The flirtation with separatist sentiment in Alberta is bringing all the boys to the yard, and suddenly they’re all trying to make a cockamamie case for why this is a real threat. Yesterday it was respected tax economist Jack Mintz who decided to stray way outside of his lane, and insist that Alberta has a better case for this than Great Britain does with Bexit, which is patent nonsense both on its face, and in every single one of his nonsense arguments. And yet, in the rush to pander to the angry sentiment in Alberta and to offer up simplistic solutions and snake oil to what is a series of protracted (and in some cases intractable) problems that require time and patience to resolve. Mintz later went on the CBC to defend his column, and made a bunch of other nonsense arguments that presumes that the US would be a better customer for Alberta oil…despite that the actual pipeline capacity going from Alberta to the US is minimal and don’t think they could easily build more if they can’t even get Keystone XL over the finish line there.
Alberta would be landlocked. Why would it be easier to get rid of tanker ban off coast of BC or building TMX if BC was a separate country? Why would Energy East be easier to do if SK, MB, ON, Que, and NB were all part of another country?
— Duane Bratt (@DuaneBratt) December 19, 2018
What about the family ties that many Albertans have across the country? How interested would they be in dividing themselves?
— Duane Bratt (@DuaneBratt) December 19, 2018
Alberta alienation is a real thing. But Alberta separatism is a ridiculous argument. It is one thing for cranks to promote it, but it is disappointing to see serious thinkers like @jackmintz advocate it.
— Duane Bratt (@DuaneBratt) December 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1075414877890502656
https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1075415929394102272
Meanwhile, Tyler Dawson makes the case that such a separatist movement not only lacks logic, it also lacks a real leader or the intellectual heft to actually make it something viable. Andrew Leach takes Mintz to task on his assumptions about demand for Alberta oil. Jen Gerson tells Alberta that while they have legitimate grievances, the insistence that Ottawa is simply out to get them risks becoming a pathology, while the separation talk is terrible, and simply burning the system down won’t help anyone. Can I get an amen up in here?
https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1075469089450078208