Coal, Alberta | In western Canada, dissatisfaction with the favorable balance system in Quebec and the blocking of oil projects created a new separatist party. In order to send members of parliament to bring his demands to Ottawa, the Maverick Party constituency seeks inspiration from Quebec.
On Wednesday night, frustration was evident in the community hall in Kaylee, a small village of 400 souls located in the foothills of the Rockies in the vast agricultural plains south of Calgary.
More than 80 people gathered there to hear the local Maverick party candidate.
Photo by Patrick Bellaros
Josh Wiley spoke with his Maverick party supporters at a rally on Wednesday night.
Josh Wiley has some against the balancing scheme, which, according to him, finances Quebec’s CPEs with Alberton’s money.
“Quebec seems to be overweight in the House of Commons because they created Black Cupocois in the 1990s, which was as effective for them as Maverick uses. We need it in the West,” said the young father, who works in the energy sector.
People in Toronto and Vancouver are also tasting the candidate’s anger.
“They live in the condo, they take the Uber or the subway. Things like the carbon tax. [imposée par Justin Trudeau] Don’t affect their way of life, “said Wiley.
In Ottawa, he said, “no one represents our way of life.”
Like spoiled children
In the room, workers, farmers and small entrepreneurs nodded in unison. Eastern Canada is pumping out Western revenue, while Energy East has the audacity to block projects like this that would have brought oil from the tar sand to New Brunswick.
“The East has the last word in everything. They wander around like little children telling Mom and Dad how the house should work.
For his part, Tom Donnelly said he recently lost his oil and gas engineering company to the collapse of the Alberta economy. “I am 62 years old. My chances of being hired elsewhere are close to zero,” he said briefly.
Unable to identify a specific outcome, he blames the federal government for creating an unfavorable environment for investment in the oil sector.
When asked why he supported the Maverick Party, Tom Donnelly used an old reformist party slogan, which reminds us that hatred in the West dates back decades. “The West wants it,” he dropped.
Disappointed by conservatives
In fact, it is now “inside or out,” explained Jay Hill, the interim leader of the young political party.
Elected in Ottawa in 1997 under the banner of the Reform Party, then Speaker of Parliament under Stephen Harper, he is now frustrated with the Conservatives and National Parties in the front row.
He lamented that these should provide concessions so that one or another region of the country would not be dissatisfied. “I have never seen the Conservatives say the Quebeckers formula [de péréquation] We need to change that to reflect provincial revenue more accurately, ”Hill said.
A view shared by his former colleague, Brian Fitzpatrick, a former elected conservative in Saskatchewan under Stephen Harper. “Mr. Harper had very strong views on balancing. When he came to power, he seemed to have forgotten them,” he noted.
A voice in Ottawa
With the call for early elections, the ambitions of the Knights Party this year are modest.
On September 20, the separatist organization will field 27 candidates from Manitoba to British Columbia.
But the wrath of the West is so real and its movement will soon find a voice in Ottawa.
In Kaylee’s small community hall, Jay Hill picked up the microphone to prove it. “Confederation does not work for the West, it never works for the West, it will never work if we do not force change,” he said.
Maverick Party
- Last year Vexit was created from the ashes of Canada.
- A major reform effort of the Canadian Constitution.
- This includes the “right” of a state to carry its natural resources across the country.
- If it fails, there is hope of creating a new state made up of provinces west of Ontario
Trudeau’s election again provoked outrage
The sense of alienation from the western provinces of Calgary and Alberta is not new. After a period of inactivity during the growth of the Alberta economy, it could come back and provide fertile land for the Maverick Party.
Frederick Boyle
Professor of Political Science
“In the 2000s, in the Harper years, there was a peace. It’s almost gone,” observes Frederick Boyle, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta’s Saint-Jean campus.
But the recent recession in the province and the election of Justin Trudeau have provoked renewed anger in the East.
“There was economic insecurity among the Alberts affected by the fall in oil prices,” the professor explains.
Pipeline projects on both sides of Alberta’s borders are blocked, preventing manufacturers from exporting their oil.
“Carbon tax [imposée par le gouvernement Trudeau] It has raised dissatisfaction, especially in rural areas, where we rely heavily on transportation, ”Mr Bailey continued.
This dissatisfaction from the West was made clear in the last federal election, in 2019: the Liberals were completely ousted from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
O’Toole’s confusion
But unlike his predecessor, Erin O’Toole relied on a “centrist” strategy to attract votes from the regions of eastern Canada, which displeased some right-wing voters.
For example, the Conservative leader proposes his own version of the carbon tax, which is very unpopular in the province.
However, it is difficult to assess the true appeal of the Maoist party to the population, especially with the economic recovery beginning.
Frederick Boyle assesses that another challenge arises for the young organization. Unlike Black Quebecois, it is inspired and sometimes has to make a big difference to reconcile the needs of the various Western provinces that the party wants to represent.
A Western cowboy Inspired Yves-Francois Blanchett
Tariq Elnaka, a true rodeo-loving cowboy, never thought about coming into politics before listening to the constituency leader, Yves-Franசois Blanchett, during a leaders’ debate in 2019.
“He said: I will never form a government, but I will work with any of you who vote for the interests of Quebec,” said the Maverick party candidate who rode the Bonf-Erie. I said to myself: Why don’t we have this? “
