Alberta is having a referendum in October where the main issue is whether it should separate from Canada. However, that is not the only question that will be asked. Many of the other questions have to do wth immigration, one’s “legal status,” and most of all giving the provinces more power.

One of the questions is about abolishing the federal senate. Another question that hit me hard was that they want to give the provinces more power to opt out of certain government programs, which isn’t great because Alberta has already messed around with disability programs here. Alberta wants to give less and less to people.

Just wanted to get everyone’s thoughts on this whole thing.

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[–] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't think it's that simple. Their dismantling and regional replacement with something indigenous / pro-indigenous is important, that is for sure. But separatism without replacement isn't necessarily good for anyone, especially if it's backed by even more radically settler settlers.

Like to put it in example of historical context, imagine if we looked at the US's Civil War era and said the secession of the Confederate States was objectively good because it breaks up the US and that it would have been better that way. Those were states that broke off because they wanted to keep their slaves. We could try to argue that the world would have been better off if the outcome of the Civil War was a splintered US instead of a reunified one, but it's too many unknowns. What if the Confederate States had existed alongside for a time, then grown stronger, and eventually annexed/absorbed the others? Creating an even more hardline rightist US?

I'm not saying going back and trying to answer those questions is what matters. Just trying to make the point that the kind of breakup is important.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    This is exactly why you'd be hard pressed finding an Indian who supports this. Alberta is reactionary as all hell. The capitalists get rich by plundering the land, and Alberta is quite rich in the resources that they're after. But the pesky treaties with us, and government oversight is a foil for making even more money. It's clear that if Alberta separates, they will cease any lip service to the treaties with us.

    Also, as pointed out by several others, Alberta would be immediately snatched up by the US. This would be disastrous for everyone but the US.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 week ago

    This is a very important pat of the issue. The indigenous people of Alberta would be the ones hurt the most by secession. Their funding and protections are federal matters and independent Alberta would not honor those commitments.

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