Both sides of the Albertan separation debate are founded in faith, trust, and pixie dust.
Neither side is grounded in reality. One only needs to look at our comment sections on socials to understand how emotional a subject this is.
This past week, Jay and I have been interviewing people on the streets (you’ve likely seen our first video on the subject already) and what surprised me is that neither side had any rational arguments for, or against separation. When the question gets asked, the answer isn’t “taxation policy” or “culture”, it’s “FUCK NO WE SHOULDN’T SEPARATE.” or “Canada is abusive!” (These are direct quotes with small variations from dozens of people.)
The separatists have done nothing to try and build a movement. It is exclusively a grievance based movement with no interest in a better country— it seems to want nothing more than to give the middle finger to Ottawa because of half a century of arguments with the central government.
So, you’d think that the unionists would have a better argument. But they don’t. They parrot the same talking points which have no substance in intellectual debate or the cultural groundwork necessary to push for a side. As we interviewed people, we became frustrated with people‘s inability to argue their side.
Consistently, we heard two things from separatists: I don’t like immigrants, and Ottawa is too woke.
This is not an argument for separation.
This is a personal issue.
Meanwhile, on the unionist side, we heard: we’re stronger together, and we have “Canadian values.”
This is not an argument for unity. This is a personal feeling that you have.
