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Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

bbc.com

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Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#41

Post by petcat »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #29
petcat wrote: post #15

10% of the population produces nearly 20% of the country's GDP. That kind of lopsided representation is dangerous breeding ground for contempt, so this kind of thing is not really surprising. Will be interesting to see where it goes. Nobody thought there was any realistic chance of the UK leaving the EU either...

By that framing you are saying that Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver should also all seek secession. Likewise, you could say that NYC and LA should singularly secede from America by that same logic. It doesn't track. There is no legal precedent. Alberta as an entity did not exist beyond Canada.

> There is no legal precedent.

Legal precedent doesn't really matter here. If Alberta wants to leave and they're willing to fight a war over it, then that's up to them. USA already went through this once.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#42

Post by archimedes237 »

jszymborski wrote: post #5

Important context, this referendum isn't binding, but rather a referendum on whether a binding referendum should be held. Separation is deeply unpopular, but Smith has been putting her thumb on the scale every step of the way, and this non-binding referendum isn't subject to the Clarity act in the same way that a subsequent binding one would be.

It is technically possible to separate legally, but there are so many intentional roadblocks that it is effectively impossible to do so.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#44

Post by dgellow »

armenarmen wrote: post #28

I met a Québécois woman years ago that said their own independence movement was shut down in part because of new immigrants to Canada not wanting to leave the commonwealth. No clue if that’s right or not. But given how much of a cash cow the western provinces are for Canada, and the mega spike in immigration it makes me wonder

Maybe look for information instead of sharing uninformed opinions on a random anecdote?

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#45

Post by blululu »

vkou wrote: post #2

And do what? There is no 'Albertan' national identity, like there is in Quebec, or Ukraine, or Taiwan or Ireland. You can't build an independent nation around something that is only wanted by a single political party, who have no fucking idea of how to include everyone who isn't a Tory on board with their project. Trace it back a bit, and you'll find that there's nothing to this that isn't driven by the Department of…

Québécois separatism is also driven by a single party with no plan for what to do with all the other groups. I also don’t think that an independent Quebec would be a good idea, but they have leveraged the idea to get equalization payments and increased voting rights. These concessions largely come at the expense of Alberta, so it shouldn’t be hard to see why people would be frustrated without any cia operations.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#46

Post by nonethewiser »

vkou wrote: post #2

And do what? There is no 'Albertan' national identity, like there is in Quebec, or Ukraine, or Taiwan or Ireland. You can't build an independent nation around something that is only wanted by a single political party, who have no fucking idea of how to include everyone who isn't a Tory on board with their project. Trace it back a bit, and you'll find that there's nothing to this that isn't driven by the Department of…

[flagged]

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#47

Post by martythemaniak »

nonethewiser wrote: post #30
jszymborski wrote: post #5

Important context, this referendum isn't binding, but rather a referendum on whether a binding referendum should be held. Separation is deeply unpopular, but Smith has been putting her thumb on the scale every step of the way, and this non-binding referendum isn't subject to the Clarity act in the same way that a subsequent binding one would be.

Is there actually even a legal process for leaving Canada? I would assume you can't just decide to leave. EDIT: oh, there is a process. thats the Clarity Act. This seems extremely surprising - I've never heard of this sort of thing before with any other country.

It should be the least surprising thing about Canada - it has been dealing with separatist referendums for decades.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#48

Post by boxed »

petcat wrote: post #15

10% of the population produces nearly 20% of the country's GDP. That kind of lopsided representation is dangerous breeding ground for contempt, so this kind of thing is not really surprising. Will be interesting to see where it goes. Nobody thought there was any realistic chance of the UK leaving the EU either...

I mean.. it's not like it's Alberta that produces the oil. Oil is concentrated in smaller places than that, so why shouldn't those places then separate from Alberta?

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#49

Post by JumpCrisscross »

cactusplant7374 wrote: post #19
opjjf wrote: post #4

Investigate and imprison the people who are pushing this because of money received from the US.

I know of two people that moved away from Canada and consider themselves refugees for various reasons. It seems... a little out there. But it is a thing.

> it is a thing

Anyone can claim refugee status. That doesn’t make them refugees.

Being a refugee requires showing persecution that one can’t find relief for within the country’s own system [1]. Given Canada has a functioning court system, the second part of the definition is failed.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_Relating_to_the_Sta...

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#50

Post by SecretDreams »

rasgkl wrote: post #11

U.S. wants more oil and pays influencers. Even if anyone is a legitimate Albertan separatist, voting in favor of it in this political climate is self-destructive.

There's, sadly, been a significant uptick in self destructive voting tendencies for certain voting demographics as of late.
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