By Еvan Osentоn
Few things give Western Canadians as bad a name as does the hateful, opportunistic and greedy concept of "western alienation." This is a concept championed by certain ultra-right wing zealots in the media and hysterical pseudo-celebrities like Victoria lawyer Doug Christie–founder of the Western Canada Concept. While western alienation normally warrants little attention, it reared its ugly head amidst all the post-federal-election haranguing and whining.
Western alienation is the tiresome idea that somehow British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are unfairly shut out of Canadian policy making; that Ontarians (indeed all Canadians east of Winnipeg) are power-berserk Liberals who plot to keep the West from its rightful place on top of the Canadian food chain. Its proponents attest that the "government enforced" policies of multiculturalism and bilingualism are sending Western Canada towards a "cultural precipice." They claim an anti-West government is formed on, among other things, the strength of the "black-ghetto" vote in Ontario.
In a nutshell, western alienation theorists will tell you there’s a conspiracy in this country; a tangled federal Liberal-led conspiracy that started with that "effeminate" Pierre Trudeau and continues today with that "arrogant" Jean Chrétien. It is a conspiracy to keep the hard-working Westerner poor, powerless and stupid. It is, in fact, an idea rooted in bad math, deliberate short-sightedness and greed.
Those Westerners who would separate need to be reminded of a few facts. There are 12 million people in Ontario. There are approximately nine million people in Western Canada. There are 103 seats in Ontario, 88 seats shared between the Western Canadian provinces. This is disproportionate political influence alright–slightly skewed in favour of the western provinces. If the West wants more representation in Ottawa, it should stop encouraging the Reforms and Alliances of the world to carry "our" message to Ottawa and instead elect a party with national scope. We "alienate" ourselves by voting like sheep for parties that primarily have Western interests at heart–and are flummoxed by the fact Quebecers didn’t vote en masse for Monsieur Manning.
Alberta Report, the Calgary Herald, the Western Canada Concept, et cetera like to point out how Alberta has, for some time, paid more to the Feds in taxes than we get back in CHST payments–whereas those welfare-addicted Newfs are bleeding Albertans dry. However, until 1949, Alberta was also one of those "have-not" provinces. Upon the fortunate discovery of oil at Leduc, we became Canada’s nouveau riche, replete with arrogant swagger and rhinestone bolo tie. If it weren’t for the constantly high price of oil–and the developed world’s addiction to it–Alberta wouldn’t be so far "in the lead." Besides, what ever happened to helping fellow Canadians? Most Albertans still believe in the welfare state, despite what the local media brays. What about when the price of oil drops, when world demand drops (as it will dramatically as soon as alternative, renewable energies become viable)? Won’t we then expect the rest of Canada to help us back to our feet?
As for the idea that we need to separate from Canada to preserve our cultural "heritage"… well, this barely warrants rebuttal. If Western Canada’s heritage isn’t one of immigration and multiculturalism, whose is? It should also be pointed out that there are a greater percentage of visible minorities in British Columbia than there are in Ontario. So much for our homogenous, oppressed minority.
It is hard to take "alienated" Westerners seriously. They almost unilaterally dismiss their detractors–women’s groups, minorities, religious groups, gay groups, even white, Christian males–as "communists." They litter their speech with the language of anti-semitism and homophobia. But we can’t just dismiss them either. They’re out there and they’re not going away. All we can do is point out the fallacy of their logic and hope they give up before we do.