In a running series from the Calgary Herald called “Alberta voices”, federalists have been given a section where repeated tropes about Alberta independence can be shared almost daily.

In the July 29 publication, Alberta Health Services bureaucrat Cameron Donald makes the case that while Alberta is indeed getting a raw deal in the federation, it just hasn’t tried hard enough or long enough to change things. He cites the Western Canada Concept efforts of the early 1980s and the Reform Party of the 1990s “West wants in” as historical examples of Alberta’s ongoing grievances and efforts for change. Then he notes how terribly the Senate imbalance serves the West.

Then, after illustrating the inequity of the system and the futility of making change within it despite decades of effort, he suggests Alberta should continue to run up to and smack against the impenetrable wall of Canadian federalism.

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Donald admits things are bad but then makes a poorly founded case that things would become worse with independence. He claims that an independent Alberta would see workers contributing almost 50 percent of their gross pay towards pension plans, defence, and many more ‘nation things’ and would face a 15% Alberta Sales Tax with no food exemptions or low-income rebates. No sources were cited for this fiscal speculation. It is standard doomsaying from the evolving Project Fear handbook.

An independent Alberta would retain the federal tax revenue currently sent to Ottawa. Pro-independence analyses project the ability to replace federal programs while still delivering lower overall burdens for many households, precisely because the net outflow stops. That’s not to say there wouldn’t be economic challenges with the transition, but opponents to independence continue to omit the stemming of the outward flow of funds when they point to the new domestic expenses an independent Alberta would assume.

Donald then plays the peak oil bogeyman and claims resources such as oil and gas are coming to the end of their useful life. This is pessimistic forecasting, not analysis. Demand for oil and gas is expected to grow and remain strong for many decades to come, and Alberta’s economy can better diversify without the yoke of Ottawa hanging over its neck.

Donald closes by paraphrasing Churchill, saying Alberta has the worst deal in the Canadian federation, except for all those other alternative forms that could be tried. His hypothesis is that the system is terrible, but it must be accepted.

After generations of trying to achieve reform within the system, another quote is more apropos: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.