for the regions. Even this simplest reform from Alberta could not get on track.

A very egregious direction has to be the lack of ongoing development of our energy industry in the Western provinces. Fossil-fuels have contributed considerably to the well-being of both Alberta and Canada. Robert Mansell [University of Calgary] calculated that Alberta made a net contribution to federal coffers of at least $ 620 billion from 1961 to 2018. This has been Alberta’s fee in confederation.

The Harper government designed a most special-interest equalization formula where Quebec’s hydro exports are excluded from that province’s revenues and an amount for a non-existent provincial sales tax is added to Alberta’s revenues to understate Quebec’s and to overstate Alberta’s. Quebec with 24 per cent of the population has received over 60 per cent of this fund, and tax revenues from Alberta have been the primary contributor to this fund. It is no surprise that Trudeau renewed this formula.

Yet, Alberta and its Western partners have had to fight to keep their energy industry viable, and with nearly no potential for growth. Resource development is constitutionally a provincial responsibility, but it hasn’t recently helped our province. The federal government with the Supreme Court’s support of its energy and climate policies is exercising more control over our resources.

The recent casualties were costly: Northern Gateway, the cancelled Energy East and Teck Resources Project and the shutdown of Keystone. Bills C48 and C69 are designed to hinder resource development. Bill C48 stopped the construction of the Indigenous Eagle Spirit Gas Pipeline and the LNG Plant in northwest British Columbia.

Brevity limits discussion on the right of way in Canada, the allocation of quotas in supply management, varying rules for provinces on carbon tax, policy activism of supreme court, loss of private investment for resource development, special-interest vetoes – Quebec [constitutional reform] and Indigenous [resource development] and autocratic leadership over co-operative federalism.

Alberta in confederation is at the crossroads. We are going to have to decide. Where to from here?

Larry Samcoe is a Medicine Hatter. His column, Viewpoint, will run on the first Thursday of each month. Feedback can be sent to letters@medicinehatnews.com

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