Alberta’s New Separatists

Why they believe they’d be better off in a new, independent republic of their own

Tanya Clemens, 46, Okotoks

I’m a fourth-generation grain farmer; my ancestors homesteaded here in 1909. I operate a multi-generational farm along with my husband, my two sisters and two almost-grown kids. They’ll go off to get an education when they’re old enough, then decide if they want to come back.

A farm is like any other business: you input resources, hoping to get a certain output back. You stick to a budget and, ideally, you turn a profit. That’s true of businesses and households, and I believe it should also be true of countries. But it seems like somewhere along the way, Canada lost sight of that. Like many Albertans, I’ve watched with frustration as Ottawa has punished our industries and drained our communities with carbon taxes and tanker bans and other policies.

More than anything else, the pandemic showed me how much control we’d given away. The federal government implemented rules without consultation. Families were shut out of hockey rinks because they didn’t have vaccine paperwork. It seemed as if Alberta could have done things differently, and better, if we’d been standing on our own two feet.

I first heard about the Alberta Prosperity Project on social media; it’s a grassroots organization that supports a sovereign Alberta. I attended my first meeting in November of 2021 at a community hall in Calgary. I already knew things weren’t fair, but hearing the numbers was legitimately shocking. The first thing that struck me from that night was when Dennis Modry, a doctor and the Project’s co-leader, described how much better off we’d be without the National Energy Program implemented by Pierre Trudeau. And without all those years of transfer payments since, we could’ve had a flat income tax of less than 10 per cent. It wasn’t just that. We could’ve had a much smaller government. We could’ve had elected representatives who actually represent us. People would feel like the power had returned to them.

I still wasn’t necessarily pro-independence at that point, but the last federal election changed things. I worked on a campaign for the Conservatives and I thought, This is our chance. We had so much momentum, and it felt very powerful—change was really going to happen. We hoped that a Conservative government would work with Alberta on our income tax collection, pension plan, immigration policy and to create a provincial police force. We could implement steps to become sovereign within Canada. Then the results started coming in. Everyone was very solemn, very sombre. It seemed like the system was rigged. I was blown away that we lost. I just don’t see a future in Canada anymore.

Now I sit on the board of the Alberta Prosperity Project. We had 45,000 members before the federal election, and afterwards, a huge surge of new people joined. We’re a province of builders and problem-solvers. We’re gaining strength, and the federal government is being put on notice. They don’t want to lose us—but if something doesn’t change fast, they might.

Zuzana Janosova-Den Boer, Calgary

I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. There was no private business, and speaking out against the government could mean imprisonment, or worse. I came to Canada in 1997. It had a great reputation as a peaceful country with boundless opportunity and personal freedom. When I got here, I felt like I had wings. I was amazed I could speak freely, debate openly and choose my own path without fear. I worked in the oil and gas industry and married a born-and-raised Calgarian. For a long time, I was a proud Canadian.

That started changing about 10 years ago. The media began writing more and more about climate change, in a way that made it seem like it wasn’t up for debate. Workers like me, in oil and gas, were being painted as environmental criminals, getting astronomically rich without any concern for the planet. I think environmentalism is now used to suppress our freedoms: green mandates tell us what kind of energy to use, net-zero policies threaten reliable power grids, and the government pushes us to buy electric cars. Canadians are open to this because they’re altruistic and want to do the right thing—but that also makes us open to exploitation.

I’ve already seen how a government can manipulate its people, silence dissent and reshape a nation through propaganda. This kind of subversion isn’t a takeover by a foreign army; it happens from within. A big part of it is polarization. We saw the vaccinated turn against the unvaccinated during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the people in power have implemented policies that erode freedoms. The government has dictated medical decisions, like vaccines, and energy use. Grocery prices have soared. There’s talk of universal basic income, where everyone gets the same regardless of whether they work or not. This is an impossible, unachievable utopian fantasy. I know because I lived through it.

Something snapped inside me after the last election. The Liberals had failed so badly—crime rose, inflation soared and the housing crisis got worse—and Canadians still voted them back into power. This country may be at a tipping point, but Alberta still has a choice: remain complicit in the nation’s descent, or choose a new path as an independent, prosperous and free society. We need to stop feeding the beast. We must choose freedom. We must choose Alberta.

Brandon Borhen, 31, Edmonton

I was born and raised in Edmonton. I left school at 16 to work, first as a mechanic, then a hydrovac operator. Now I’m in commercial truck driving. I’ve been doing that for 10 years, living in different places across the province: Fort McMurray, Athabasca, Red Deer. Now I’m back in Edmonton to be near my family, even though I’m gone most days. I love being on the road. Sometimes I work 10 or 12 hours a day, and if it’s a good month it’s six days a week.

I haven’t always been in favour of Alberta’s independence. But in the past five years or so I’ve become frustrated enough to feel like separating is the best answer to protect our people and our democracy. Alberta is one of Canada’s powerhouses, but we’re told to sit down, shut up and keep paying. It’s not fair. And our voice isn’t valued as it should be. People here are still waiting in line to vote when elections have already been called in Ontario.

One of the biggest things on my mind is safety. When I was younger, Edmonton was very different. As a kid, I never ran into any issues, but now crime and drugs have ramped up. I see needles all over downtown, and I avoid going there at all costs because I just don’t feel safe anymore. Recently, I was driving with a date a few blocks from where I live when this dude flew by and swerved in front of me. When I flipped my light bar at him, he slammed the brakes and got out with a plank of wood to fight.

The federal government should crack down on criminals—especially when it comes to drugs. I don’t think drug users deserve harsher punishments, but the people who are dealing, making and smuggling do. Trump tries to bully us into dealing with the fentanyl crisis, but our government plays it down.

With our current system, I’ve lost faith in pretty much everybody. If Alberta was to become independent, we might have a government that cares for us and protects our people and our democracy. Our politicians could have stricter eligibility rules, including long-term Alberta residency and mandatory foreign-influence disclosures. Our elections and campaign funding could have more transparency. We could have a strong, clear constitution that ensures our leaders work for us, fighting for our energy, our oil and gas.

Being taken for granted by the feds isn’t so different from being the victim of a crime. You feel powerless. Unfortunately there are people who get very emotional about independence. I don’t agree with everything they say; I go online and see comments like, “We’ve gotta get these Indians out of here,” and I’m like, “Guys, stop. You’re why people think we’re all rednecks.” Canada and Alberta are built on immigrants. I’d say I’m more centrist than a lot of people. Mostly, I’d just like to know our representatives actually represent Albertans like me.