From cattle to canola, Alberta’s industries are fed up with Ottawa’s hostility. Is it time Albertans took the same stand?
Alberta’s industries have many of the same grievances with the federal institutions as Albertans do.
Last week, the Alberta Beef Producers sent notice that they are withdrawing from the Canadian Cattle Association. Their reasoning was that the CCA doesn’t meet the ABP standards for fiscal transparency, governance and communications. Having given CCA an opportunity to fix these issues, ABP has seen “no meaningful progress or willingness to change”. ABP currently funds over 50% of the CCA’s budget.
Sound familiar?
The same could be said for Albertans’ views on the Canadian government as a whole. Fiscal transparency, governance, and communication seem to be low priorities for Canada. Prime Minister Carney’s refusal to release a spring budget despite his minority government losing a vote in parliament compelling them to release said budget, and despite his $486 billion spending plan, demonstrates an overall rejection of fiscal transparency. In terms of governance, the House of Commons has only sat for 76 says total since July 2024. That means that successive minority governments have been ruling without following democratic process. Isn’t that dictatorship? What about communication? Here’s what the former president of the Canadian Chamber of commerce had to say: “The government needs to give a clear indication to business as to what its plans are”. Alberta also attracts more than double the national average for business investment per private sector worker, mirroring the ABP’s excessive funding of the CCA.
It’s not just beef:
“Fifteen years ago, Canada was at the starting blocks with the U.S. in pursuing LNG exports. At one point, Canada had 18 proposed LNG projects off the West Coast of Canada. We had the opportunity then to be No. 1 and now we’re playing catch up. Canada today is commissioning its first LNG facility, while the U.S., well, they’ve become the largest exporter in the world.” – François Poirier, CEO TC Energy, 2025
“If the hurdle is set at a certain height, that’s fine. We just want to know it’s not a moving target, one of the challenges we have faced here for some time now is a bit of unpredictability and uncertainty, which then quite frankly scares away capital.” – Rich Kruger, CEO Suncor Energy 2023
“If the government wants to unite Canada and take down internal trade barriers, then reducing the cost of air travel by reducing fees that are imposed on air travel and ultimately make tickets cheaper would be the right thing to do.” – Alexis von Hoensbroech, CEO WestJet, 2025
“Our federal government cannot sacrifice a $43-billion canola industry, 200,000 jobs in that industry that is largely based, in fairness, in Western Canada, to protect the fledging electric vehicle industry, largely based in Eastern Canada.” – Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan, 2025
It’s also the youth of Quebec facing their future in industry – or what’s left of it.
At every turn, the Canadian government seems at best indifferent, at worst actively hostile toward Albertan industries. This mirrors the Canadian government’s indifference and hostility towards Albertan culture itself. We see this played out in gun bans, gas and diesel vehicle bans, a total disregard for church burnings and a list of grievances published by the Premier of Alberta.
The distance and cultural differences are immense. Ottawa is farther from Edmonton than Moscow from Paris. Are we willing to allow our industries, our culture, and our way of life to be taken away by a government in a far-off land? By a government elected without the say of Albertans who doesn’t even pretend to represent us?
If the citizens of Alberta as well as our largest employers have been shown hostility by a distant government with interests that do not align with ours for over a decade, how much more can we take? How much is too much? When the businesses leave, the farms shut down, the gas stations run dry, the culture is destroyed, the small towns abandoned, what will remain of Alberta?
Vote to preserve our way of life. Write your MLA, demand a referendum.
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