As I travel through northwestern Alberta and watch the last of the crops be harvested, a sowing and reaping analogy occurred to me. Sowing seeds of inuendo and intimidation propagates instability which produces fear. The more people are afraid, the easier it is to corral them into a heightened state of mob mentality, making them easier to control. It is a psyop, and far too many Albertans are falling for it, again.

It comes as no surprise that politicians and bureaucrats benefit from the way things are. My own MP has jumped on the ‘anti-separatist’ bandwagon now, too. It matters not that the status quo does nothing to benefit the people. It is never about the people. It is always about the politicians and bureaucrats. And we are seeing in real time the tactics they are using to try and maintain power and control.

Newspapers across the country are rolling out article after article about what could happen should Albertans vote Option 2 on Question 10. The articles contain information filled with inuendo and intimidation that propagate instability. Playing on emotion and the fact that most people fear change, right on cue, the divisive mob mentality rises up and anger is spewed everywhere. Why people continue to fall for this time and time again remains a mystery. It is very sad to watch, actually.     

What isn’t a mystery is how the Independence Movement has risen to the heights seen today. Put simply, psyops tend not to work on critical thinkers. Most within this movement have no problem questioning information rather than taking it for face value. Those of us who are truly in it to win it also have no problem questioning each other and, for most of us, no offense is taken for doing so. Because we seek out and push for facts, use common sense to parse through the information, and have no problem challenging the status quo as we go, solid information is now ripe for the taking. Those for whom the system works are losing their ever-loving minds. And that’s their problem, not ours.

In these last two weeks of the campaign, the fake news brigade is going to come out swinging harder than ever before. The inuendo and intimidation will be off the charts. Which suggests support for Option 2 on Question 10 is higher than being reported. How high? No one really knows. What we do know, is this referendum is going to need all hands on deck to ensure it is too big to rig.       

Going to Calgary to watch the Fildebrandt/Bratt debate on Alberta Independence live was a good choice to make. It did not disappoint. Both men were professional in their demeanor, maintained a fairly polite discourse, and Donna Kennedy-Glans was a perfect choice for moderator. The recording is online for all to watch now.         

Each debater had a one-liner that stuck with me. Mr Fildebrandt declared that Alberta was the child that had to drop out of school to support the rest of the family. While the analogy is not quite right, the sentiment is certainly accurate. Mr Bratt’s comment that “neither of us would want to get in the boxing ring with Justin Trudeau” got a lot of laughs; probably not for the reasons he may have been thinking.  

At one point, Mr Bratt brought up immigration. He said Alberta separation would not go over well with immigrants who came to Canada, not Alberta. Even going so far as to mention skin color, insinuating all separatists are white and born here. A number of immigrants stood up in protest to his comments, including white ones.

When discussing money, a comment from Mr Fildebrant was that Albertans should not have to feel bad for doing well, and I agree. Going on to say, “Why shouldn’t we be able to buy a new boat every year? This is Alberta!” came off as a bit smug. More than that, it completely misses the fact that a lot of Albertans are not doing well financially. Mostly because of decisions made in Ottawa. It was a missed moment to make a much stronger point on the financial health and state of Albertans.

Mr Bratt continually referred to historical achievements that should make Canadians proud. He also mentioned several times that we should be fine with sharing our bounty with the rest of Canada. Mr Fildebrant pointed out that the Canada Mr Bratt described does not exist anymore. Furthermore, we should not be forced to support a country that does not support us.

Hoping to hear something, anything, that would provide a reason to ‘stay’, the ‘separatists’ not only left empty handed, Mr Bratt’s response was ‘I don’t have to give a reason’. Then the usual excuses followed. It will be too hard, too expensive, and our place in Confederation is just our lot in life so get over it. What Mr Bratt does not understand is that too hard and expensive are not deterrents. They are simply challenges to overcome. Essentially, Mr Bratt insulted us with a one-two punch. First, by saying he does not have to give us a reason to stay, then by insinuating we are not up to the challenge of leaving.    

While the back and forth between the debaters carried on, standing at the back of the room provided a perfect vantage point to ‘people watch’. About two-thirds were on the ‘leave’ side and ‘one-third’ on the remain. That surprised me. Where were Mr Bratt’s supporters? And about a third of the way through, three of them walked out.

Speaking of walking out, at the back of the room was a man with a bigger camera on a tripod whom, we later learned, was with CTV. Half way through the event, he also packed up and left.       

Watching the crowd as a whole, it was hard not to notice two guys in particular. Their claps for Mr Bratt were consistent and filled with enthusiasm. Then something happened. Every so often, they would look at one another and then clap in response to something Mr Fildebrandt said. Were they seeing another side that they hadn’t considered before? Maybe. Then a few others in the room began doing the same.

Bratt’s argument for staying was that Canada was great (past tense) and we need to honor that by keeping the country together, no matter what.

As the Prime Minister said himself earlier this year, hope isn’t a plan and nostalgia isn’t a strategy.

Fildebrandts summary for leaving was the great Canada of the past does not exist anymore and we do not need to go down with the ship.

I agree.

Onward and upward.  

The political differences between Alberta and the rest of Canada, could not have been more perfectly illustrated than through the events of last weekend.

After Jagmeet Singh completely annihilated the party, the NDP finally decided they need a new Leader. A convention was held and, after watching the clips, it truly is a wonder anything got accomplished at all. One could appreciate delegates spending most of their time and energy making Points of Order if there were some sort of contentious party business being dealt with. But that was not the case. Peppered among those Points of Order were several Points of Personal Privilege.

Typically, at these things there are two colored cards: green to vote ‘yes’ and red to vote ‘no’. Not at this convention. Multiple cards were on full display and they all meant something. The skin color and/or culture and/or part of the lgbtq community she/her/he/him/they/their/them identified with determined the color of card. The more marginalized the delegate was, the more preferential treatment they received, including the ability to butt in line. If a delegate felt they were not receiving the preferential treatment he/him/she/her/they/them/their deserved, that delegate would make a Point of Personal Privilege and let everyone else know about it. Those who scream ‘inclusivity’ were literally in a race to the bottom.    

The Leadership Race also became a race to the bottom. The provincial NDP Leaders for Alberta and Saskatchewan expressed great displeasure with the winner and immediately got to work distancing themselves from him. At the end of the day, the NDP party is much like the Borg in Star Trek. The provincial arms cannot decouple from the federal. They are one, but obviously not united.

While all of that was going on, equally cringe worthy were the Juno Awards. A Liberal who’s who that very few Canadians bother to watch, which explains why it is entirely government funded.   

Meanwhile, back in Alberta, where critical thinking and sanity still exist, around 700 people gathered in Calgary for Shaun Newman’s Cornerstone Forum. Attendees were treated to conversations on geopolitics, economics, genuine expert debates on today’s issues, with a segment on personal growth mixed in. Real dialogue with real people about the issues that should matter most to everyone. There was no way not to leave informed, enlightened, and exhausted. And the only cards exchanged were business cards.   

In a way, these three events shed even more light on what fuels the Independence Movement. The vast majority of Albertans identify with those who attended the Cornerstone Forum. Most Canadians do not. In short, we don’t have much in common with the rest of Canada. We are not the same and probably never were. And it’s time for Albertans to move on, and that is okay. Those who live in other provinces will disagree and that is okay, too. They can, but going our own way is not their choice to make. It’s ours. And we will.