Our Alberta Referendum Battle Plan!

Rebel News is setting up what’s called a third party campaign group in Alberta, in support of the independence referendum.

The phrase “third party” doesn’t mean we’re setting up a “political party” — it’s what they'd call a SuperPAC in the United States. It’s a way for us to legally participate in the referendum campaign — otherwise we’d be prosecuted by Elections Alberta.

We’ve done this before — for example, right now we have a SuperPAC for the federal byeletions going on in Ontario; and during the last federal election we had a SuperPAC too. Now we’re doing one for the Alberta referendum campaign.

We’re doing this for a few reasons.

The first reason, as I mentioned, is that if we don’t register, we’d be prosecuted. A few years ago, when the NDP were the government in Alberta, Rebel News put up a billboard calling for the firing of the absolutely awful education minister named Dave Eggen. But Elections Alberta claimed that was illegal for us to do and they prosecuted us. How? Why? How is that any different from writing a newspaper editorial calling for him to be fired? As you know, that happened to us federally, too — when I published my book about Trudeau called The Libranos, I was prosecuted for that, too.

So the first reason is that if we don’t do this, we’ll be prosecuted for things like billboards and public meetings and book launches. Elections bureaucrats hate Rebel News, because they’re usually left-wing control freaks and they realize we campaign with a bit of flair and irreverence that political parties don’t usually do. So they’d love to prosecute us. That’s what happens in a country without the First Amendment guaranteeing our freedom of speech.

The second reason is: we absolutely believe in this referendum. For those who haven’t been following along, Alberta allows what’s called a “citizens initiative” — that is, if enough people sign a petition, a law can be introduced in the legislature. Or in this case, a constitutional referendum can be called. Last week, a petition with more than 170,000 names was submitted, calling for a referendum on Alberta independence. And the date is set — October 19th, barely six months from now.

I love the idea of a referendum. Let the people speak. There are some issues that politicians refuse to talk about because they’re too scared or politically correct — ending mass immigration is an obvious one. A referendum on independence is exactly the kind of thing that ordinary people talk about, but official people are terrified to mention.

Now, all the usual suspects in the regime are against an Alberta referendum. Which is weird, isn’t it? Quebec has had two referendums on independence, and the last one came within 0.5% of passing. The Supreme Court has said referendums on independence are legal, and in a 1998 court case, they laid out the procedure to do it. Parliament itself agrees — they passed the Clarity Act, which says a clear majority on a clear question is the first step to independence.

This has been the law for decades. It’s normal — for Quebec. The separatist Bloc Québécois party is treated as legitimate and respected in Parliament — it even once formed the official opposition. The provincial Parti Quebecois is leading the polls in Quebec right now, and has won four byelections in a row. That’s all considered normal and healthy. But when Albertans want the same remedies, they’re denounced as treasonous by the regime media.

How come Quebec is allowed to talk about its destiny, but Alberta is not? Why is a democratic vote in Alberta denounced as unacceptable by the official people — but Mark Carney announcing that we’re joining China as a “partner”, and just deciding that we all have to be part of a Chinese New World Order, that’s just great, even though he never mentioned such a shocking and dangerous policy during the last election? Why is that democratic, but an independence referendum isn’t?

Why are Alberta pipelines blocked and cancelled by Ottawa, costing hundreds of thousands of jobs? Why did Justin Trudeau, and his economic advisor at the time, Mark Carney, say there was no business case for LNG natural gas, even though countries like Germany and Japan begged us for it? Why are real businesses with real projects in Alberta, that don’t need any government subsidies, why are those projects being killed off, but fake businesses and fake projects, like a $90 billion railroad between Toronto and Montreal considered “nation-building”?

Why does Alberta have to send $20 billion dollars to the rest of Canada every year, only to have provinces like British Columbia or Quebec veto pipelines going to the coasts (even though that’s not their constitutional power to do that)? Eastern Canada actually imports oil from OPEC dictatorships. Why does that conflict oil get to come into Canada, but ethical oil from Alberta is not allowed to flow? Why does Alberta oil have to pay an industrial carbon tax, and now do some fake carbon capture process that conflict oil imports don’t have to pay? Why are oil tankers exporting Alberta oil banned, but oil tankers importing OPEC oil allowed?

Why are Albertans treated like second class citizens? We just saw a few weeks ago the CEO of Air Canada being fired because he didn't speak perfect French in a video announcement — even though the translation was on the screen. Same thing applies to most federal jobs — you can’t rise above a junior level in the federal civil service, in the RCMP, in the military, if you’re not bilingual, which rules out 98% of Albertans. You need to be bilingual to be on the Supreme Court — and Quebec is guaranteed three out of nine seats anyways, far more than their population.

I don’t think Albertans are greedy; I don’t think they’re stingy; I think it’s a combination of not being allowed to work for a living in oil and gas, and being demonized at the same time, and being mocked when Albertans try in good faith to fix things — like the entire 15-year Reform Party experiment. Preston Manning said to the separatists of his day, let’s try to fix things, the West Wants In. The Liberals and the media and the whole establishment just laughed at him, and called him racist. Which is exactly what they think of all Albertans.

This isn’t a one-off. It’s always been this way. Alberta was born unequal as a province in 1905 — it literally didn’t have the same rights to national resources that the other provinces had. Alberta’s attempts to weather the Depression were rebuked by Ottawa, who let the province go bankrupt. In the 1980s, Pierre Trudeau nationalized much of the oil industry and taxed the rest into submission. Justin Trudeau did the same again. Over and over — nothing changes, because the system itself is broken. Once in a generation a Conservative become prime minister so the viciousness recedes for a few years, like it did under Stephen Harper. But nothing is actually reformed. How could it be?

You don’t see federal politicians demonizing any other industry, in any other province. You don’t see laws being specifically drafted to harm and phase out any other industry. It’s not just the money; that’s the least of it. It’s the sneering condescension, the disrespect, because everyone in Ottawa knows: what’s Alberta going to do about it?

Well, how about doing a Quebec, and voting for independence? The U.S. recently said they’d continue to buy our oil if Alberta was independent — of course they would: Isn’t that amazing? A foreign country is more open to Alberta than some of our fellow provinces. What would Alberta lose? Schools and hospitals are already provincially run. What do the feds do? A rusting, shrinking military? A pro-China, pro-Palestine foreign policy? An RCMP more interested in seizing guns from law-abiding citizens than actually cracking down on crime? The $20 billion a year Alberta would save would be more than enough to cover the few things Ottaw provides for Alberta.

And it would end the chaos. The teasing and faking — like Mark Carney’s “MOU”, where he kinda, sorta said he might let Alberta build a pipeline in the future, if certain conditions were met. Chaos — no wonder no pipeline companies have taken him up on that. They would rather invest in Venezuela than Alberta — it’s less chaotic, less risky.

Hey, here’s a thought experiment: if Alberta were its own country right now, do you think it would vote to join Canada? Do you think it would vote to be dominated by a distant and partisan Laurentian elite who take $20 billion a year to fund their own corrupt schemes, block Alberta’s ambitions at every turn, inject bizarre and woke ideas into Alberta through chaotic court rulings? I doubt it.

Do you know what I think about all the time? How Sir John A. Macdonald was removed from our $10 bill. How statues of Macdonald, and Queen Victoria, have been toppled. How it’s the official policy of the government that Canada is a “genocidal” regime. How Canada's history and culture are being erased. Every military veteran, every cop, everyone who has served like that in Alberta, that I know, is for independence. The most patriotic people are for independence. It sounds like a paradox, but it’s not. Because the choice isn’t between an independent Alberta, and the Canada of Vimy Ridge, or the Canada of Terry Fox. It’s between an independent Alberta and the Canada of Mark Carney and Justin Trudeau and out of control courts, and a woke ideology and a new, repulsive national identity that they’ve forced on us, without ever asking. Well, the referendum is going to ask.

That’s the case for Alberta independence. It’s our editorial position. And because we’d be prosecuted for saying that, if we didn’t register as a third party campaign group, we’re registering.

If you believe Albertans should be free to decide their own future, and free to hear both sides of that argument, join us.

We’re going to make the case for independence. Other voices are, too — there are many people of good will in Alberta making the case earnestly. We’re going to be a bit different — we’re going to use professional communications methods, including real TV ads, digital ads, our big, beautiful billboard truck and other professional campaign tools.

Because every awful group in Canada is going to be on the “no” side. Every public sector union, every greedy left-wing group that lives off of Alberta’s bounty, every establishment that sees Alberta as a cow to be milked, they don’t want to lose their free stuff.

You can already see the worst people in the country ganging up against Alberta. And remember, the Conservative Party of Canada has already said they oppose the referendum.

If you support the idea of Rebel News registering as a third party campaign group, and believe that we should be allowed to make the case for Alberta, and fight back against the anti-Alberta regime, from Mark Carney to Naheed Nenshi to the Globe and Mail and the CBC, if you think Albertans need to hear the other side of the story, please help us.

If you do not qualify to donate to Act For Alberta, click here to donate to Rebel News to help us with our strong, independent, pro-Alberta journalism.