In September 2021, a little under a year before Danielle Smith became premier, a 48-page document called the Free Alberta Strategy was published. It was co-authored by Rob Anderson, Barry Cooper and Derek From. Anderson began as a PC MLA, crossed the floor two years after he was elected to the Wildrose Party, and crossed the floor again four years later together with Danielle Smith to rejoin the PCs. He is Danielle Smith's right hand man, today occupying the position of Executive Director of the Premier's Office. Cooper is a political science professor at the University of Calgary who gained notoriety as an outspoken climate change denier who was found to have funneled funds from research grants to the Friends of Science, a climate change denial propaganda outfit. From is a lawyer and anti-vaccination activist. The three have in common their belief that Alberta needs to become effectively independent from Canada.
The key word here is effectively. That's what the Free Alberta Strategy is about. They believe they have found a way to shield the province from federal legislation.
Now this would be a fairly innocuous legal fantasy were it not for the fact that at least one of the authors is Danielle Smith's eminence grise , and her government is clearly following all the recommendations of the Strategy. So the Strategy bears a closer look. It is a clearly written document, well worth reading.
The Strategy is based on the premise that the federal government is actively trying to destroy Alberta, in two ways: financially through equalization payments and transfers, and by destroying the oil industry in Alberta. They argue that
Through the equalization formula and numerous national transfer programs, Ottawa has taken well over $ 600 billion more from Alberta taxpayers than it has returned to the Province over the last 60 years. Between the period spanning 2007 and 2015 alone, the amount of equalization drained out of Alberta was an astounding $ 188.6 billion. That equates to almost three full years of Alberta’s entire provincial budget!
and
The federal government has commenced a deliberate strategy to phase out and eliminate Alberta’s largest and most critical industry (oil and natural gas) through a variety of legislative programs including a $170/tonne carbon tax, a second carbon tax implemented via so-called “clean fuel regulations”, and an effective ban on new pipeline projects and oil tanker shipments to Asia, thereby landlocking Alberta’s energy producers from developing and exporting our province’s vast energy resources to international and domestic markets.
It's easy to see how these grievances would resonate with Danielle Smith, oil-industry lobbyist. [1]
The remedy? Prevent the federal government from enforcing its own laws in Alberta. The Alberta Sovereignty Act lets Alberta choose which federal legislation to ignore. The Alberta police force replaces the RCMP so the horsemen can't arrest you if you break a federal law Alberta has chosen to ignore. Alberta's independent banks could refuse to work with federal agencies like the Canada Revenue Agency. Here's an example of how all this would work:
If, for example, the Alberta Sovereignty Act was triggered by the Legislature to refuse enforcement of the federal carbon tax, a business operating a gas station could set up its banking with ATB, refuse to collect or remit carbon taxes from its customers to the federal government, and would not be in danger of being shut down by police, having their property seized, or even having their bank accounts garnished by the CRA through federal banks pursuant to court order. This is not a protection this same business would enjoy if it continued to bank with Canada's federally regulated institutions.
Also if you got into trouble with the law, Alberta has your back: the province would appoint its own judges.
How to end equalization payments and transfers? That's easy. Create an Alberta Revenue Agency, which would collect both federal and provincial taxes and transfer to Canada only what Alberta wants.
This is called “Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada”. The distinction between this and outright independence is subtle but crucial: no declaration of independence is needed, and no referendum[2]. The authors leave the door open to independence if all of the above doesn't work (the federal government might make it impossible), but only as a last resort. This is important because it allows Danielle Smith to state categorically
I have repeatedly stated that the position of the UCP caucus, and UCP government is to build a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada. I have never deviated from that position and I will not do so now.
I will therefore be voting for Alberta to remain in Canada, while continuing to work each and every day to restore and strengthen provincial rights under the Canadian constitution.
Now, based on Smith's and Rob Anderson's track record, you may or may not believe she is sincere. These are after all people who crossed the floor of the Legislature—twice. But that's not the point. The point is, do enough conservative voters believe she is sincere? Could they be seduced by the notion of Alberta nationalism while rejecting the blunt instrument of independence?
In the posts that follow, I will look at each of the nine referendum questions in some detail. You will recognize in them the central theme of the Free Alberta Strategy, that is, the idea that Alberta might take control of legislation, and its enforcement mechanisms, that are today the purview of Canada, without actually separating.
Let me know what you think of all of this!
[1] Although many of the objectives in 2021 have already been attained, this has not stopped Danielle Smith from continuing to strive for Alberta sovereignty. On the contrary, she argues that the fact that concessions can be wrung from the federal government shows that independence is the wrong way to go.
[2] The fact that a tenth referendum question on independence was added to the original nine is due in my opinion to two things: the Forever Canadian question could not be ignored, and Smith feels fairly safe in the belief that independence is rejected by a large majority of voters. So the tenth question enables her to kill off the separatist movement and seek popular support for her sovereignist program at the same time. Two birds with one stone.