We’ve listened to the rumblings about independence in Alberta before. They were reactionary, a hope and a dream, an inflammatory response to the discriminatory practices of Ottawa against our beloved province. But those movements repeatedly failed. Every time they snagged a lurch of traction, we found ourselves sucked back into the bog of childish squabbling, political inexperience, and a reluctant tolerance of Ottawa’s policies.
The previous failure to launch a serious independence push was never for lack of passion, certainly in part for lack of a leader, but most of all, we lacked a rock, a firm foundation upon which we could certify our cause beyond a few disgruntled meetings.
But not anymore. The Liberal Government of Canada has generously gifted us the ethical justification needed to resurrect independence from the dead. Not wanting to be left out of the elite’s court, Jagmeet Singh, Erin O’Toole, and every other Laurentian Elite infesting Ottawa have ensured that no matter what party is elected, whether Conservative, NDP, or Liberal, the status quo will never change. It might be one thing if that status quo was legal, if it was just and morally right, but it’s not. In fact, I think the Federal Government is invading a territory they were never commanded to possess. Our strongest defence, our necessary defence lest we forever lose our freedom we are now fighting for, is Alberta’s independence.
1. Why Independence Failed Before
Scoffers will jeer “What hope have you? Independence has been tried before and fizzled to nothing like a drop of water on a hot stove.” It’s a fair critique. But we reply that the new foundation is no longer constructed on soft, eastern, sand, but rather, on rock, solid as the Kananaskis mountains.
Our past independence movements, even very recent ones, we’re founded on a nexus: money. We wanted independence because Pierre Trudeau shafted Albertans during the oil glut losing us money. We fought for it because of equalization, which cost (and continues to cost) us dearly without anything in return. But those problems, focused on costs, revenues, and cash, don’t provide the torque required to turn the wheels of independence.
Do not mistake me. I am an economist. I understand the importance of money. I think it’s a disgrace and a scandal that we are taxed as much as we are, simultaneously shunned and belittled by the eastern dominion while we subsidize their way of life. And it’s obvious, proven by their apathetic responses to things like pipeline crises and a damning National Energy Program, that the Trudeau’s seethe a hatred for Alberta unlike any other province.
But, though infuriating, we cannot gamble Alberta’s independence on these frustrations. Why? Look at the argument displayed by Christ in Mark 12:13-17. “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
Whose faces denote our $5, $10, $20, etc., bills? Why would we stake our intrinsic worth on these pieces of paper? Does Sir Wilfred Laurier, Sir John A. MacDonald, or the Queen of England, dictate the value of our lives? Hardly!
The Federal Government’s image is on our bills, so why would we base the value of our lives, the very reason we argue for independence, on it? The point I am trying to make is that money, although a store of value, doesn’t determine the value of man himself. Thus, if we base our independence on money, as has always been done, the movement will have no intrinsic value because Canadian money has no intrinsic value. The moment we lean on it for support, it crumbles like a house of cards.
2. How and Why Independence Needs to Succeed
But “Render to Caesar’s what is Caesars” isn’t the whole scripture. Christ then goes on to say, “Render to God’s what is God’s.” What He means is:
“My image is on you. You are the image itself. You are the cherished property (in the sense that children are “properties" of their parents) of the Lord.”
Now the argument for independence is plain. Now the cornerstone for the movement is in place.
We, you and I, are not the Federal Government’s. We are neither their property nor their children. We are the Lord’s. But Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Government are presently engaged in a heist to steal what isn’t theirs, you and me, and take us as their own.
This is not about money; it’s not about taxes; it’s about our Federal Government trespassing onto the sacred domain of God. I don’t like it because Jesus doesn’t like it, and because it guarantees certain, eventually brutal, harm to you and me. Is that not reason enough to exercise our legal ability, while remaining obedient to government and law, to declare independence?
But how is the Federal Government accomplishing this grand theft?
Welfare.
It’s as appeasing to take as the fruit in the garden, and just as deadly. But what are we supposed to do? They shut down our businesses (not the big ones though), our senior's homes, our schools, our mills, our very province, and now we are in a state of economic crises. They force us to admit, “I cannot provide!” and in that instant, they dangle their salvation—welfare, bailouts, and indefinite subsidy—in front of us.
What is the Federal Government doing if not, in some twisted sense, becoming a parent, we her children, so that they can say at whatever world summit they want to attend next, “These people are mine.”? It’s a revolt against God’s created order. Government is making us their own, forcing us to abide by their values and morals (as though a neutral institution can have values and morals), and threatening to take away their provision if we do not submit. It’s a kidnapping, stealing us from our Heavenly Father who provides for us, God, and having us pray for provision from Salus’ new temple in Ottawa, Parliament.
3. Independence
But a child who is being kidnapped, who understands he is being kidnapped, struggles and thrashes and fights. We must do the same. Now our foundation for independence is not that we are being taxed too much, but rather, that the Federal Government is trying to change our very nature, rendering what is God’s to Caesar and pushing to reconstruct Babylon. We can allow it to happen here in Alberta, or we can champion independence, exercising our rights as God’s creation, and strive for the liberation of the new.
For a detailed analysis of the history of the Albertan Independence movement, see Dr. Michael Wagner's book "Alberta: Separatism Then And Now" available here
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