January 2, 2003
Welcome to the Republic of Alberta... ?
A friend at a New Year's party told me that the Canadian province of Alberta is a hotbed of secession rhetoric. (Con)federal capital Ottowa holds the same special place in the average Albertan's heart as does the District of Columbia in our American westerner's. Alberta, apparently, provides the lion's share of the taxes expatriated to welfare bums in other provinces, and they're not at all happy about it.
Also, there's a large and popular anti-Ottowa gun rights movement. Take, for example, the "Law-abiding Unregistered Firearms Association (LUFA)" (thanks to David Dieteman's "Civil Disobedience North of the Border"). This is a very well-organized and apparently effective civil disobedience effort. American gun rights groups could learn some effective lessons from them.
While researching this piece, I used the Google search string "Firearms Alberta secession"; the first hit return was "Welcome to the Republic of Alberta". It seems the site is offline. Try finding it; there is a Cached entry on Google. I wonder what happened to them.
This is my first take on this issue. I've just heard of it, and will be learning more about it as the months go by. I'd love to hear from people who are familiar with this issue in the meantime.
It's a real shame that the State of Jefferson movement was derailed by WW2, the northern part of California has nothing what so ever to benefit by staying tied to, and drained of water by, the rest of California.
http://www.jeffersonstate.com/
Way to go Alberta! Throw the bums out! Show us how it's done!
Curt-
Posted by: Curt Howland on January 2, 2003 8:47 PMoops, there seems to be two "official" state of Jefferson web sites...
http://www.stateofjefferson.com/
Posted by: Curt Howland on January 2, 2003 8:48 PMJ. Random: thanks for the heads-up on the ROA site. Indeed, it's back up. Interesting: could use some organizational feedback on the site design... but his heart is in the right place.
Posted by: Russell Whitaker on January 2, 2003 11:05 PMLUFA: you're most welcome! It looks like you're doing excellent work. If you feel like writing a piece for this blog, please let me know. Also, you might consider writing an "Anglosphere Issues" piece for Samizdata.net.
Posted by: Russell Whitaker on January 2, 2003 11:12 PMFor anyone still having trouble accessing 'The Republic of Alberta', please note the following notice from their website "Notice: on occasion this website may go off line towards the end of the month if too many hits have occured. Please accept our apology!"
I hope this information is helpful
You can also check out: http://www.separationalberta.com/ & http://www.freealberta.com
Both of them are excellent websites!
Myself? Yes, I am most definately a Western Seperatist.
Posted by: Sean on March 21, 2006 3:10 AMAlberta has a society in the same way that Saudi Arabia has a society -- no cultural achievements to speak of, just oil and natural gas, and the money that comes from it. They do not know it, but they need the advanced civilisation of Eastern Canada to survive as anything other than a welfare state. If there was no oil, they will be living on the welfare that they complain about so dearly. They have fantasies of a Republic, but once the oil runs out, they will be at the mercy of Canada, in Confederation or out.
Also - this discussion needs to get back on topic. Stop posting links and start discussing like the intelligent human beings you are.
It is comments like Tremblay's that display the arrogance of Canada, and why Albertans want absolutely nothing to do with it.
Eastern Canada IS a welfare state, one that has been funded with Alberta's money. How much? Studies show over a quarter TRILLION (yes, trillion) dollars.
No cultural achievements? You mean like sticking metal into a tree and gazing at sap flowing out? I'll take the Calgary Stampede and Fringe Festival over that anyday. Oh, and I'll take Nickelback and kd lang over the banshee known as Celine Dion, as well.
When will Alberta's oil run out? 250 years? And let's not pretend it is luck (like Eastern Canada's luck being along a populated US market, with the St. Lawrence seaway nearby). Tarsands require immense amount of technology to pry oil out of sand. And that technology was developed in Alberta too.
