Vol. XX, No. 10 "Separate or Surrender" October 2002
The Western Separatist Papers has been published (usually)
monthly by W.S.P. Ltd. since 1983. Address all correspondence to WSP, Box 101,
255 Menzies Street, Victoria, B.C. Western Canada V8V 2G6. A one-year
subscription is $15.00. Members of the Western Canada Concept receive the WSP
with their membership.
Send e-mail to kzubko@shaw.ca. Visit the WCC on the web at: www.westcan.org
Phone us at: 250-727-3438 or fax us at: 250-479-3294
There will be a meeting of the Western Canada Concept on October 19th (Saturday), 2002 at the W.R. Castell Central Library, John Dutton Room, 616 McLeod Trail SE, Calgary at 7 pm. Doug Christie will speak about the crisis and opportunity facing Alberta right now with the impending ratification of the Kyoto Accord. Please come, bring your family and friends to support the campaign for an alternative to the subservience of the West in Canada!
It continually amazes me how the politicians and their co-dependents, the mainstream media, maintain that certain things are "not an issue" or "not on the agenda" as Premier Klein of Alberta recently did regarding western separatism, in light of the Kyoto Accord. We have been hindered like this ever since we joined confederation. There are some things we just aren't allowed to contemplate, especially walking out of this bad relationship called Canada, and setting up house for ourselves, relying on our own common sense and our own resources.
We need to tell the politicians that yes, separatism is on the agenda, whether they like it or not. The way to do this is by collecting thousands of signatures on the petition demanding a referendum on independence. When the WCC became a party in Alberta, it needed thousands of signatures to attain that status and it wasn't a difficult job. The same effort could be applied today to this petition. Once it was started throughout the province it wouldn't take long to gather the momentum necessary to force the politicians, the media and other self-blinkered, docile citizens who think nothing is possible, to realize that western separatism most certainly is the number one item on the agenda. A copy of the petition is enclosed with this newsletter; most of you have already signed it and sent it back. Now is the time to seek other signatures on it. Get it copied and distribute it. Pay for it to be reproduced in your local paper. Set up a booth at a fair. Stand outside on a street corner and solicit signatures. Remember, we are asking for the right to have a vote on independence. Many people who might not want to vote "yes" right now will still support the right to have a choice, especially when once more the federal politicians are not listening to Albertans, and the provincial politicians are impotent to stop them.
Do what you can to tell the Premier he really does have enormous support for his initial statement about western separatism.
Keltie Zubko
To the Editor:
I am physical therapist practicing in rural Alberta. After last weekend (Premier Klein comments etc.) I decided to do my own straw poll on Kyoto. Here are the results.
The question read "If the Kyoto protocol is pushed through the House of Commons, do you feel Alberta should separate?"
20 people were polled, 16 were in favour, 2 ambivalent, 2 against. Of the 16 in favour, 13 would rather stay in confederation but the politics of Kyoto was too much this time. A lot of people still remember NEP too well.
Thought you'd appreciate the numbers.
Randy L. (by email)
To the Editor:
I didn't understand this separatist movement until a few years ago. Now things like higher taxes and the Kyoto accord not only make me understand the separatist, but it has made me one of them. My eyes are opening to what dreadful things the Federal Government has been doing for decades to us in the west. It's time Western Canadians shed the shackles of their eastern masters and become masters of their own fate. Those who don't understand the separatist movement may never until their jobs are lost, their taxes are increased yet again only to find their standard of living has worsened and the Canadian dollar becomes worthless. Sometimes a person has to hit rock bottom before he makes a life altering change. I guess the same holds true for a nation.
Jared Van Hauwaert (In the Edmonton Sun)
To the Editor:
Separation is quickly becoming our only option in Alberta. The pompous actions of our masters down east have now finally started to hit home. Kyoto and the ever-increasing tax burden are going to make separation a reality. At least Jean Chretien will really have a legacy now as the man who drove Alberta's independence movement.
Jeff Dick (In the Edmonton Sun)
The Western Separatist Papers welcomes your letters to the editor, including your questions for Doug Christie. Please send them to kzubko@shaw.ca, or WSP, Box 101, 255 Menzies Street, Victoria, B.C. V8V 2G6, or fax them to 250-479-3294.
David Kerr resides in Belfast, Northern Ireland (Ulster). He is editor of the quarterly Ulster Nation magazine. Both he, and his publication, advocates that the best solution out of Northern Ireland's troubles is for negotiated independence. Their proposal calls for an independent Northern Ireland state which is free of political control of both the United Kingdom and of the Republic Ireland, and which is inclusive to both Ulster communities. In the British general election last year David ran as an independent Third Way candidate in the West Belfast constituency. In a special interview for the Western Separatist Papers, David answered some questions from Alex Greer in cyber-space.
Q. Major events in Northern Ireland (Ulster) are reported in the international media and in the Canadian media. The outside impression is that your conflict is "the Irish versus the English", or that it is totally a bitter sectarian war. Could you please identify who are the peoples of Ulster, and their respective cultural, religious and political aspirations?
The traditional view put across in North America by Irish republicans is that their struggle is simply that of a colonial freedom movement; hence slogans like `Brits Out'. Naturally this has great significance in the US because America's founders also fought the British to gain freedom for their colonies. The big flaw in this argument is that it ignores the fact that it is not the armed might of the British state that stands in the way of the republican vision of a "32-County Workers' Republic" but a sizeable number of the people who live in what they like to call the `occupied six counties'. We're not talking about a scattered number of floating voters here who could be persuaded to vote for some kind of unitary all-island state, but a largely homogenous community who are mainly Protestant by religion and who generally identify with the British link. Much of the conflict over the past three decades has been fuelled by an attempt by armed republicans to get around this inconvenient obstacle by the use of `physical force' and the inevitable bloody response by illegal loyalist militia groups who were just as determined to maintain things as they were. In the later part of the conflict, the IRA turned its attention to prestige targets in the financial districts of London and other major English towns, on the grounds that one or two spectacular bombs there could have more impact on British politicians than twenty years of similar bombs in Belfast or Portadown.
Q. The Belfast Agreement, or Good Friday Agreement, was hailed as a lasting solution to your troubles. Your publication has often pointed out flaws in that agreement. Could you briefly outline these flaws?
Our view is that the agreement sets sectarian divisions in stone. In the NI Assembly, political parties have to sign a designation of identity – unionist, Irish nationalist or other. However, the `others' may as well not bother turning up, as their votes don't count. Controversial matters have to have a majority of both designated identities or the resolution fails. When the posts of First Minister and Deputy First Minister came up for nomination last November, we had the farcical situation where members of the Women's Coalition and the liberal Alliance Party had to `redesignate' themselves as unionists to swing the vote. A week after this farce, they promptly `re-redesignated' themselves as others. Is it any wonder that many Ulsterfolk regard these shenanigans with contempt? The proper way to deal with such matters would have been to have a weighted majority vote – say two-thirds or 75% to get a motion through. Then everyone's votes would have counted.
Q. You have also pointed out the failures of both the unionist and nationalist communities, and most of all their respective leaderships, to really plot of vision of a true lasting solution. Could you please elaborate?
One result of the long conflict here is that each community – with some justification – see themselves as victims of violence and injustice. This leads to a tendency to downplay the suffering of members of `the other side' and this stokes a lot of resentment. Political leaders tend to line up behind `their' people and distribute favours accordingly. Under the institutions of the GFA, we have a four-party permanent coalition government in which the spoils of office are distributed according to party strength in the Assembly. Ministers have already shown a tendency to favour their own constituency and community, particularly in spending decisions. No attempt has been made by any of the leaders of unionism or republicanism to reach out to the voters on the `other side'. This is understandable on the side of the republicans as demographic trends indicate a growing Catholic population and the possibility of an electoral majority by 2021, but it's inexcusable for the unionists. They can only gain extra support by winning it from non-republican Catholics and there's no indication in my eyes that they're even trying.
Q. Also the policies of the British and Irish Governments have not really benefited the two Ulster communities. Could you also elaborate on this?
Successive British governments like to portray themselves as honest decent mediator doing its best to sort out things between two warring factions. In truth, however, the British are nothing of the kind. British politicians are extremely duplicitous `players' here who can exercise power without responsibility. They have the luxury of being able to do virtually whatever they want in Ulster, as no one back home will ever blame them if things go wrong. Ulster has become a laboratory for all kinds of peculiar social experiments. But, it doesn't matter when they fail. Any failure can always be put down as a noble effort frustrated by those intractable `mad paddies'! This is no exaggeration. Quite a few former British `Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland' have gone on to even higher government office despite making an utter shambles of the job during their reign.
Irish governments have been little better. In the early days of the troubles an Irish government financed and armed the emerging Provisional IRA. During the conflict successive Irish governments encouraged the community they `sponsor' in Ulster to undermine political institutions rather than to seek a just internal political accommodation. This has undoubtedly prolonged the conflict here.
Q. In trying to formulate a lasting solution, please explain why Ulster independence is a desirable option?
Our people have more in common with one-another than they do with the States to which they currently look for sponsorship. Ulster Independence offers something to each community and takes away the thing they fear most. It presents the opportunity for our people to sink their differences and build a new society. If getting the `Brits out' means the end of Westminster rule and local people governing themselves, then this could satisfy most of the people who vote for republican parties. If unionist voters want first and foremost to avoid Dublin rule in a unitary all-island state, then this could satisfy them. If the `others' want to bind us all together, then what better way than to promote the project of building a new nation state?
Q. Could the Ulster independence option gain cross community acceptance?
Yes, for the reasons outlined above. Regular opinion polls suggest that independence is popular with around 10% of Catholics and 6% of Protestants, although most of its advocates – myself included – have their roots in the Protestant community. A smaller, theocratic Protestant state could possibly survive a bloody civil war but it would probably not be a very attractive place to live.
Q. Would Ulster independence be economically viable?
Such a State would need some assistance from the f0rmer rulers to get it off the ground. Paul Fitzsimmons in his book, "<M>Independence for Northern Ireland, How and Why?" suggests a subvention for a period of thirty years, decreasing every decade until the new State is able to stand on its own two feet. He argues that this will be cheaper for the British and Irish government exchequers than the massive sums that have been spent here on an open-ended basis for the past three decades. The material standard of living is likely to be lower than that of North Americans or Western Europeans for a time, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
For more information check the website www.ulsternation.org.uk. Or write to Ulster Nation, First Floor, 316 Shankill Road, Belfast, BT13 3AB, e-mail editor@ulsternation.org.uk
Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.
Edmund Burke
The ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a further proof of the dictum that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it.
Henry Hazlitt
The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed.
Thomas Jefferson
Since the most dangerous mind-altering substance known to man is ink, when can we expect the government to declare war on it?
Sheldon Richman
Political scientists almost everywhere have promoted the expansion of government power. They have functioned as the clergy of oppression.
Rudolph Rummel
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always try to do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.
Mark Twain
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
Vincent Van Gogh
By Doug Christie
When Ralph Klein made his famous Banff speech about the possible rise of separatism if Kyoto is passed, I was interviewed for the National News and said Ralph Klein was right. Then, as if to counter the emergence of this new populist force, the CBC began its search for a contrary point of view. It is not clear how long it took them, but in the next instant to my speech on the news, appeared the usual prune-faced, sanctimonious academic from some university or other saying separatism is a dead issue and only 3% of the people want it.
Where do they find these people and what gives the media the idea that a professor (if that's what he was) of political science has any grasp of the public mind? A man in the street interview would be much more accurate. When we are independent, let's give more credit to the intelligence of the ordinary person, and less to the academics who seem to mouth the opinions of the Central Canadian establishment.
Ralph Klein warned of the dangers of separatism as a result of the Kyoto Accord, and then, hours later promptly renounced any desire to separate, himself, and said he was merely reporting on what "others" said.
Why does the Premier of a great resource-rich province like Alberta believe he has to say he will never pursue separatism, as long as he is Premier? He even said he "would never put separatism on the agenda." Ontario having 103 out of 301 seats will never be in favour of change. Liberals never needed Alberta. Alberta never needed Canada. Canada is neither a military, social, or economic power. So why is an intelligent man like Mr. Klein afraid to be a separatist?
The federal Liberals will pass the Kyoto Accord without any concern for Alberta. They have nothing to lose in Western Canada. What can the Alliance do about it? So why is Ralph Klein saying he will never be in favour of separatism?
Simply put, the answer is the smug cocoon so effectively symbolized by the soft, superior tones of Adrienne Clarkson and the phony imitation of the British House of Lords ceremony in the Senate where the speech from the throne was read before a stoic Jean Chretien. It is the coterie of sycophants who the perpetual party of Canada, the Liberal party, strategically places in all parties, particularly around a powerful and sometimes free-spirited Premier like Ralph Klein. These people know how to press all the hot buttons on a guy like Ralph Klein. "You wouldn't want to be the guy who broke up Canada would you?" and sadly, this time, Ralph can't run fast enough!
But consider what would have been the answer if George Washington had been asked "You wouldn't want to be known as the guy who broke up the British Empire, would you?" If he had said, "No, but some people are talking about it," America today would still be a stagnant cultural backwater of the Empire. Instead, he became the founder of a whole new nation which some say was the freedom and prosperity capital of the world.
Ralph Klein might better ask himself, "Would I want to be known as the Premier who finally had enough of Ottawa's dictates and stood up for and built a great new nation of Western Canada?" Ralph Klein could be the George Washington of Western Canada or rather a non-descript imitation of Peter Lougheed who made a deal and went on to become a director of a major Eastern Canadian bank. In other words, he can live as a free man, or die a faceless non-entity no different from all the compromisers who went before. We need to inform the people about the true cost of confederation so he will be the former and not the latter.
On a flight to Edmonton from Winnipeg I sat next to two women bound for a federal civil service conference for the statistics department. They were busy talking about their pensions, their director, etc.
When I asked if they were from the tax department, they said, "No, statistics." I said, "Oh, I always go into an insane tirade when I am asked questions on the phone by your department." "Why?" one asked.
"Because I want to know whose business it is, and I hate being compelled to give information to my government. If it was voluntary, I would probably comply."
"Oh," said the one next to me, "that is one question I always side-step." The other nodded her head in agreement with me. The Canadian way is to side-step the unpleasant question of what happens if I don't comply.
On October 1st I listened to Stephen Harper on CBC TV criticize the Liberal speech from the throne for all its promises of big government. He also said most forcefully how his party has a different vision for the country, one based on the value of individual initiative and private property. He also said throwing more money at the Indian problem achieves nothing unless responsible government and accountability are also maintained and established.
All very fine words which obviously reflect the will of most Western Canadians. But equally obvious is the fact the Liberals can laugh and heckle with unabashed relish because they know Reform/Alliance/whatever will never be more than a Western Canadian rump which they can easily defeat with a new sleek leader like Paul Martin.
Stephen Harper also criticized the Liberals for being what they clearly are, a band of clever opportunists. He said that not only will the people not get to vote on the next Prime Minister, but even their own party may not as well! They will simply anoint the next leader and Prime Minister.
This fact appears to amuse the heckling Liberals who assured Mr. Harper that this would never happen. But watch: There will be a ritual dance among pretenders with a ceremonial coronation after a media circus.
The Liberals have every reason to laugh and deride Mr. Harper. They know they have been in power for 70 of the last 100 years. Everyone of those in Canada from the Governor General with her superior tones and her socialist husband beside her, to every judge and the head of every commission or tribunal all have duly groveled before the Liberal god of Ottawa and which for the foreseeable future, will remain the same.
Indeed, Mr. Harper and his little band of "misfits" and Western Canadian "weirdoes" (as they are perceived in the media) serve a useful purpose to the Liberals. They make it look like Parliament works and this is a democracy, at least to the ignorant.
Alliance/Reform also gives the Liberals a good excuse for giving the West nothing, because "after all, you didn't vote Liberal."
Hence Mr. Harper is really just being a useful idiot as is Mr. Klein who can get paid and paid well to make a noise for Western Canada and make it appear to some that the system works. But in reality, without separation, the good words of Mr. Harper and the protests of Mr. Klein as to the effects of the Kyoto Accord can be safely ignored by all the family compact of the Liberal Party.
They know these Westerners will never be government and never have an influence on government and hence they laugh and taunt those accurate barbs Mr. Harper aimed at them in his response to the throne speech. The artificial imitation of the British Parliamentary tradition has been an excellent breeding ground for fools and phonies.
(This challenge was issued over CHED radio all day on October 2nd; nothing has been heard from the Premier's Office, so I thought I should reiterate it here and send it to him, formally. We'll keep you advised if we get a response!)
I hereby challenge Ralph Klein to a debate on Western Separatism. If he says he will never put it on the agenda, maybe he can explain why. What benefit is possible to the West in having our destiny decided by a government of Liberals, elected in Ontario? What can such a government do but exploit, abuse and ignore the protests of the West? 103 seats out of 301 coming from Ontario alone will always win the day.
It is a terrible act of betrayal to say that he will protest but will <M>not take steps to prevent the cruel imposition of yet another national energy policy on all of Western Canada. This time it will be done over 10 years but not immediately. This time the people will not be told the real cost immediately but over a period of slow steady increase in taxes, regulation, debt and despair, all courtesy of the Ottawa regime.
The same effect will be achieved as was achieved in 1980 but by slow and steady increments to destroy the vitality of the west. This, only a referendum under the Clarity Act, could possibly rectify and prevent. This is the legal right of the people of Alberta. This is what Mr. Klein should demand for them to make them just as significant as the people of Quebec who have had votes in two referenda. This is the way we should be going to create prosperity, freedom and to preserve our language and culture.
May we please have your answer, Mr. Premier?
Fred Ring, Vice President, People, Westjet in the October Westjet In-flight magazine writes, ". . . we hire people whose personalities fit with our company and our culture . . . Westjet is a unique company . . . the People department's recruiting team helps our other departments find people that share values and beliefs that make our team great. . . . Our recruiters look for team-oriented, hard-working, customer-focused individuals who will take their jobs seriously, but not themselves. . . . possess a can-do attitude. . . . .and think like business owners do." Etc.
Nobody can argue with the success of Westjet, a truly Western Canadian company who succeed without debt, even in a post 9/11 world. They are flying into Hamilton, London, Moncton, and all over Western Canada and soon will be doing charters to Maui where they now go to Puerto Vallarta. They are a testament to a Western Canadian attitude, vision and drive. It shows what we could do with the right people and the right attitude. We have the resources. We could build a nation.
But here's the point: the article was talking about hiring new people. Shouldn't the same principles apply to admitting new citizens? Shouldn't we concern ourselves with people that have that hard-working, can-do attitude, consistent with our nation and our culture? The Liberals have tried to and in fact succeeded in drowning us in a sea of immigration which is culturally incompatible, linguistically alien and devoid of any relationship to our individual property and merit-based reward systems. In short, the Liberals in Ottawa have sunk us in alien culture for one reason: because they vote Liberal. We will not succeed until we adopt the Westjet hiring policies in our immigration policies!
The Kyoto Accord has once more made clear the futility of allowing Ottawa from Ontario and Quebec to rule us. The West is being sold into international bondage. This great opportunity should not be missed or wasted.
Our Clarity Act petition for a referendum is the only means of liberation. Circulate it now and get hundreds of names. Ask each signatory if they could get one filled out as well. Have copies ready to give them. This is no time for political parties or partisan action, but it is a time for political action. Come to the meeting at the W.R. Castell Central Library, John Dutton Room, 616 McLeod Tr SE, Calgary on October 19th at 7 pm to get new ideas and action plans.
I will be there and we need to move like never before to get new people out and raise the great cause of freedom for the West once more.
I'm counting on you to do everything you can to get our momentum going again. Bring yourself and others to these meetings. This is an urgent time for action.
Take the enclosed petition and make 100 or 1000 copies if you can, but be sure it is printed as it is here, on front and back so that it is all one page. Let's get this movement going! Kyoto is not just Alberta's problem, but will devastate all Western Canada.
If Ralph Klein won't put separatism on the agenda then we the people can put separatism on the agenda by signing our petition for a referendum under the Clarity Act. Take the enclosed copy of the petition, photocopy it, get it published wherever you can, and return it completed in as many copies as possible.
There is only one way to fight the insane government in Ottawa and its Kyoto madness – clarify Alberta's position. We want out! A referendum will be started by a petition, and the petition will be available at this meeting. There is no time for parties and politics. The people must join together and act.
Western Canada Concept -- Advocating Western Canadian Independence since 1974