The Western separatist movement arising out of anger and frustration with the Confederation may appear to be a made-in-Alberta initiative for some parts of Canada.
But the fanning of the flames of separatism goes beyond Wild Rose borders into Saskatchewan as well as some pockets of both Manitoba and British Columbia.
“There’s a lot of people who really want to see this separation happen,” says Lee Smith, leader of Wexit B.C. and a small business owner in New Westminster on the West Coast.
“This is an old sentiment, too. This is from my grandfather’s day. I remember being a child at the dinner table and as soon as election time came around and the election was done my uncles, my great uncles, all adults they were talking about how we separate.”
Smith says the movement is not just conservative, the sentiment is felt among left-leaning people too.
“It’s actually really simple. Taxation without representation. That’s what it is. That’s what it boils down to. We have no say here in the West. None. We could all vote the same way and the election would be decided by Ontario and Quebec that day,” says Smith.
“Preston Manning realized this when he had the Reform Party when he couldn’t make a difference and he did a great job. But at the same time he couldn’t make a difference when he helped form the modern Conservative Party as we know it . . . What this comes down to is we are basically the economic engine for this country but we have no say in how it’s spent. It’s hardly fair.”
Smith says Wexit’s following in B.C. has reached close to 15,000 followers in a month.
[Interesting Read]
See Also:
(1) Alberta pipeline company with ‘Canadian values’ comes to Quebec’s rescue with propane shipments
(2) Kenney walking fine line over Western alientation
(3) Trudeau turns the ambiguous middle class into an unnecessary ministry
(4) Ottawa will be judged by action, not visits and talk
(5) East, West must accept responsibility for discord and unity
