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Tom Monto

A rational face on Wexit

Updated: Dec 16, 2020

The radio again this morning was going on about western alienation. But this time it had a seemingly reasonable face saying that although there are "crazy" elements in the movement there is a deep and widely held feeling western alienation.


Okay fine, as far as it goes. The same could be said of capitalism -- not all owners or managers of massive transnational corporations are greedy and selfish bastards but enough are that the whole system stinks to high heaven.


And what guarantees are there that if the west however defined separates, that the "crazy" element will not take over and drive the workers into deep poverty and powerlessness? What guarantees are there that the area's resources and built assets will not be diverted into private pockets to make multi-billionaires out of the few and paupers out of the rest.


it is like that fellow who this last summer placarded at busy streets that Kenny was at least suspicious looking in his behaviour. His placard probably said a worse accusation but I am trying to stay on the right side of the law, Kenny's taxpayer-supported war-room looking dangerously litigious.

I spoke to him to see where he was coming from and gave him a handbill i wrote on STV. He said he was Conservative but did not like the type of person who led the party.


I was reminded of the proverb you judge a tree by the fruit it bears but did not say it.


But the point remains if the west separates how do we know a radical right Handmaiden-type social order will not be imposed on us. If the moderate right cannot control the Conservative party under Canadian restraint, what protections do we have under a Wild West-style rig-pig-positive WASP middle-aged white guy government?


Absolutely none.


And the radio guy this morning said the wide Wexit feeling is due to uneven social level in the West. The interviewer let him get away with this loose terminology.


i have heard of standard of living -- i have heard of quality of life -- but I have never herd of social level.


If this refers to the amount of government social services and to the level of living, then yes - the West - the hard-scrabble boom and bust lives of Albertans - is bad -- but this is due to society and government decisions. We could have the same social services as Quebec - say subsidized daycare - if we paid as much in taxes as Quebec-ers do. We could have generally happy lives if we did not over spend when times were good and then cut back when times are bad.


If social level refers to peace, love and understanding or to truth, love and beauty - the hallmarks of civilized life in historic times - then without doubt we do not live at a high social level. Our cities are not beautiful; our lives are harried; our transportation model pits us against each other; walking is unsafe and with untended city sidewalks and streets (especially alley openings) is treacherous for the unwary and the old. There is little high culture in our lives -- paintings, sculptures, poetry are scarcely part of our lives.


Will Alberta separating from Canada encourage a Renaissance in the West where artists and poets will rise to super-stardom? Will it nurture a generation of young artisans and craftsmen that will put Alberta on the map for creative innovation and artistic beauty?


Or will Alberta stay at the "social level " it is now at but only deeper and broader and more penetrating and less humane? Unfortunately I believe a separated West would be this kind of animal. Under it we can expect our lives - like booms under over-ripening capitalism were once described by Strachey who was rewording a description of lives during the stone age - we can expect our lives to be shorter, more rushed, meaner and more brutal.


Brutal is a good word. It reminds me of the Brutalist style of architecture, Big square, cube buildings with aggressive presentation toward those outside. This actually sounds like the body shape of a new breed of Alberta politician or the new style of government that would likely bloom under a separated West.


If social level refers to general commonsense - intelligence applied practical things - then yes our social level is low. Just the talk about Wexit reveals that. The political regionalism that seems to be driving it of course is artificial. There is no reason other than undemocratic First past the post elections that we face the present situation where all but one seat in Alberta and Saskatchewan are held by Conservatives. Actually 14 seats in the two provinces should be held by Liberal and NDP if we look proportionally. Sure there are Conservative minorities under-represented in other regions so FPTP works proportionally overall to a degree. But even this contrived proportionality does not do anything about regional under-representation. And that is what is driving this present Wexit thing which as i say again is being unduly pushed by the CBC.


i am reminded of a time when i attended a speech y Mayor Decore and among his many points he bemoaned how Eastern cities were getting more funding than Edmonton He counted them on his fingers -- Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.

After the speech a CBC lady with a French accent said to me - perhaps she thought she was helping a fellow reporter just learning the trade - she said I should emphasize the point about unequal payment in my coverage. I responded how odd it was that he would call Winnipeg an Eastern city. I probably did not even mention the point at all in my coverage.


Anyway the point is that it seems if I take a couple points and use them to draw a long line into blank space - that the CBC wants to emphasize western alienation or separation. I suppose breaking English Canada apart would aid Quebec in their power struggles.


So perhaps to screw Quebec we should put aside our Wexit thing and become a real and strong part of Canada!


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