Separatist leaders often make Alberta independence sound as easy as shutting the door when you head off to work.
They acknowledge no legal problems, no little complications from a thing called Canada. Just vote Yes to separation. Over and out.
The starkest expression came from the reliably radical David Parker, who posted to X on March 5: “Nothing is more laughable to me than the idea that Canadians think we are going to wait for them to tell us whether independence is ‘legal’ or not.
“We have America backing us, you fools.”
He oozes contempt for Canadians. He prefers the Americans and implies they would pour in to help.
The depth of emotion is startling, even though it’s no secret that the separatists have courted U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for support.
Also ominously clear is the fact that foreign actors, especially the Russians, are flooding social media with pro-separatist propaganda.
In Ottawa, alarm bells are finally ringing clear.
Ottawa must have a say in shaping any valid question on Alberta separation, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday, in his first remarks on the subject.
“There’s the rule of law. There’s the Clarity Act,” he said. “Any referenda in any part of Canada need to be consistent with that.”
The Clarity Act followed the Quebec referendum in 1995. It set strict conditions for any provincial independence vote.
The House of Commons decides whether a question is proper and what the level of support for separation must be, based on the requirement for a “clear majority” — not just 50 per cent plus one.
Carney added, sounding just like Premier Danielle Smith, that he hopes to spike separatism by showing federalism works for Alberta.
But what happens if the separatism referendum goes forward with the question organizers say collected 301,000 signatures?
Stay Free Alberta, delivered the signature documentation to Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton surrounded by a sea of supporters with Alberta flags.
Right off the top, the campaign would be illegitimate to Ottawa because the Commons didn’t approve.
If the question succeeded and Alberta moved to separate, the feds would have no obligation to co-operate in any way. Alberta would truly be outside the pale.
Indeed, if the Americans were somehow involved, Ottawa could become very aggressive.
Many Albertans have genuine concerns about the country’s structural inequality.
But I wonder when the extremism and irrationality of much separatist leadership will begin to sink in with their followers.
This crew has just created a mammoth data breach that exposes the personal information of nearly three million Albertans.
As revealed by the NDP, ex-premier Jason Kenney’s full personal information was displayed during a video session of the Centurion Project.
Nobody seemed to question the legality of this, not even an official from Smith’s office, who was on the session.
The UCP caucus acknowledged that the staffer was there — and then blamed the NDP for not reporting the data leak to the government, and “playing politics.”
That had to be the most bizarre comeback ever issued by the UCP. The New Democrats had, in fact, sent the full information to the RCMP.
Kenney said: “Over the past few years I have received no shortage of threats from people broadly associated with the separatist/antivax/far right movement in Alberta.
“So it is disturbing that my personal information is now broadly available, particularly in those circles.
“While I have been targeted specifically, the broader data breach may also affect vulnerable Albertans, including victims of domestic violence, journalists, activists, judges and other public servants for years to come.”
Kenney is the politician who in 2017 united Alberta’s right by merging Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives.
It was a job thought to be impossible, but he managed it and then ran the New Democrats out of office.
You’d think he’d get a measure of thanks from his own, despite lingering hostility over COVID-19.
But no, a significant part of his base has now split off into an ideology that sees only enemies and evil in their own land.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
X and Bluesky: @DonBraid