Canada needs to tell Alberta we love her....

Here's a snap I took on the Icefields Parkway, during one of our many great vacations in Alberta:

We loved those vacations, and we love Alberta.

I know that Wexit, AKA Alberta Separation Referendum, is just getting started and I know the percentages now favour that Albertans will want to stay in Canada.

Alberta - Support For Alberta and Saskatchewan Forming An Independent Nation: Oppose: 63% Support: 30% Leger / May 12, 2025 / n=1000 / Online

— Polling Canada (@canadianpolling.bsky.social) May 20, 2025 at 7:04 AM

So does this mean Wexit is something the rest of Canada doesn't actually need to worry much about?

Well, maybe. 

But there are no guarantees, and I'm seeing a flood of social media hate-posts now talking about how Alberta can hardly wait to leave. 

I just read an interesting piece by Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo, about what Democrats are doing wrong in trying to refute the Republican and Trump lies, and it struck me that Canadians need to be aware of these issues too. 

Here's what Marshall said: 

...The overriding problem Democrats have today is a general belief that they’re not effective at fighting for what they believe in or what the country needs to be protected from. 

There’s a related, but secondary issue that they worry that Dems are most focused on issues that are obscure or not connected to the lives of the great majority of people struggling to make ends meet. 

That lack of fight is shattering for self-identified Democrats as well as highly damaging for genuine independents and low-information voters who genuinely flip from party to party from election to election. That is overwhelmingly the challenge Democrats have right now... 

Applying this wisdom to Canada, I think we need to take Alberta seriously, even if we don't yet think Alberta Separatism is worth worrying about. 

We need to speak up, to tell Alberta that we love them and we want them to stay.

For instance, did you know this?

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And lots of people in Alberta feel like this:

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And people in Alberta do understand that the rest of Canada is not against them: 

Ian Urquhart / The Conversation

Alberta has long accused Ottawa of trying to destroy its oil industry. Here’s why that’s a dangerous myth
...Current and former Alberta politicians are once again embracing and treating separatist grievances seriously. That means it’s time once again to highlight and challenge political misconceptions that have the potential to destroy Canada.
Oil is the root of one such myth. The misconception? That Ottawa perenially opposes the oil and gas sector and is determined to stop its continued growth. The National Energy Program (1980), the Northern Gateway pipeline project (2016), the Energy East Pipeline (2017) and the proposed greenhouse gas pollution cap allegedly prove Ottawa’s hostility.
Notably missing from these grievances is the Keystone XL pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. Ottawa supported these projects aimed at transporting Alberta oilsands crude to foreign markets. The federal government even purchased the Trans Mountain project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 — not to kill it, but to build it.
As for Keystone XL, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for supporting the project. This doesn’t fit the separatist narrative, so it’s largely ignored.
No one should dispute the National Energy Program’s devastating impact on Alberta’s conventional oil and gas sector 40 years ago. But the oilsands, not conventional oil, propelled Canada to its position as the world’s fourth largest oil producer....
The record shows that, since the mid-1970s, Ottawa has facilitated and supported the oilsands sector...

And the rest of Canada is starting to talk to Alberta about what is happening:

Just wanna say: This Alberta separatism talk has consequences. Coming from Montreal, we’ve seen it firsthand. Major economic impacts before and after the vote, despite the “No.” Montreal was once Canada’s financial capital. We lost that title. Many companies moved and took their jobs with them.

— Dear Neighbor 🇨🇦 (@dearneighborshow.bsky.social) May 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM

There are many in Alberta who are working to keep it Canadian too:

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The last word goes to Cole Bennett: 

Cole Bennett / Cole.notcole

The Alberta Separation Fantasy
...For decades, a small but loud group of political operatives, influencers, and fringe organizations have been using “Western alienation” to build email lists, raise donations, sell merch, and gain clicks all while offering zero plausible legal or policy roadmaps.
They prey on economic despair. They target rural Albertans who’ve lost jobs, young men disillusioned by economic collapse, and people who feel disconnected from their community or province. And instead of offering solutions like economic diversification, mental health support, or stronger regional representation, they offer a false escape hatch: leave Canada.
They promise “freedom,” but deliver division. They pose as patriots but behave like opportunists. And worst of all, they’re not accountable to anyone because none of them ever plan to actually get Alberta to separate. They just need the outrage to keep the grift going.
The Real Threat? It’s Not Ottawa It’s the Lies at Home.
While these faux-separatists yell about the “tyranny” of the federal government, they distract from the real erosion of democracy happening closer to home:
-Laws restricting voting rights and ID access
-Centralized power in the Premier’s office
-Cuts to public services
-A Premier who picks fights with Ottawa while undermining her own constituents
Albertans are being told the enemy is the East. But the real damage is being done by those who claim to be Alberta’s fiercest defenders — while cashing in on chaos and feeding people lies.
Alberta deserves a government that works for Albertans not one that blames Ottawa every time oil prices drop.
Albertans deserve better jobs, better health care, cleaner air, and real prosperity not bumper sticker fantasies and online fundraisers dressed up as revolutions.

And by the way -- Go Oilers! Every Canadian is rooting for you!