Chris Zwick – Leader Staff
The current feelings of discontentment among western Canadians are real and the Liberal government need only look in the mirror if it wants to know why separation from Canada seems like a viable path to so many, says newly-elected Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen.
“There’s no doubt, it is caused, directly by the actions of Justin Trudeau, so it is incumbent upon him to come up with a solution,” said Viersen.
Before polls had even closed in Alberta during the Oct. 21 federal election, the ire of western Canadians was on display and the rumbling of the collective calls for separation were being felt across the prairies. Social media, if you could bear it, was a mad house of rampant accusations and speculation, saccharin sarcasm and straight-up name calling.
“I always say, if you’re thinking separatism, you’re thinking too small. Rather than separate from the country, we just need to take the rest of it over,” said Viersen, a few days after his federal election victory which saw him garner more than 80 per cent of the votes in the riding.
“I think taking it over will be a result of forming a strong, stable, Conservative majority government.”
To start to alleviate some of the disdain emanating from the Rockies east, Viersen said there are three specific things the new minority Liberal government can do, namely — get the pipes in the ground, scraping the carbon tax and fix the equalization formula.
Viersen points to the pipelines that were ready to go through in 2015, had the Liberal government not gotten involved. He cited the Keystone XL, the Northern Gateway pipeline and the Energy East pipeline as projects that were all ready for construction, but regulatory changes, legislation and other roadblocks all stood in the way.
The Trans Mountain expansion pipeline, purchased by the federal government for $4.5 billion under Trudeau’s watch, is the only major pipeline project left.
Viersen isn’t willing to speculate on whether the expansion will actually take place.
“I have no idea. He’s announced it for the fourth time and committed again this morning that it was going to be built. I definitely hope it gets built and I think that eventually it will get built, but I think it’s a great, big red herring,” said Viersen.
As far as the soon-to-be-implemented carbon tax the Liberal government plans to legislate to all the provinces that don’t have their own, something Viersen calls it an “affront.”
Viersen used the analogy of Quebec’s religious symbols law, Bill 21.
“He’s not prepared to stick his fingers into the internal politics of Quebec on Bill 21, but he sure seems happy to stick his fingers into Alberta’s business, jam a carbon tax down our throat and not give us the ability to ship our products to other places,” said Viersen. “That’s the real affront that I feel, as an Albertan.”
“He’s not enforcing Canadian law on Quebec, but he’s enforcing his will on to the provinces and it’s his job to defend the interests of Canada and he’s not prepared to in one instance and he’s totally prepared to in the other. That’s the double standard that is a big problem.”
A big, first step in mending the wound between Alberta and the federal government would be to cease equalization payments immediately, said Viersen.
“If you wanted to stop, or pause it immediately, the first thing to do would just be to not collect any equalization. Just take Alberta out of the equalization formula immediately. That would immediately stop it, I think.”
If those things don’t happen and the new Liberal government continues on its current path, Viersen doesn’t feel it’s his responsibility to oppose the separation sentiment either, again placing 100 per cent of the blame with the Trudeau government.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s my job to corral it. It’s Justin Trudeau’s issue and we’ll be looking to him. We’ll be making suggestions no doubt, but it ultimately is his problem to fix,” said Viersen, noting again that a Conservative majority government would take care of these troubles promptly.
It has only been a week and people are taking down their Canadian flags, or turning them upside-down to indicate distress. Only one of Alberta’s 34 federal ridings did not come out blue after the federal election, so to say the voters are behind whatever the Conservative Opposition is going to do, would be an understatement. Our neighbours to the east in Saskatchewan also voted Conservatives into their 14 federal seats, making for a formidable patch of blue in the middle of Canada’s voting map.
“That’s the point. If someone is poking you in the eye all the time and they’re same ones who are saying they just want to get along -- well quit poking us in the eye. It’s very difficult for us as Conservatives to represent the west ... What is the negotiation? The negotiation is quit poking us in the eye and let us develop our natural resources and treat us fairly in confederation.”
