Volume XVII, Number 1 January 1999
The Western Separatist Papers are published
monthly by W.S.P. Ltd. Address all correspondence to WSP, Box
143, 255 Menzies Street, Victoria, B.C. Western Canada V8V 2G6. A
one-year subscription is $15.00. Our e-mail address is:
wcc@islandnet.com. Visit the WCC on the web at:
http://www.westcan.org/
Phone us at: 250-727-3438 or fax us at: 250-479-3294
Our Cover: This cartoon is from the Grip of February 1890, depicting the difficulties of two official languages in the North West Territories (present day Alberta and Saskatchewan). Those difficulties are still evident throughout Canada today.
by Fred Williamson
(We continue our series of articles by Mr. Williamson, a history graduate of the University of Alberta, which analyzes the position of the West in Canada, and gives intellectual ammunition for the arguments for Western separation.)
A good indicator of the financial strength of any economy is the relation of its debt to its gross domestic product. The higher the percentage of debt in relation to GDP, the worse off an economy is and the less confidence an investor will have in that economy. The OECD (Organization of Economically Developed Countries) regards any debt ratio higher than 20% to be excessive. (Of the 29 members of the OEDC, Canada has the highest overall taxes, and ranks second to Italy in terms of the worst debt.)
What figures often do not give, however, is a provincial breakdown of debt. Canada's economy is not one economy, it is several economies. The figures reproduced below will show that the soundest economy is the economy of Western Canada.
These figures show that no province in Eastern Canada had a debt-to-GDP asset (surplus) at any time in the past 25 years. The worst debt to GDP ratio has been and remains to this day that of the Federal government. The above figures also show that, generally speaking, the more left-wing the government in office, the worse its debt to GDP ratio. (The notable exception is the corrupt Progressive Conservative government of Saskatchewan in the years after being first elected in 1982.)
The above figures also show that, when it comes to debt and GDP, the strongest economies are in Alberta and British Columbia, followed by Saskatchewan. Quebec has one of the worst debts to GDP, and perhaps this is why the Federal government has such a shoddy record, since Quebec politicians have been Prime Minister for 30 of the past 31 years.
Since 1995, Alberta has again re-taken first place (from B.C.) as the province with the lowest debt to GDP ratio (now below 20%). The B.C. debt, on the other hand, has continued to grow under the provincial NDP. Alberta had no net debt-to-GDP prior to the advent of the incompetent Getty government.
A final point needs to be noted. The debt to GDP ratios for the provinces east of Ontario would be worse had those provinces not been supported by large transfers of cash from Western Canada. Prince Edward Island's economy, for example, is heavily dependent on the federal government and equalization payments. Its debt-to-GDP ratio is much better than it would be were it required to be financially independent. At the same time, the debt-to-GDP ratios of Alberta and British Columbia (and at times Saskatchewan) are worse than they would be were those provinces not in Confederation at all.
Massive debt and high taxes are the cause for the steady decline of the Canadian currency over the past 25 years. Canadians themselves are increasingly investing in foreign currencies and assets. Were it not for Western Canada, the existing Canadian currency would be even lower in value than it now is. The figures above also indicate that Western Canada would do quite well with its own currency, and certainly would not need to rely on the increasingly worthless Canadian dollar.
Such figures as the above, show that remaining in Confederation is a real threat to the future economies and the prosperity of Western Canada. Why should the Western provinces be required to pay for the massive federal debt piled up by the federal governments elected in 1974, 1980, or 1993, none of which were elected by Western Canadians? For the sake of their children, grandchildren, and future generations, Western Canadians need to get out of Confederation and sever political ties to Eastern Canada.
by Fred Williamson
It has been said that Canada's most recent economic recovery (such as it is) has been driven by exports. More often, it has been noted that Canada has a balance of trade surplus. However, in discussing Canada's net balance of trade surplus, one important fact is almost always omitted: Canada has a balance of trade surplus only because of the Western provinces.
Eastern Canada has a net balance of trade deficit.
Western Canada has a net balance of trade surplus, showing, if any more evidence is needed, that not only is Western Canada financially penalized for being in Canada, it is largely responsible for Canada's economic prosperity to the extent that the country has it. This recognition has not been acknowledged by the "national" media.
Given below are the trade figures for the year 1994. Canada's balance of trade surplus has declined in the last couple of years since then, largely due to the recession in British Columbia (only partly caused by the so-called "Asian melt-down").
Canadian Trade for 1994
The above statistics show that, were Western Canada independent, its net export earnings as a nation would be $25 billion. But because the West is currently in Canada, the net earnings for the Canadian "federation" is only $11 billion. Not only is the West economically exploited by being in Canada, but its own economic performance is crippled by its political ties to the eastern provinces (who, by the way, show no thanks or gratitude to the West for this).
The above statistics show that in Eastern Canada, even those provinces which ran trade surpluses in 1994 (Quebec and Newfoundland) were also recipients of massive amounts of Federal transfer money (much of that from Western Canada). The statistics also show that the three Western-most provinces are the sources of export revenue for Canada, especially Alberta and Saskatchewan. Indeed, these two provinces overwhelmingly export more than they import. Over the last 25 years, the only three provinces to consistently export more than they import are all in Western Canada.
It would seem that those who argue that Western Canada would not be economically viable as an independent nation are simply wrong. And since much of the earnings of the Western provinces ends up in the coffers of the Eastern provinces, it is just further evidence that continued political union with Eastern Canada makes no political or economic sense for Western Canada. It does, however, make plenty of sense for Eastern Canada, which will continue to suck money out of the West for as long as possible. The Eastern Canadian exploitation of Western Canada can only end if Western Canada becomes an independent nation.
A column by Paul Stanway of the Edmonton Sun on January 9, 1999 nailed down the following figures about Canadian income taxes:
". . . in the last few years Revenue Canada has boosted staff and resources aimed at monitoring the self-employed. The reason, of course, is that Ottawa has recognized that self-employed income is the last significant untapped reservoir of potential income tax.
"The rest of us are maxed out. Just look at the numbers.
"Despite spouting guff about controlling government spending to wipe out the deficit without raising income taxes, the Chretien government has done no such thing. This year the Liberals will collect around $71 billion in income tax. That's up from $56 billion in 1994-95.
"An additional $15 billion in income tax - but not a tax increase. And barely a peep from ordinary Canadians. How do they get away with it?
"Mostly through simple inflation. Until the mid-'80s, income tax brackets traditionally kept pace with inflation. As the cost of living went up, tax brackets moved up the income scale, too. It recognized that a $30,000 income in 1983 couldn't buy as much as $30,000 did in 1963.
"But our tax brackets have been frozen in place for more than a decade. As incomes rise, more and more people move into higher tax brackets. And at the other end of the scale, income tax kicks in at a lower and lower percentage of your earnings - all without the government having to ask for an additional cent. It's magic.
"Couple that with automatic payroll deduction, and it seems to me our political leaders have the perfect income tax system. Built-in, stealthy increases, and you never have to utter the words "tax increase."
"And Canadians wonder why they don't seem to have as much money as they used to have.
"Governments have it. And it will be a cold day in July before they give it back."
In an article published on December 26, 1998 the Calgary Herald revealed that the Army base closure cost hit $194.7M. This was discovered by using the Access to Information Act. Excerpts of the article by Bob Bergen of the Calgary Herald, follow.
"It began in the 1994 federal budget as a transfer -- for economic and military reasons -- of 1,200 Calgary soldiers to Edmonton, costing $23 million.
"However, documents obtained by the Herald under the Access to Information Act show that the closure of Calgary's Harvey Barracks precipitated domino-like decisions that will end up costing taxpayers more than $194.7 million.
"Department of National Defence documents detailing the costs of closing Harvey Barracks in 1996 -- which led to the subsequent closure of CFB Calgary in 1997 -- show that it cost:
" - $62.1 million to close Harvey Barracks on the southwest corner of Glenmore Trail and 37th Street S.W.
" - $1.6 million to close Currie Barracks, which straddles Crowchild Trail at Flanders Avenue S.W.
" - $131 million to build and expand the military "superbase" north of Edmonton's city limits.
". . . retired Maj-Gen. Barry Ashton, whose last posting was as deputy commander of the UN protection force in Yugoslavia, said the transfer, "has nothing to do with rounds.
"We should be outraged at the lack of accountability," said Ashton, a former commander of the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, which was based in Calgary before the move.
"That's $194 million -- which I think is grossly underestimated -- that could have been spent on (military) operations and training," he said.
"Col. Andrew Leslie, commander of the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, said he's convinced the base transfer was money well spent.
"As for concerns the move was for political reasons -- critics note that Edmonton has two federal Liberal MPs while Calgary has none -- Leslie responded: "I don't give a damn. It's politics. I'm happy with the results. I've got most of my brigade in one place, and my soldiers deserve the outstanding accommodations and infrastructure they've got."
"Peppered throughout the more than 3,200 pages of documents related to the base closure are indications -- despite assertions to the contrary -- that there was no business-like or rational plan for the closing of the base.
"The stated aim was to move the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and elements of the 1 Service Battalion to Edmonton to be close to the military training area in Wainwright.
"But, a Feb. 23, 1994, briefing authored by Brig.-Gen. Clive Addy the day after the federal budget, noted it contained a double whammy of "significant errors of substance." It said the Harvey Barracks closure had only "superficial analysis" before its hasty inclusion.
"Gen. John de Chastelain wrote in August 1994 that "the government's decision to close Harvey Barracks was not an arbitrary one, but the result of a business-like and rational plan."
"In a Herald interview in 1994, then defence minister David Collenette insisted that the department had budgeted $109 million for improvements at Currie Barracks.
"But he later said on March 4, 1995: "In the long run, we were going to have to close Calgary, anyway. We didn't really say that last year, because we didn't want to upset people any more than we had to."
"Mayor Al Duerr said Collenette, de Chastelain and Addy travelled to Calgary in April 1995 for a meeting with him, Premier Ralph Klein and Brig.-Gen. Jim Cox, commander of the then Calgary-based 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.
"Duerr said that Addy -- who wrote the report suggesting the 1994 budget documents contained significant errors -- said nothing, while Collenette assured the group that the decision to close CFB Calgary made military and economic sense.
"At the time, the only estimated cost of the move was the $23 million given in the 1994 budget to parliament.
"Duerr said: "The point is, we kept saying over and over again: `Is this the correct information?' So Ralph and I were sitting there saying: `What do we say now?' I can't up and call the generals and the minister liars," he said.
"The worst of the continuing revelations is that the government has never been held accountable, Ashton said."
(January 8, 1999)
SASKATOON (CP) -- Inefficiencies in the transportation and grain handling systems are costing Saskatchewan farmers millions of dollars, a recent study found.
The Organization for Western Economic Co-operation came to the conclusion after comparing revenues for farmers in Saskatchewan with those in North Dakota and Montana. For the years 1995 and 1996, the study found a $400 million annual disparity between the revenues of Saskatchewan farmers and their American counterparts. Among other things, the study found the American transportation had lower marketing and handling costs.
"Here We Go Again" by Doug Collins
(Colpress, West Vancouver, soft cover, 177 pp.), reviewed by K.J. Downs
The book is dedicated "to all those in Canada and elsewhere who have fought against the censors, official and self-appointed." It is a "compendium of columns from the write the New Democratic Party government and its Human Rights Commission have tried to silence and His Battle Against Censorship."
A word of caution: Do not start reading this gem unless you are prepared to read it from cover to cover. From the Foreword to the last work of thanks to the readers, this book is a harbinger for people to wake up and become involved in fighting the assiduous attacks on freedom of speech, the home, family, church and traditions.
Mr. Collins doesn't pull any punches. He is a master at his craft with such delicious content headings as "On Orthodoxy Not Being My Doxy;" "Immigration: The Deaf Leading the Blind;" "modern Media's Ignoble Slide;" "Celebrating the Gay Nineties in Canada;" "Bigots of the World Unite;" and "Fight Speech with Speech."
After reading the book, I thought the world gone made, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, 1984, etc. etc, however through it all I could feel and was inspired by Mr. Collins' sense of humour and above all, his optimism.
Don't miss this one, a great gift and a permanent fixture for any coffee table. (Available from Doug Collins, P.O. Box 91831, West Vancouver, B.C. V7V 4S1, for $18.95, which includes postage and handling.)
Cicero, c. 60 B.C.
Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
Leviticus XXV, 10 c. 700 B.C.
Liberties and masters are not easily combined.
Tacitus: c. 100
I tell you true, liberty is the best of all things; never live beneath the noose of a servile halter.
William Wallace, Address to the Scots, c. 1300
Liberty is the power that we have over ourselves.
Hugo Crotius, 1625
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644
Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, when the rule prescribes not, and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man.
John Locke, Treaties on Government, 1690
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, 1759
The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.
Thomas Jefferson, The Rights of British American 1774
Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.
Edmund Burke, 1777
The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
Thomas Jefferson, 1788
Nothing is more disgusting than the crowing about liberty by slaves, as most men are, and the flippant mistaking for freedom of some paper preamble like a Declaration of Independence, or the statute right to vote, by those who have never dared to think or to act.
R.W. Emerson, 1860 (The Conduct of Life)
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
Mr. Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States, 1928
by Douglas Christie
And They Wonder Why!
"Calgary: CP – Prime Minister Jean Chretien has taken the unprecedented step of creating a special caucus task force to find out why the Liberals are stuck in Western Canada's doghouse." (Times-Colonist, January 9, 1999)
The arrogance and deceit of Liberals is legendary in the West, from Pierre Trudeau's finger to "selling your own wheat" and the National expropriation policy which stole Western oil revenues. The Liberals have always been elected east of the lake head, and never west. So what is new?
They appoint all the judges who rule on their laws so every Westerner who wants to be a judge knows which direction to bow. They have been in power for 70 of the last 100 years. They gave us a new flag which we didn't want, a metric system we didn't need and even Brian Mulroney who wouldn't have been leader of the Tory party if it had not been a Liberal-created necessity to have a Quebec leader to be prime minister which the Liberals have cultivated as a useful division only they can bridge for the last 100 years.
They have turned Canada into a Third World country with their corruption and patronage, not to mention their immigration policy. They have degraded the military, forced bilingualism everywhere. They promoted Quebecers everywhere in the civil service even over-qualified Westerners using the language criterion to defeat the merit principle.
They have fed Quebec contracts time after time to the disadvantage of the West, the best known of which was the F-18A repair, but Bombardier, shipbuilding contracts and even Japanese car assembly in St. Therese, Quebec has resonance with many of us.
They have removed our very reason for pride and purpose in Canada and now they ask with mind-numbing ignorance why we don't like Liberals in the West. Well, fuddle-duddle!
The Western Political Wave Breaks on the Hard Ontario Rocks
It now appears clear that the United Alternative may soon be a new alternative that is by no means united. It seems the mind of Preston Manning has been penetrated by the realization that no Western-based party will ever received support in Ontario or Quebec. He seems ready to concede both his party and his leadership may possibly have to surrender to unite the right. Being a politician, he doesn't want to admit it is the right he seeks to unite. He claims liberals and NDPers might want to join.
But now it seems some conservatives have highjacked the process and want to create a new liberal party out of it. No more will it be based on the equality of the provinces. No more will it seek a Triple E Senate. No more will it reflect social conservatism.
Conservatism in the true sense is dead. There is nothing of value left in Canada to conserve, so the Ontario Tory element who is leading this hijacking is going to see to it this is not just the Reform Party. This is shaping up for a real battle in which factions will be split off everywhere and the Liberals will sit back and laugh once again.
Preston Manning is the one who stands to lose most, but maybe that too is justice. Here was a man who refused to learn from history. The Progressive movement became the Progressive Conservatives. The United Farmers of Alberta died and the CCF and NDP were taken over by the United Auto Workers of Ontario. Social Credit failed to achieve success from the West. Every Western grievance movement has either been frozen out of power, or co-opted by Ontario to become Eastern-based as the Progressive Conservative party did.
Mr. Manning is not going to admit to any mistakes. He knows he is frozen out of power in Canada and before his troops realize it, he wants to play a little sleight of hand. He hopes to jump from the deck of the sinking ship of Reform to the new vessel of United Alternative. He can then wash his hands of his western image and emerge as a central Canadian "responsible statesman". This seems to be his ambition.
He can claim then that the principles of reform he still believes in but his new party demands he do otherwise for the good of the country. He has walked across the backs of Western Canadians on the way to Ottawa. Now it appears his plans and those of central Canadians may not coincide. The future will result in the demise of reform principles and the emergence of a further splintering of the right-wing in Canada.
This shows the futility of politics in Canada from a Western Canadian perspective. The essential fact is that Ontario and Quebec have different interests than the West. Preston Manning has wasted 10 years and millions of dollars in a futile enterprise which while perhaps rewarding for him personally has resulted in 10 wasted years of increased debt, bad government and immigration invasion.
The last item alone has created "beachheads" of unassimilating non-English speaking immigrants who, though they speak little English, know enough to vote Liberal or NDP. They know who was willing to betray the traditional culture for power. They know who opened the gates and who would close them.
They know who their friends are -- the party who will surrender Canada to any invader for power. They know the Liberal party is their home and no United Alternative will fool them. It would have to be another Liberal party to attract them, so how would we be further ahead?
The future belongs to small nations. The way Canada is going, it cannot survive. So prepare for the very thing we hope for, by planning ahead. Build the only thing that can solve our problems.
The Western Alternative is the Western Canada Concept. We will create a new government which will have a constitution which unites us in a new and more democratic way.
This would be the result of a constitution with entrenched referenda, initiative and recall. It will have provision for a regionally elected senate which will balance the power of urban areas and will for once reflect Western Canada's desires and hopes. You need to join us to make this dream come true. The essential thing is to be involved in building the solution rather than surrender to despair at the problem.
The West can never be united with the east, except in a subordinate role. This role is what Preston Manning has facilitated over 10 years of misrepresentation. The misrepresentation was that the West could change things. The reality was, and is, he has changed and yet because the perception was he was a Westerner, he could never change enough. The Tories of Upper Canada have made it clear he will have to step aside to ensure electoral success.
The United Alternative will end up disunited and nobody's alternative. This has happened on the right before and is happening again. Why repeat this sorry tragedy in another wasted period of time? Let's work now for independence and get on with it! We don't need another 10 wasted years of futile attempts at reform.
Reform rose like a tidal wave of protest against the corruption and inequity of Ottawa. Now it has crashed on the hard rocky shores of Ontario. It is broken but Ontario remains the same, arrogant as ever.
The United Alternative is a recipe for confusion. With Manning already half-abducted there will be many pretenders for the throne of a house divided. The confederal approach which is being floated in Reform suggests 5 regional deputies or parties which would somehow magically agree in some way. This way leads to madness, as the regions elect Reformers in the West, UA in Ontario, and Quebec and Conservatives in the Maritimes.
Could they form a government? If they did, it would only be one in which Ontario and Quebec UA members outnumbered Reformers and Conservatives by at least two to one. All the cabinet posts would go to Ontario and Quebec, and the Reformers and Conservatives would be a small rump in caucus. How many times do we have to go back to square one? It's a numbers game, in which Quebec and Ontario always win. This process cannot be avoided. Separation is the only alternative.
So the future for us is the continued struggle to educate Western Canadians to appreciate understand and support our movement. There can be no alternative for us. In time we will be proven right.