We have seen that the conservative agenda, as laid out in the Free Alberta Strategy, is to enable the provincial government to effectively override federal legislation they don't like while remaining in Confederation. This is called “sovereignty within a united Canada”. This avoids all the problems associated with outright separation, like what are you going to use for money, or how are you going to explain it to the Alberta First Nations to their satisfaction, and of course it avoids having to run the risk of losing a referendum on separation. However, it implies generally breaking existing law, and in some cases even the Constitution.

One area of federal legislation that the UCP doesn't like is immigration. Of the ten questions on the ballot four are on the topic of immigration. So let's begin by looking at the questions and parsing them.

The first question asks

Do you support the Government of Alberta taking increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities?

Interestingly, increased provincial control over immigration is something that several provinces are asking for, but for entirely the opposite reason to the UCP's: want to speed up the process of integrating immigrants into the work force. The UCP wants to keep people out.

One thing we will find across all the referendum questions is wording that implicitly assumes something that is in fact unfounded. Here's an example: “for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels”. The implication is that right now immigration is at unsustainable levels. Which is of course nonsense.

“Prioritizing economic migration” means business people. It does not mean international students. It certainly does not mean asylum seekers. And I doubt very much it means temporary foreign workers.

And since when does any level of government tell employers who they should hire.

Let's go on to the second question:

Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta-approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially-funded programs, such as health care, education and other social services?

The key phrase here is “Alberta-approved immigration status”. It means that if you immigrate to Canada, the provincial government can still decide if you may settle in Alberta, or not. This obviously flies in the face of all immigration law.

The other issue here is health care. It is not exclusively provincially funded. It is also federally funded, to comply with the universality and portability principles of the Canada Health Act. Everyone has the right to receive the same level of care wherever they are. And yes, that includes temporary foreign workers and asylum claimants, as it should. Some provinces offer free health insurance to international students; Alberta is not one of them. Again, the idea that the provincial government might pick and choose who gets public health insurance flies in the face of Canadian law.

Question 3 introduces a new obstacle to those who would come to Alberta unless they already have permanent residence:

Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for social support programs as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially-funded social support programs?

This means that if you were a refugee or a temporary foreign worker and you want health coverage, you would have to pay for private health insurance for a full year. And if that wasn't enough to deter you, there's question 4:

Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for public health care and education as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta charging a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family’s use of the healthcare and education systems?

Let me see if I can put together a single question that captures all four. Something like this:

Do you support the Government of Alberta defying Canada and using its authority to deter some outsiders from coming to Alberta and using services that you paid handsomely for all these years, and taking your jobs?

Because that's what these questions amount to. Put yourself in the position of someone thinking of coming to Canada. Would you choose to settle in Alberta?

These questions are aimed at people who think that immigrants are freeloaders and who think that they can't get a job or a decent wage because they have to compete with the freeloaders. And this is happening because the feds welcome them. So in order to stop this takeover of our beautiful province we have to defy Ottawa.

If this strikes you as an absurd exaggeration, read the questions again.

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