thrones and dominions (13. 127)

Responding to recent revelations that the members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, the separatist movement gathering signatures to hold a referendum by October on the question of the western province’s independence, have been meeting in secret with senior agitators from the Trump administration, several premiers have called this attempt to destabilise the union as an act of treason. A vocal minority of Albertans, around twenty-percent, according to polling would support the idea of separating from Canada but that figure drops precipitously when followed with cession leading to annexation by the United States, as was the case with Hawaiʻi (I fail to see the appeal either with no social welfare system and a host of inherent sacrifices in the name of winning), and to make the idea more palatable to the populace have turned the meddling to financial backing to the tune of half-a-trillion dollars to support the hypothetical sovereign country establish itself free from the support of the central government. First advocated at the turn of the last century shortly after its transition from a territory and premised on the the idea that the residents are culturally and economically distinct from the rest of Canada, with its wealth of natural resources providing more for the general fund than it takes from it and trade flowing north to south rather than latitudinally. Waxing and waning over the decades, the movement has mainly been fuelled by perceived threats to this oil dividend from taxation and environmental regulations but has now been shoved into polarised vibe politics and interference from US officials making little effort to veil their objectives. In contrast, Canada was roundly scolded by America for broadcasting a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan critical of tariffs as foreign influence. As an outcome of the bid by Quebec—albeit a very different scenario with supporters and detractors from the whole political spectrum—Canada has codified the process of secession, something expressly forbidden in the US, with required negotiations, dependant on the outcome of the vote, with the federal government and upholding civil rights and the respect of First Nations—who strongly oppose such a break up and reject the dangerous and increasingly free-wheeling rhetoric as a threat undermining all Canadians. In the run-up, I’m sure that they’ll be no shortage of Trump’s favourite standby of rigged elections, beyond gunboat diplomacy with justification to “liberate” Alberta, like with Venezuela.