Some ask Premier Danielle Smith why Alberta\u2019s sovereignty push didn\u2019t happen 10 years ago. Perhaps because many Albertans still believed Ottawa would listen.<\/p>\n
Since then we\u2019ve seen COVID-era federal overreach, energy restrictions, cancelled projects, and policies many view as harmful to Alberta\u2019s economy. What changed wasn\u2019t Alberta; it was confidence in Ottawa. Smith\u2019s message is that Alberta must stand up for itself because no one else will.<\/p>\n
Michael Meins, Edmonton<\/p>\n
Separation isn\u2019t so simple<\/p>\n
To separate or not? Think of issues that need to be resolved first. To mention a few: currency, military, RCMP, passports, national parks, pensions, taxes, laws, trade negotiations, being landlocked, immigration, a hostile neighbour ready to pounce. What about federal buildings and federal employees? What about Indigenous peoples and treaty rights? Having a referendum is seen as part of the democratic process but at what cost to the taxpayer? How will this benefit all Albertans?<\/p>\n
For those who feel the neighbour south of the border is great, move. But immigration to that country may not be so easy. Our resources are what is wanted, not more people. Level-headed thinking and negotiating is needed, not shoot-from-the-hip politics. Think life here is so bad? Go to Russia or the Middle East and see if their systems work better. If humans are involved, it\u2019s complicated and not everyone will be happy. That\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Irene Fedan, Edmonton<\/p>\n
Vote Smith off the island<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever watched the TV show Survivor, there is often a contestant who tries to participate in more than one alliance. The whole deal hinges on not being found out by the people in those conflicting alliances. Once they\u2019ve been found out, they are inevitably voted off the island. I think our premier has been found out. Now how do we vote her off the island?<\/p>\n
Mark Edwards, Edmonton<\/p>\n
Letters welcome<\/p>\n
We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don\u2019t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email:\u00a0letters@edmontonjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism:\u00a0Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add\u00a0EdmontonJournal.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0EdmontonSun.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and\u00a0sign up for our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today:\u00a0The Edmonton Journal<\/a>\u00a0|The Edmonton Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some ask Premier Danielle Smith why Alberta\u2019s sovereignty push didn\u2019t happen 10 years ago. Perhaps because many Albertans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[710,16552,3178,31909,61,4681],"class_list":["post-80584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-alberta-legislature","tag-alberta-separatist","tag-danielle-smith","tag-michael-meins","tag-ottawa","tag-shaughn-butts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}