The Uncomfortable Roots of Alberta Separatism - The Tyee

Listen to this article 7 min [Editor’s note: Political scientist Max Cameron has authored a new book tracing the evolution of polarization in Canada. He considers how it has intensified recently, and how the Trump administration in the United States has reshaped Canada’s political landscape. ‘Divided We Fall: How We Can Resist Polarizing Pressures and Strengthen Our Identity as Citizens’ is out now through James Lorimer & Company Ltd. In the following book excerpt, Cameron argues that Alberta’s referendum on sovereignty is an extension of the “Freedom Convoy.” At a time when Canadians need to be united in defense of our sovereignty, he writes, separatists in Alberta are seeking to divide us so the United States can dominate us.] The majority of Albertans are politically moderate. Those aligned with far-right or ultra-conservative views remain a minority, even within Alberta’s broader conservative spectrum. But they are clearly taking their cues from their counterparts in the United States. ANNOUNCEMENTS, EVENTS & MORE FROM TYEE AND SELECT PARTNERS Take a Trip with Us: VIFF’s Documentary Series Spans the Globe ‘Insights’ takes audiences far and wide with stories of struggle, triumph and renewal. Albertan extremists have used social media — X, YouTube, Rumble — to propagate the idea that Canada is a “tyrannical hell hole.” Echoing conspiracy theories about the “great replacement,” they have argued that Alberta may be a “last chance for Western civilization,” or, alternatively, a “new America.” A thinly veiled and occasionally overt racism is noticeable in these forums. Max Cameron’s new book examines the roots of political polarization in Canada. Increasingly, pro-sovereignty Albertans are expressing opposition to immigration, support for a program of deportations, and discriminating between naturalized and “natural born” citizens — claiming that the latter know how to drive in Canadian snow and ice. David Parker, the founder of the separatist “Take Back Alberta” organization, put it this way: “If Canada continues to bring in the number of people that they are at the rate that they are, it will be a failed state … It’s being used to dilute the population. They’re degrading our quality of life, our medical system, our health care, our education system. It’s all falling apart because of mass immigration.” A home-grown movement Similarities between the far right in Canada and the United States suggest a certain amount of contagion across the…