We now have a western separatist movement on the prairies. Don Lenihan writes that it's part of the populist wave that has swept the world. It's important to understand how populism -- particularly right-wing populism -- works:
Typically, populists allege that some group, such as a professional elite or a political party, has gained control of the policy process and is using it to advance their own interests. The process, they say, is biased and can’t be trusted.
Thus, the western alienation narrative accuses Central Canada of using its majority in Parliament to exploit the west. Brexiters tells a similar story about how Britain’s power has shifted from London to Brussels. Donald Trump railed about the need to “Drain the Swamp” by driving the corrupt elites out of Washington.
Populists are not interested in working things through. They do not believe in what used to be called "brokerage politics." However, the Canadian political system was set up for brokerage politics:
Looking back, governments of the past seemed more able to take on difficult tasks than those today. Think of bilingualism or the national healthcare system. Cabinet may have made the decisions, but ministers relied on a network of people – including the caucus, party, riding associations and, ultimately, the community – to help identify issues and “broker” solutions.
Unfortunately, we live in an age of polarization -- and the polarizing debates it engenders. Populists
are interested in marketing, not problem-solving. Their narrative is designed to polarize debate and force people in the middle to choose a side. Except, now the issue is about more than policy. It is about the fairness of the system itself, and that raises the stakes.
And, amid all the fire and fury, we risk destroying the system itself.
Image: cbc.ca
6 comments:
... and the loudest clamour often seems to come from those most likely to be the earliest and most victimized.
Strange, isn't it Danneau, how those who claim to be "for the people" work so hard to undermine them?
If they can't get the coast, they're screwed. One of the few things Covid-19 has done is to harden British Columbians' attitude to "easterners," especially Albertans. It's visceral out here. We don't like 'em. We don't want 'em. We know what those morons would have in store for us and our coast if we threw in with them.
As for the numbers of these endless whingers how would that support hold up when they realized they were asking to go it alone for the costs and consequences of the giant Love Canal that covers half of their province. By the Alberta government's own estimates that would cost $230 billion to clean up. Can you think of any lender/investor willing to fund that? The world's biggest investment fund, BlackRock, has already washed its hands of anything to do with coal or bitumen. The giant insurers such as Munich Re have likewise vowed to have nothing to do with high-carbon ventures.
Let's face it, this is Alberta. The province that has repeatedly "pissed it all away" every time they've had an energy boom and today it has nothing to show for it except that quarter-trillion dollar environmental catastrophe hanging around its neck. Think British Columbians want to sign on for a full share of that?
You'd think that, for Albertans, the writing would be on the wall, Mound. But populists don't tend to read these days -- whether the writing is on the wall or anywhere else.
.. Giving Albertans a bad name.. too bad - so sad
More and more I see the crude hand of Stephen Harper Inc behind the parasitic Jason Kenney ascendancy. Its where seriously flawed political grifters and partisan horrow shows have been enclaving for years. A super motivated Corporate Class is melded into 'Politics' and vice versa.. a mutual benefit society. How far they must have sunk that Albertans elected Ms Notely & the NDP.. but the time was ripe as Kenney The Glib.. utilized the Harper Brand Makeover Strategy.. and look at Albertans now.. any shred of dignity, ethics, decency blown off. Its a great 'case history' if one really wants to probe the entrails of Public Service in Alberta under Kenney et al.. its the old Harper Ideology Redux.. and 'smartest guy in the room' conceit.. Jason Knows Best.. scumbaggery slathered with lipstick.. to pretend there is anything 'Canadian' or 'Patriotic' about the behaviour would be laughable.. Kenney's is a 'runaway government' already
It's clear that Jenney has assumed Harper's mantle, sal -- with Harper's approval. So what was visited upon Canada during the Harper years will now be visited on Alberta. Sad.
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