Arguments for Independence

Whether one is politically engaged or has opinions on the Alberta independence movement, it is worth considering that a large number of people in two Canadian provinces want a different relationship with Canada. Even if one does not agree, it is important to understand the grievances or frustrations that has led to a significant breakdown in this national project called Canada.

In Alberta, there are several arguments that are presented in laying out the case for a sovereign Alberta.

There is the historical argument beginning with the founding of our province, its roots, its people, and the constant battles with Ottawa. Iconic has become the image of “The Milch Cow,” a political cartoon first published in 1915. The cow represents Canada. The farmers of Alberta are feeding the cow and the leaders in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal are milking the cow. For more than 100 years people in Western Canada have felt as if we were treated like a colony, existing for the wealth of Upper and Lower Canada. Michael Wagner’s books are essential reading to learn more about the history of Western alienation, the National Energy Program, and historical efforts to address grievances which have all failed. A key part of the historical argument is that Alberta has sent the best and brightest to Ottawa to fix Canada, but if they couldn’t do it, it simply cannot be done.

Next is the economic argument. Studies show that $20–40 billion is transferred from Alberta to the provinces of Central and Eastern Canada each year. From 2000-2023, $544 billion has been transferred out of Alberta. Quebec, one of the greatest critics of Alberta’s industry and culture, receives $13.9 billion a year through the federal equalization program—over 50% of total equalization funds. The province of PEI is now reliant on equalization as payments make up 20% of their annual budget. Since 1965, even in years of recession, Alberta has received a total of $0 through equalization. Therefore, many contend that equalization disadvantages Alberta for the sake of Central and Eastern Canada.

There is also the political argument. Federal laws continue to hurt Alberta’s primary industries like oil, gas and beef. Federal laws on a carbon tax, Bill C-69 (the impact assessment bill or “no more pipelines bill”), or C-48 (the tanker ban, banning Alberta’s exports on the west coast while still allowing tankers on the east coast as Central Canada imports foreign oil). These bills have the goal of stifling development, blocking energy projects, and preventing access to global markets which cost Alberta the potential of hundreds of billions in lost projects. Studies show that investment in Alberta has dropped 61% in the last 10 years.

Finally, there is the federal or constitutional argument. Canadian federalism was designed to divide power between the federal government and provincial government. Alberta is supposed to have sovereignty over its natural resources, but that is not being honored in practice. Alberta has a dozen matters before the courts fighting the federal government over matters of jurisdiction. Alberta’s voice in Ottawa is faint since it is Ontario and Quebec that decide elections. Senate reform was proposed as one way to increase Alberta’s influence in Ottawa—although these efforts were stopped by the Supreme Court in the Harper era. Alberta has 6 senators compared to Ontario and Quebec who have 24 each—those numbers being fixed in the constitution and not based on population. PEI has 4 senate seats for a population less than 200,000. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia each have 10 seats with populations smaller than either the city of Edmonton or Calgary. For this reason, Albertans feel as if they have little say over the future of their country and decisions that affect them and their livelihoods.

For these reasons, many Albertans, if presently independent from Canada and were presented a referendum which said, “Would you vote to join Canada under these circumstances?” Many would say, “No.” If no, why should they vote to stay?

Biblical Values and Alberta Independence

With these historic arguments, economic arguments, political arguments, and constitutional arguments, many are making a compelling case for Alberta’s independence, but my interest is to identify the biblical values which undergird these different arguments. That is, I’m convinced that for many who long for an independent Alberta are longing for a way of life that matches biblical principles. What people are longing for in our province is ultimately the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a Christian vision of society, and the truth of his word manifest in his world.

1. Liberty

When people speak of independence or sovereignty or self-determination, what they really mean is liberty or freedom. It cannot be denied that liberty is a biblical value.[1] In history, where the Bible has been believed and honored, freedom follows. The Protestant Reformation was not just a theological movement but a movement of liberation that built the West and all the freedoms that we enjoy and seek to preserve. Why is the Bible key to freedom? The Bible promotes personal responsibility, personal rights, property rights, family rights, and a limited and local government.[2]

Consider the biblical idea of a local government. Some of the most consequential decisions affecting Albertans are not made by a local government. Contrary to biblical principles, for much of Alberta’s history we have been represented by people foreign to Alberta and its industries, culture, and values. Albertans desire a local government more in tune with the needs of the people.

Consider also the biblical idea of a limited government—and its humanist antithesis, big government. When you have a big government, responsibility is necessarily removed from the family or individual, resulting in loss of choice and therefore a loss of freedom. With more power consolidated in Ottawa year over year, the provincial government is now elected based on its promises to protect Albertans from Ottawa’s encroachment. When you have a big government and a foreign government, you have the ingredients for totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism is not necessarily a dictatorship that throws people into the gulag. Totalitarianism is when the government grows to manage every facet of life, like education, healthcare, welfare, and the economy. In Canada, Federal employees increased by 43% in the last decade. What do these people to? Regulate the lives of Canadians—the opposite of liberty. We are currently living in a soft-totalitarian state where regulations and laws are suffocating the livelihoods of many and the people long for liberty. They want self-determination. Alberta is known for a spirit of self-determination—a “get’r done” people. Albertans do not want handouts. They do not want money from the East. They just want freedom to build, work, live, play, and have hope for a future.

What they want—what we all should want—is a society built on personal responsibility, personal rights, property rights, family rights, with a limited and local government. In other words, many Albertans want the blessings of a society built on God’s word.

2. Justice

As Albertans long for independence or self-determination, the political and economic arguments rest on the principle of justice. Many in Alberta are grieved about the injustice. They want justice. But what kind of justice do they want? Albertans clearly have become bitter by a social “justice” influenced by Marx which defines “justice” as an equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity. The entire equalization program or federal transfer system is built on Marxist or socialist theories of redistribution of wealth—taking from the “haves” and giving to the “have-nots.”

Biblical justice is contrary to Marxism. It promotes fairness with equal treatment of the rich and poor. Neither should receive special treatment, but all are equal under the law. Biblical justice is about equal weights and measures. The native and sojourner are under the same law. The king and peasant answer to the same standards. True justice is judgments of right and wrong with no partiality. Lady justice, drawn from the biblical portrait of justice, is blind.

It is biblical justice or fairness that undergirds the idea of “no taxation without representation” that fueled America’s independence. When socialism leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Albertans it is because they have a taste for justice according to God’s standards.

3. Vocation

When people long for independence or self-determination, they are not asking for money or special treatment, they just want to work and enjoy the fruit of their labor. The Bible says much about work. From the beginning God made Adam and Eve, placing them in the garden and calling them to work it, cultivate it, and nurture its fruit. Your work is your livelihood; it provides the necessities of life. Albertans have no desire to live off the fruit of another’s labor but to be free to work and have that work sustain their lives. The Bible speaks of the dignity of work—it values effort, building, engineering, taking the raw elements and making something ordered and structured for the honor and glory of God.

Christians have called this “dignity of work” a calling. It is more than what you do, it is part of who you are. The word for this calling is vocation. Your work is worth something. It has purpose. There is honor in it. It is a stewardship.

This past year, with Trump’s tariffs on the steel and auto industry, people in Central Canada viewed this as an existential threat. This was not just a trade war, this was an attack on Canada—an attack on people, an attack on the livelihoods of those dependent upon those industries.

While the light bulb never went on, this is the identical scenario of what Ottawa does to Alberta—crippling its industry, blocking its development, refusing its exports, and taking its wealth. When Trump does it, it’s unfair. When Ottawa does it, it’s equity. When Central Canada shouts, “Elbows up!” and boos the American anthem, they are viewed as patriots. When Alberta objects to the same treatment, we are viewed as whiners and unCanadian.

To attack the work of Alberta, whether to end the oil industry, to ban fertilizer, or to say cows are causing climate change is an attack on the workers of Alberta. These policies affect people, real people who recognize the dignity of work to secure a future for their families. Let us never forget people as we discuss policy.

People in Alberta want independence because they want to work, they have a vocation, a biblical calling. We are a working province and that is a biblical value established from the very beginning.

4. Belonging

Many people in Alberta feel as if they don’t belong in Canada. The desire for belonging is a powerful one. When you come into a new city or a new school or a new environment and feel like an outsider—it’s a very uncomfortable feeling. We long to belong. We don’t just want to live here, but we want to belong here. This, again, is a biblical theme.

The theology of land or place is central to the Bible’s story. I believe the idea of the land is a unique part of Alberta’s desire for independence. The land under our feet is Alberta’s wealth and industry. Whether its oil and gas, its vast pastures for cattle, its big sky and fields for grain, or its stunning mountains for tourism, Alberta’s wealth is tied to the land. It is our livelihood and for that reason, it is not long before people living here feel a connection to the land, knowing its importance for sustaining life here. This is different than the manufacturing or banking that dominates Ontario’s economy—it’s not dependent on place like the industries of Alberta.

It cannot be denied that the values of Central Canada seek to replace Alberta’s local culture with local ties to the land and the stories of its history with a new national identity. This national identity pushes the values of the World Economic Forum about not owning property. It imposes language laws foreign to this place. It is foreign and so it is unsettling to a local culture rooted and planted in time and place. When people in Alberta long for independence, they have a sense that they just don’t belong in Canada. Canada has changed. The communism that we once sent men to fight against is now espoused by the people Central Canada votes for. Alberta’s identity, stories, industry, and culture seem out of step with the rest of Canada.

People long for rootedness, belonging, for home, a place to call their own, to identify with its past and its people, to build a true community with real connections. This idea of belonging, a biblical ideal, also undergirds the independence movement.

Conclusion

The discussion on independence is not just a discussion about dollars and cents. It is a discussion about religious ideas that express themselves in society. The antichristian ideas of Marxism, socialism, globalism, totalitarianism, and a host of other “isms” are promoted and pushed by the intelligentsia of Central Canada. Alberta is not free from these ideas, but there is a legacy here of a biblical commitment to liberty, justice, vocation, and belonging.

Let me be clear, Alberta’s independence is not the answer. It’s not the ultimate hope. However, its underlying values are aligned with the values of Scripture more than the current direction of Canada. Therefore, what many are longing for is Christ and his principles worked out in the world.

“All the cultural amenities that we enjoy are ours because we live in a land that has felt the impact of Christian civilization” — Ernest Manning, Premier of Alberta, 1943-1968.

[1] Sin enslaves. The work of Jesus liberates us from sin and leads us to do what is right without external constraints. Without God’s grace, sin must be constrained by force, and you end up with a police state with no liberty.

[2] The 10 commandments presuppose personal rights or liberties. Do not steal. Do not murder. Do not covet. In terms of the government, the principles in Deuteronomy 1 call for leaders who are from among their own people and have limited jurisdiction. Freedom rather than totalitarianism, is the overflow of a biblical worldview.