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FreeAlberta

This father/son blog is dedicated to the furtherance of the independence movement in Alberta. It has been made abundantly clear that Alberta is the victim of tyranny by the majority. There is no indication that this will ever change. It is time to leave, to go our separate ways. In this blog I will focus on issues relating to Alberta Independence such as why it is necessary, what an independent Alberta might look like and how we can go about forging our independence.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

The Dog-Days of Summer

I think the recent heat may be too much for some folks. My suspicions were heightened when I read a blog written by a Political Science/History student from the University of Calgary last Sunday. It was published in the Calgary Herald on Sunday, July 31st. I was intrigued by the concept of time travel but I found the story to be completely unbelievable. Following is my version of the same trip from what I believe to be a more realistic point of view. Please read Mr John Leung Chung-Yin's blog first so that what follows may make sense.

Thank you, John Leung Chung-Yin. I took your challenge to re-think separation from Canada. Like you, I took an imaginary journey 100 years into the future of an Alberta that remained in Canada. Come with me as we re-trace those steps that you took recently.
As we drive gingerly along the pot-hole infested Trans-Canada Highway westbound from Saskatchewan, we stop first at the frontier town of Medicine Hat, which is a rather desolate place. The town, once a booming metropolis, lies in ruins like the rest of the province decimated by the Kyoto carbon tax. Now, it seems nobody is here. We decide to stop at a greasy spoon before hitting the road. We see a senior citizen hooked up to an IV machine, with a tag “Health Canada, the world’s only single tier medical care system” attached to it. His clothes are ragged, as he gets up.
The waitress hands him the bill for his breakfast: a simple cup of coffee and a slice of toast. The old man's eyes bulge at the bill with its Equalization Tax and 25%GST. He begins to groan about how his grandparents could afford food with their pensions and savings before the federal government confiscated all their money to form the “Canada First pension system” which ensures that everyone gets an identical amount. The old man continues to whine that now, even though a doctor's visit is free the waiting time is months or years and the service is abysmal. He still needs a kidney, which he will receive free in three years, if he is still alive when he reaches the front of the list. The technology is 20 years old and the success rate is about ½ that of current European and American procedures. “Too bad I’m not a politician I could get a state-of-the-art operation in New York paid for by the government,” laments the old man.
Feeling bad, we turn a blind eye to the seniors, and continue to drive down Highway 1, which has been dubbed the Paul Martin Expressway running from Redcliff to the entry gates to Banff National Park which is now restricted to those approved by Environment Canada. The countryside along the road is filled with rustling grass occupying some of the space where oil and gas wells once stood. The wells are long defunct after the imposition of the 200% Kyoto tax. Solar and wind energy, while costing twice the price of hydrocarbon before the tax was applied, are constantly in short supply and always unreliable. Alberta was unable to take advantage of the Heritage Trust fund and other oil and gas revenue because of the confiscation of all natural resources and provincial savings as a result of the National Security and Equitable Sharing Bill.
The world’s second largest reserve of oil remains locked in the oil sands near Fort McMurray, but it’s now illegal to mine any new leases and the tax rate on the existing facilities has rendered them uneconomic. Little oil has been sent to Alberta’s two primary customers, the rest of Canada and the U.S. following the implementation of the Kyoto bill. It's now almost impossible to see any evidence of the oil and gas industry. Their world-leading environmental standards enabled them to mitigate any impact on the environment and all leases and pipeline right-of-ways have been returned to pre-development quality.
Finally, we arrive in Calgary...once compared to Toronto with the statistics to boot in terms of corporate headquarters and such. Actually, it wasn't such a long drive after all: the city had expanded in the last hundred years. At its boom, it reached all the way out to Chestermere in the east, Cochrane in the west, De Winton in the south, and Carstairs in the north, and boasted a population of well over 1.5 million, before Ottawa nationalized all natural resource and taxed the oil and gas industry out of business.
We drive through downtown...ah, good old downtown. Parking is plentiful now, even on a weekday. Office space is dirt cheap here, since many of the buildings are empty. Now, only dust and abandoned furniture occupy these places. There was no choice. Those with entrepreneurial spirits moved to the Caribbean or the United States. Others applied for employment insurance or other forms of government assistance but were refused because Alberta has been permanently classified as a ‘have province.’ A Constitutional amendment was passed requiring 50% of all revenue to be sent to Ottawa without any transfer payments being returned, is still intact. A further Constitutional change that would declare all provinces equal continues to be blocked by Ontario.
The province is landlocked. Nominal amounts of oil and gas are shipped out. All of Canada’s wheat is purchased from Ukraine and Argentina because huge government subsidies in those countries make it much cheaper than Alberta wheat. Alberta beef is banned in Canada because of an incident of Mad Cow disease 52 years ago. Transport costs both in and out of the province are borne by the province as a result of the “If Alberta Wants To Deal With Ontario They Have To Pay Both Ways Bill” passed in 2044.
With a well educated, technical work-force, tremendous natural resources and a population the size of New Zealand, Switzerland or Singapore, Alberta provided a great attraction for foreign investment before foreign investment was banned and natural resources nationalized.
Alberta’s level of education continues to fall as mandatory social engineering and political correctness classes replace science, economics and history classes. The universities have had their science and engineering programs cut back so much that both the University of Alberta and University of Calgary had to convert their laboratories and research centres into daycares, government sponsored art studios and centres for researching ways to replace social conservatism with the political thinking of the liberal elite.
Returning on our way in our solar powered, government subsidized car, we enter the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. The condition of the highway is deplorable. Despite the fact that over 90% of the cost of fuel is road tax, no transfer payments for infrastructure have been received by Alberta from Ottawa this century. The farms along the sides of the road are lush and overgrown. Marketing of farm products except by government marketing boards is illegal. Quotas are determined in Ottawa and are based on a blend of factors including support for the governing party. Alberta receives approximately 15% of the national average. The fallacy of human-caused global warming has long been realized by nations around the world. The Kyoto Accord is now a mere footnote in history books. Temperature variation is almost universally understood and accepted to be the result of naturally occurring cycles. The government in Ottawa however continues to hold to the position that Canada can single-handedly stop global warming through the management of natural resources over which they maintain full control. The central and northern part of the province has an over-abundance of water which cannot be used because of federal constraints on its use.
We are unable to get to Edmonton because the highway has been declared unsafe until repairs have been made.
So what have we learned from this journey? Perhaps what I have just written is overly optimistic, but it could happen if we irresponsibly decide to continue in our current relationship with Canada. Being happy with the federal government is one thing, but to say that we ought to stay is, to steal a catchy phrase from John Leung Chung-Yin, “simply stupid”. Alberta is very able to stand alone now, and it will only get better once we get out from under the hob-nailed boots of Ottawa. If we don’t it could get as grim as the Alberta I have just pictured.

7 Comments:

At 8/03/2005 10:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah, pitty the QEII wasn't in better shape. I'd have loved to have heard how the 200 people still living the the hamlets of Ft. Mac and Grande Prairie were doing since there once bustling cities lost their primary reasons to exist.

Well done!

AL Clark, AlbertaRepublicans.org

 
At 8/04/2005 1:32 AM, Blogger Candace said...

Kick-butt post, well done.

 
At 8/04/2005 9:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes well done!!!

I wonder if the Calgary Herald would publish your version of the trip?

I created a link on my site to yours - hope that's OK.

Thanks.

 
At 8/04/2005 4:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You can still submit letters the old fashioned way! Fax it or mail it.

Cheers, AL

 
At 8/04/2005 7:47 PM, Blogger David A. Giles said...

What I am still trying to figure out from Mr John Leung Chung-Yin's little fantasy is how Edmonton can be the national capital of the Republic of Alberta if Edmonton stayed in Canada.

Excellent rebuttal

 
At 8/05/2005 7:44 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Right on. God help us if Alberta stays in Confederation.

Great blog!

Leigh

 
At 9/15/2005 2:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, gee...I'm shocked and surprised that there are people who actually read what I say.

Let's see which one of us is correct when Alberta's 200th comes around. If you're right, I'll give you a cigar.

 

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