Vol. XXII, No. 9 September 2004
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
Every Thursday night, Waveside Café, Saanich Commonwealth Place, Victoria, 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome to these informal meetings.
This month we celebrate the 21st year of the Western Separatist Papers, which all began just to publish the results of the WCC Victoria study group, which met every two weeks, to present papers researched by the members as to the position of Western Canada in Confederation and the possible solution of Independence. There are actually some members still attending work parties to get the WSP out each month, who were in this original group. We say a huge “Thank you!” to these faithful, determined individuals. We also remember those who have since left us, and welcome those yet to join. If you'd like to come to our monthly work parties, please call us at 250-385-1022 to find out the time and date of the next one.
It's all very well to see, read and understand the reasons for Western alienation, but too often the next step is simply to fall into that stereotypical mode attributed to us by the central Canadian establishment and media of “bitching and complaining,” or to say you can't do anything because there's no “charismatic leader” to lead a Western separatist party to victory.
Here are some practical things that anyone can do, to actually make it happen. There is something for everyone to do, no matter your comfort level with public speaking, your ability to write, or type, your physical locale, your time and your interests. Don't think you have to do them all, but you can do <M>something. Even one thing makes a difference!
Set a time and day of the week to commit yourself to meeting other people interested in Western Canadian politics in a coffee shop or mall food fair, or similar place, and then advertise that you will be meeting there, and anyone who wants to informally meet about topics of Western Canadian interest is welcome. This has been happening in Victoria for about six months now, every Thursday at 7 p.m. (just because that time suits the person who started the meetings) at a coffee shop where the owner is very glad of the extra business. Literature is made available and discussion happens, which leads to actions such as promoting public meetings, how to advertise, general brainstorming sessions. If you do decide to have such meetings, we will publicize them in this newsletter and on our website. This is a method that has been successfully used by many groups, in many different disciplines. It's fun, it's easy, it's rewarding. You meet all sorts of interesting people and your group of like-minded people in your own area grows.
Use public forums to create discussion and awareness about Western Canada's position in confederation and the solution to it. These include the traditional ones of the print media (letters to the editor, for example), and radio talk shows. It was a simple letter to the editor in 1974 that created enough interest in the issues affected the West, that gathered many people around Doug Christie, for example.
Then there is the vast expanse of the internet, where there are forums you can join, chat groups, organizations and generally so many resources that your biggest problem will probably be when to quit rather than a dearth of opportunities. You can meet other people who are interested in solving the same problem.
Go to public meetings and raise questions from a Western Canadian/Western separatist slant. From the municipal to the federal level, political meetings abound, and very often, if you consider questions carefully, you will see that western independence is very relevant to what is being discussed. If you are thoughtful in your approach, you could start many people thinking in a direction they never before considered.
Talk to people in your personal area of influence. These include family members, friends, work associates, members of recreational groups or professional groups, fellow sports parents, etc. The vista is unlimited here, too. Some people don't like to mix their politics with friendships, or acquaintances, however, you'll be surprised once you start talking about the West, how often you will find people with similar views, that they have kept hidden from you. I am not suggesting that you become obnoxious, proselytizing, or even pushy. However it is possible to have “politics” occupy a more prominent part of our personal lives. It's amazing the inspiration you can provide to people who have shut off that function in their minds because they are so discouraged with politicians in general, and don't believe there is anything they can do about the situation in the West, or in Canada, generally. If you can offer them a little bit of hope, it could “turn on” that creative ability in their brains, to see that their actions in a peaceful, political direction, could make a big difference.
If you have some extra money, and want to promote the ideas of Western Independence by spending it, you could buy “public service” or information ads in newspapers or on radio. You could organize a meeting in your area, get a public speaker to come to it and explain the reasons for Independence, and promote the meeting with ads, flyers, word of mouth, etc. I know that Doug would be willing to come and speak at meetings just about any place and any time, depending on his schedule.
Send us the names of people you think might be interested in receiving information about the Western Canada Concept, and western independence, generally. See the form on the second last page of this newsletter for this.
Help build the Western Block Party. See the form on the back page for this. Every day we are getting more replies, and will soon have enough to get registered, if we keep getting more responses. You can help by soliciting people to join and start this new option for Western Canada. See “A Separatist Speaks” for more information about this.
Work with like-minded people and organizations to foster unity among Western Canadians all focused on freedom and independence for the West. There are many permutations of the above! I know it isn't easy to get along! Especially when people who are interested in this idea generally tend to be extremely individualistic, extremely strong-minded and usually believe that they have all the answers to every question.
I've been in this movement for almost 24 years now, and seen so many wonderful, strong, intelligent people have intellectual (or other) battles with other wonderful, strong, intelligent people and stop working together, which is deeply saddening. We need to have a positive attitude about our allies, forgive them their minor disagreements with our own philosophy, and work hard at finding similarities, and ways to work together. For too long has the central Canadian establishment taken advantage of the inherent handicap of western separatists (fighting among ourselves), laughed at us, and not had to worry about us. Put aside petty differences, find common ground and above all, know that if you work together, you can make a huge difference. Put egos on the back burner, realize you don't have to be in the spotlight to make progress, and work together.
Approach political figures like the Premier of your province, your MLA or MP, or various Ministers responsible for federal/provincial interfaces, and ask them questions about what they are going to do to help the west. Because of their position, you are 99% of the time NOT going to get a satisfactory answer, however, you can get information from them, you can convey a point to them about citizens' interest in fairness for the west, and you can raise the awareness, not necessarily of the politician, but of the people you tell of your quest to get answers. If nothing more, you can demonstrate to those who are skeptical of independence, how little our politicians can do for us within the strictures of Canada/confederation.
By Doug Christie
First it was “maitre chez nous,” the early rallying cry of the separatist movement in Quebec. This was the cliché of Jean Lesage who began to call himself Premier Minstre (i.e. prime minister) of Quebec. Then came the somewhat ominous but no less obscure “deux nation” which lisping Lester Pearson used to play with to give Quebecers the notion voting Liberal is really voting separatist. This of course infuriated the English speaking John Diefenbaker who clearly preferred One Canada. Little did he know this phrase was an evolutionary semantic game.
Next came the amazing English phrase used in the Meech Lake Accord “distinct society.” Again the public caught on and voted it down in a referendum called by Brian Mulroney. Somehow people had the notion Quebec should not get more than others.
Next came sovereignty association until someone pointed out this was all the benefit of Independence while someone else pays for it.
The Liberals again achieved the miraculous result of burying this bribe in a new phrase. Special status has also been thrown around to keep Quebec Canadian and Liberal. It would take a person devoid of humour not to appreciate the irony of the latest Liberal twist: asymmetrical federalism. This, as revealed by our Foreign Affairs minister, means Quebec gets more and we pay for it, but no one understands what it means.
In health care, as in immigration, Quebec is asymmetrical. Simply put, this means Quebec is not a province like all the others. Quebec has special status (once rejected); Quebec is “maitre chez nous” (never understood); Quebec is a distinct society (which we pay for through equalization); and Quebec has sovereignty association (they are a nation that we pay for).
Thus the semantic deceit has worked. It remains for the young Mr. Mario Dumont to fulfill the desires of his political progenitor Gabriel Dumont. He will rename Quebec, “the sovereign nation of Quebec.” So what's in a name? Just as in all words, a great deal.
In fact Quebec has achieved by threat of separatism, but not honesty about it, the parasitic anomaly of a sovereign nation which lives off another state for funds and infrastructure. Isn't this the very definition of a parasite? Why don't we recognize the much greater honesty and integrity of outright separatists? At least they don't rob you, lie to you, and play word games like the Liberals. But then that is who has made Canada, its flag, its two official languages, its Multicult, its wishy-washy foreign policy, its hopeless military and its corrupt civil service. If is proof politics is the art of deception and you can lie to all of the people, all of the time and be quite successful.
Consider the more beneficial effects of outright separatism. First of all, it is not parasitic. It seeks only to live within its own borders, and not on the handouts from some other region. It is mature in that respect. It respects and builds on its own territorial language and culture. It seeks respect from its neighbours and gives it in return but always recognizing the importance of the differences. It regards its land and people as a sacred trust not merely an instrument of extortion. A separate nation has to be realistic and live within its own means on its own creativity. A separatist seeks a nation which reflects the strong characteristics of self reliance, independence, fiscal responsibility and cultural autonomy. Unless separatists succeed, parasitic provinces who use euphemisms for half measures can only drain and lean on the productive elements of the other provinces and gradually drag the whole works down. This can be seen in the way Canada is going today.
In contrast, the separatist is like the responsible party who leaves a bad marriage and rebuilds a new rather than perpetuate and abusive relationship. Separatism is the healthy response of mature individuals to a dysfunctional relationship rather than adopting the sick behaviours of deceit and self deception which is so typical of the Liberal word games of Quebec politics and Canadian history. The separatist solution will bring a whole new vital dynamic of growth of culture, economic development, and self-reliance. This is the essence of a true nation to which genuine loyalty can sincerely attach.
The most important thing to achieve in the establishment of a new political party for Western Canada is unity of purpose. This can only be accomplished with clear, decisive, continuity of leadership. The continuity of leadership is essential for cohesion of any political movement, and has always been a problem for Western separatists. We have always been divided and destroyed mostly from within by internal dissension. In the period of time from 1981 to 2004 I have tried to understand what alternative methods of democratic arrangement can prevent the emergence of conflicting ideology, usually driven by egotistical self-interest, which causes division within the political movement.
Analysis of the past reminds me of the method by which our enemies have created these divisions. Even today I watch as people in other separatist organizations make angry arguments against each other. They often put their arguments in such a way that unless you agree with them entirely, they regard you as the enemy. This sad state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. It is a recipe for defeat. We must have unity of purpose and continuity of leadership in one overall organization for Western separatists in Western Canada. That is the essential role the Block could achieve. So how can this be done?
I have come to the conclusion that democracy has never really been established in most of the conventional political parties. In the government of Canada for instance, when the prime minister is effectively elected as leader of the party with the majority in the House of Commons, the cabinet is not elected in any way. The prime minister appoints the cabinet. The prime minister has the power to do this because he has the confidence of the House, that is, the majority of the members of the House of Commons support the prime minister's political party. The Minister of National Defence for instance is not elected by the House, the Minister of National Defence is appointed by the prime minister. The same is true for every other minister of state. It is the cabinet that decides all crucial matters. It is the cabinet that can issue orders in counsel. It is the cabinet which regulates the day-to-day business of the House of Commons, and of the country. The cabinet is entirely under the control the prime minister. In some ways this looks a bit like a dictatorship. However the people control the process at election time by choosing what party to vote for. They often do this on the basis of whether they like the leader of the party.
How does this apply to the establishment of cohesive leadership? Obviously the prime minister has the ability to maintain authority within his party. This authority rests on the support he has within the party and from the people as a whole. If the people could remove the prime minister at any time by referendum, he really would be a perfect democracy. But it is only necessary to remove the prime minister when he or she has lost the respect of the vast majority of people, and when indeed there is a better alternative available. This produces continuity, and it maintain stability because until a new and viable leader is available the existing leader retains authority. There is no breakdown of leadership. Leadership is essential for both stability and the effective control of any organization. Without effective control of any organization there can be no cooperative achievement. Organizations require leadership. Leadership requires authority. The authority requires respect. Anyone who can command the respect of the vast majority of any organization requires the ability to run the day-to-day affairs of the organization without internal dissension.
If the process of selecting the cabinet is acceptable to the country of Canada as it clearly is, and is also acceptable to the appointment of the cabinet in every other parliamentary democracy, why should it be necessary to elect the officials within a political party? Why is it not equally possible for the leader of a political party to be democratically elected by all the members and then to select from among the membership those persons in whom he or she has confidence, and whose abilities are known to the leader. By this method the leader is responsible for the selection of his administrative or executive council. By this method, too, the leader has some control over who is given the delegated authority over specific functions.
As a check and balance upon the authority of the leader and to maintain democracy within the party, it should always be possible for the leader to be challenged at any time by another leader who represents more than half of the members. If such a person could demonstrate by signed petitions that he or she commanded the support of more than half the members of the party, the existing leader should resign, and the new leader should take their place. This would only be possible if the challenger could demonstrate to a majority of the members of the party that they had at their disposal more capable individuals to carry on the functions of the executive. By this method it would always be possible for the existing leader to know who constituted the challenger and could respond immediately to any substantial matters which might justify the challenge.
The proposals of the Constitution which establishes exactly the same method of division of powers and distribution of authority as exists within the Canadian cabinet would be a desirable Constitution for the political party known as the Western Block Party.
This analysis is put forward for the specific purpose of discussion and to invite the feedback of those people who've already made a commitment to membership in the Western Block Party. I hope they will understand this is created in the desire to alleviate the danger which has been all too obvious in the past of constant internal disruption. We need to have cohesive leadership, defined authority, respect from the members and to the members by the authority. I hope you will understand this is written from the perspective of vast experience in the difficulties faced by various other political movements.
No one but a fool would want to embark upon the political process knowing full well that the enemy could infiltrate, disrupt, and destroy the organization at any time. No one would want to put their best efforts, money, and time into a political organization knowing full well that the leader they supported could be embarrassed, humiliated and destroyed at a moment's notice. It is equally in the interests of the membership and the leadership, working together, to maintain stability in the political party. It is demoralizing in the extreme to have efforts made by those who will oppose the leadership within any organization. For this reason it is essential that the leadership be entitled to appoint the executive council of whatever size and for whatever purposes may be necessary from time to time.
To enable the proper representation from each of the provinces in which the party functions, it would be advisable to have an equal number on the executive council. But at the same time, it is essential that the executive council be able to function quickly to respond to emergencies, to make effective and rapid decisions, and to deal with changing circumstances. An executive council of between 10 and 15 members would be sufficiently large to enable the achievement of most functions.
The leader should also be able to appoint various committees to care for specific issues and address specific problems. These committees could be established as a selection from any party members. The mandate of each committee could be defined in relation to the specific tasks required of them. It would be appropriate if committees were responsible to one of the members of the executive council who would be entrusted with the responsibility to supervise the activities of the party in relation to certain specific areas, somewhat similar to the cabinet position. By this means each of the members of the executive council would be able to carry out separate tasks and to establish committees to assist them to achieve these tasks.
If we create an administrative process within our political party identical to the necessary processes to function in government, we will even within our own administration be developing an attitude about efficiency which would be vital to establish the confidence of people in our ability to govern.
If we cannot take on this responsibility, we should not be preparing any form of separatist activity. Our function as a political party must be to create awareness in the people of Western Canada that they are capable of governing themselves. This, as a result of the propaganda generated by the central Canadian media, is an enormous task. We have been perpetually bludgeoned into the false belief that we are somehow mentally incompetent. We have been told time and time again in subtle and not so subtle ways that we are a bunch of ignorant people. This is to put nicely what has often been put not so nicely.
We have an onerous responsibility to begin the process of reminding Western Canadians that they are truly great and capable individuals. They are creative, resourceful, hard-working, and intelligent. They deserve respect. The most obvious manifestation of the respect they deserve, is the respect commanded by and given to their leaders.
For this reason it becomes essential that the leader of the Western Block Party have and maintain the loyal support of the members. Average Western Canadians need to know that someone who dares to speak for them is a person of integrity, worthy of respect and who by their constant devotion to the cause of Western Canada, has achieved the respect of the members of his party.
Without clearly defined constitutional power, established by the Constitution of our party, it would be impossible for the organization to have credibility with the people Western Canada and equally important with the central Canadian media. After all in the meantime before Independence you can be sure that it will be the central Canadian media who will portray the image of our party to the average Western Canadian.
The most practical thing the Western Block Party could do, would be to articulate its objective simply stated:
The Western Block Party seeks to achieve for Western Canada the best possible government of Western Canadians for Western Canadians by Western Canadians in a sovereign and independent nation of Western Canada.
If we are to avoid dividing ourselves upon various doctrinal, religious, personal, and political prejudices, we should avoid going further than the foregoing definition of our objectives. Who could argue with that objective? From the moment that one starts to articulate further qualifications, goals, our political agenda, divisions arise and fights begin. To the largest extent possible, we should leave all conflicts behind until the time we have a Congress of Western Canada within which we can debate these issues among ourselves. If we divide ourselves upon these various petty issues before we have the power to decide them for ourselves, the whole debate will be entirely academic. The power of decisions is the first thing we must obtain.
Within British Columbia the Western Canada Concept is the premier separatist political party. It was established in 1980. It has fought in many elections. It is still registered in British Columbia as a separatist political party. There is no other separatist political party in British Columbia more active than the Western Canada Concept. If there was such a party, I personally would support it. We will run candidates in the next provincial election in May of 2005.
The Western Canada Concept also functions to campaign and advocate for Western separatism all over Western Canada. We hold meetings in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba wherever and whenever the need and occasion arises. We also publish and distribute the Western Separatist Papers. The Western Separatist Papers is owned and operated as a private corporation. The Western Canada Concept for all members, pays for the cost of printing and distribution of the Western Separatist Papers. This is all accomplished with a $15 per year membership. Obviously, considerable donations above the $15 membership are necessary to make this possible.
Our petition for a Clarity Act Referendum remains the mot effective tool to solicit public support and engage in public education. Particularly in provinces where the separatist party declines to participate in this effective outreach, we will be there to say “give these people a choice in a referendum” to anyone who happens to be premier of that province. He may ignore this at his political peril. When the people speak the politicians listen. The Western Canada Concept will give the citizens of every western province a clear legal voice for a clear political choice. The Clarity Act Referendum may therefore remain our most vital service. To this end, we still need your help.
With the establishment of the Western Block Party, the Western Canada Concept will continue to function as a separatist political party within British Columbia and as a separatist movement, coordinating with all other separatist parties outside British Columbia. We intend to cooperate with every provincial separatist party. We intend to assist in the publication of serious research on the costs of Confederation to Western Canada. We intend to replace the central Canadian media with our own Western Canadian point of view. Unless we can begin to look at ourselves through our own media, and measure our success against our own standards, we will be continually looked upon as helpless little children. The central Canadian media originating in Toronto already has that attitude toward us.
It is essential that we behave as mature, rational and sensible individuals to avoid the stereotype that has been created about us. Each of us must realize that every word we speak at a public meeting or even in private reflects upon the whole movement for Western separatism to the extent we are identified with our cause.
Not long ago at a meeting in Edmonton one of our members and supporters suggested that we could achieve Independence by illegal means. I immediately reacted by denouncing such irresponsible statements. I said not only does this affect yourself, and if the media was present you would immediately be the center of attention, but reflects badly on all those who are associated with you in our movement. We do not need illegality. We have the principles set out in the Clarity Act. We have a legal right to separate.
W.C.C., Box 101, 255 Menzies Street, Victoria, B.C.
Western Canada V8V 2G6; Or by fax:
250-479-3294
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Western Canada Concept -- Advocating Western Canadian Independence since 1974