Alberta
Alberta. The Best Province in a Nation in Trouble.
Submitted by Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan
September 1 is Alberta Day. Alberta is a land of freedom and prosperity, welcoming all who desire to work and to serve, seeking happiness for themselves and their families. Alberta joined confederation and became part of Canada on September 1, 1905. Historically, Alberta has led Canada in key measures such as GDP per capita, business investment per worker, private sector employment, CPP contributions, equalization payments, etc. Alberta is the best.
Canada has benefited from Alberta more than Alberta has benefited from Canada. In this graph produced by the Fraser Institute, for its article titled Understanding Alberta’s Outsized Contribution to Confederation, it is estimated that Alberta businesses and workers, between 2017 to 2023, paid more than $244 billion to Ottawa than it received from Ottawa, dwarfing net contributions of the only two other contributing provinces, Ontario and BC, despite, in the case of Ontario, having a much larger population.
The biggest taker during this period was Quebec, receiving more than $327 billion from Ottawa than it paid. Many have written how Quebec and others “game” confederation to increase transfers from producers. Indeed, the current premier of Quebec said that his favorite thing about Canada is equalization.
While Canada has the potential to be the most free and prosperous country in the world, by objective measures it is not, and the flawed structure of “confederation”, and some who seek to exploit it to glut themselves on the labors of others, hold us back and drag us down. When the “redistribution” of wealth displaces the “production” of wealth as a ruling principle, we are in trouble and that is now.
Many are concerned that Trudeau’s Canada is a growing danger and threat to Alberta’s freedom and prosperity. That is true. Alberta is better off without Trudeau’s Canada. Trudeau’s Canada is a fiscal train wreck. Trudeau has smashed through a trillion dollars in debt, accumulating more debt than all Prime Ministers before him combined. This gross negligence, waste and disrespect will be burdens of our children long after they are gone. Canada now pays more in interest on its debt than it collects from the GST.
Prior to Trudeau, in 2014, Canada’s per capita GDP was 92% of the US. What is it now? In 2022, it is 72%, a 20% drop in less than 10 years, and getting worse. We are getting poorer, fast. It should not be this way, it does not need to be this way.
Canadians awake and alive to the truth of Trudeau’s Canada and where it is leading are rightly concerned and alarmed. But what to do? Some are leaving or have left.
Alberta has the highest per capita GDP in Canada, rejecting Trudeau’s woke, socialist values of mediocrity and virtue signaling, producing nothing. Trudeau’s Canada appears to resent Alberta with policies that single out Alberta, seeking to attack, hold back, or drag it down.
Do not count on many politicians to stand up for a “Fair Deal” for Alberta, because if Alberta gets a Fair Deal, then it means less handouts for others!
Let’s provide Albertans with the unbiased truth and facts surrounding “fiscal federalism”. Who is paying what, and who is getting what, directly or indirectly, from Alberta businesses and workers. Albertans should be supplied with the truth about what they are paying for and what Trudeau’s Canada is costing them. In this fall legislature I will be bringing forward a motion to get to these facts, even if some do not like it.
Let’s arm Albertans with more truth, and then trust them to lead, to know what is best. Let’s increase Alberta’s leverage for a Fair Deal. The less Alberta needs Canada, the more leverage Alberta has. There are many things that Alberta can do for Albertans better than Trudeau’s Canada.
Albertans need alternatives to Trudeau’s Canada; let’s prepare, insulate, and protect ourselves from this accelerating trainwreck, which unabated, will crash as sure as night follows day.
We cannot be complacent – less talk and more action.
Alberta is a blessed land of freedom and prosperity. We must be vigilant to keep it that way. Happy Alberta Day!
“If Ottawa had it’s way Albertans would be left to freeze in the dark”
The ineffective federal net-zero electricity regulations will not reduce emissions or benefit Albertans but will increase costs and lead to supply shortages.
The risk of power outages during a hot summer or the depths of harsh winter cold snaps, are not unrealistic outcomes if these regulations are implemented. According to the Alberta Electric System Operator’s analysis, the regulations in question would make Alberta’s electricity system more than 100 times less reliable than the province’s supply adequacy standard. Albertans expect their electricity to remain affordable and reliable, but implementation of these regulations could increase costs by a staggering 35 per cent.
Canada’s constitution is clear. Provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy. That is why Alberta’s government is referring the constitutionality of the federal government’s recent net-zero electricity regulations to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.
“The federal government refused to work collaboratively or listen to Canadians while developing these regulations. The results are ineffective, unachievable and irresponsible, and place Albertans’ livelihoods – and more importantly, lives – at significant risk. Our government will not accept unconstitutional net-zero regulations that leave Albertans vulnerable to blackouts in the middle of summer and winter when they need electricity the most.”
“The introduction of the Clean Electricity Regulations in Alberta by the federal government is another example of dangerous federal overreach. These regulations will create unpredictable power outages in the months when Albertans need reliable energy the most. They will also cause power prices to soar in Alberta, which will hit our vulnerable the hardest.”
Finalized in December 2024, the federal electricity regulations impose strict carbon limits on fossil fuel power, in an attempt to force a net-zero grid, an unachievable target given current technology and infrastructure. The reliance on unproven technologies makes it almost impossible to operate natural gas plants without costly upgrades, threatening investment, grid reliability, and Alberta’s energy security.
“Ottawa’s electricity regulations will leave Albertans in the dark. They aren’t about reducing emissions – they are unconstitutional, ideological activist policies based on standards that can’t be met and technology that doesn’t exist. It will drive away investment and punish businesses, provinces and families for using natural gas for reliable, dispatchable power. We will not put families at risk from safety and affordability impacts – rationing power during the coldest days of the year – and we will continue to stand up for Albertans.”
“Albertans depend on electricity to provide for their families, power their businesses and pursue their dreams. The federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations threaten both the affordability and reliability of our power grid, and we will not stand by as these regulations put the well-being of Albertans at risk.”
Related information
- Conference Board of Canada socio-economic Impacts of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – (April 2025)
- Alberta Electric System Operator’s position on Canadian Energy Regulations
Oh, Canada
We find it endlessly fascinating that most Canadians believe they live in a representative democracy, where aspiring candidates engage in authentic politicking to earn their place in office. So accustomed are Canada’s power brokers to getting their way, they rarely bother to cover their tracks. A careful reading of the notoriously pliant Canadian press makes anticipating future events in the country surprisingly straightforward.
Back in December, when Pierre Poilievre was given better than 90% odds of replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—and Mark Carney was still just an uncharismatic banker few had heard of—we engaged in some not-so-speculative dot-connecting and correctly predicted Carney’s rise to the top spot. Our interest was driven by the notoriously rocky relationship between Ottawa and the Province of Alberta, home to one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, and how Carney’s rise might be a catalyst for resetting Canada’s energy trajectory. In a follow-up article titled “The Fix Is In,” we laid out a few more predictions:
“Here’s how the play is likely to unfold in the weeks and months ahead: Carney will be elected Prime Minister on April 28 by a comfortable margin; [Alberta Premier Danielle] Smith will trigger a constitutional crisis, providing cover for Carney to strike a grand bargain that finally resolves longstanding tensions between the provinces and Ottawa; and large infrastructure permitting reform will fall into place. Protests against these developments will be surprisingly muted, and those who do take to the streets will be largely ignored by the media. The entire effort will be wrapped in a thicket of patriotism, with Trump portrayed as a threat even greater than climate change itself. References to carbon emissions will slowly fade…
In parallel, we expect Trump and Carney to swiftly strike a favorable deal on tariffs, padding the latter’s bona fides just as his political capital will be most needed.”
The votes have barely been counted, yet the next moves are already unfolding…
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’ll make it easier for citizens to initiate a referendum on the province’s future in Canada, after warning that a Liberal win in Monday’s election could spur a groundswell of support for Alberta separatism. Smith said on Tuesday that a newly tabled elections bill will give everyday Albertans a bigger say in the province’s affairs.
‘(We’re giving) Albertans more ways to be directly involved in democracy, and to have their say on issues that matter to them,’ Smith told reporters in Edmonton.
If passed, the new law would dramatically lower the number of signatures needed to put a citizen-proposed constitutional referendum question on the ballot, setting a new threshold of 10 per cent of general election turnout — or just over 175,000, based on Alberta’s last provincial election in 2023.”
“US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to make a trade deal and will visit the White House within the next week. Trump said he congratulated Carney on his election victory when the Canadian leader called on Tuesday.
‘He called me up yesterday – he said let’s make a deal,’ Trump told reporters at the White House after a televised Cabinet meeting.”
Remember where you read it first.
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