Oil Sands

---

A convoy from Canada to visit the Oil -and gas-producing regions, a protest on Parliament Hill in February

How to talk about Climate Change in Canada heats up and the construction of pipelines is cold, frustrated Albertans, breathed new life into the old, regional resentment, and the Western separatist movement.

With a lot of cattle, Oil , and conservative, Alberta has sometimes been called the "Texas of Canada".

nickname has a pejorative ring, but it suggests The Deep cultural divide between The Prairie province, and its neighbors.

The term "Western alienation" is often used to describe this feeling, which in Canada's Western provinces - Alberta , Saskatchewan and Manitoba and British Columbia -That the rest of the country looks on you, ignored you, and not your best interest in mind.

But Barry Cooper , a fourth generation Albertan who shares these feelings, says, "alienation" has nothing to do.

to the South of Fort Mcmurray , Alberta , where parts of the trees were removed to make way for an underground Oil pipeline

"Albertans and Saskatchewanians are pissed off because they have not found a voice in Ottawa [Canada's capital]," he says.

a political scientist, Mr. Cooper of the "Calgary school", a group of scientists at the University of Calgary, whose work focuses on Western interests, and, in some cases, conservative policy.

Mr Cooper is convinced That the gap between the Canadian prairies and the political hubs of Ottawa and Montreal, is as much cultural as geographical.

"It is a mistake to try to understand The Other - we do not share the same myths about what the country looks like, and we have never," he says.

Mr Cooper says the province was founded by pioneers in The Last half of the 19Th Century on the search for a better economic life, while in Ontario and Québec, the political and economic elite in building a nation of employees.

Canada achieved Confederation, the provinces of Ontario, Quebec , Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , in the year 1867.

But Alberta has not until 1905.

"It's a lot more like a border," he says of the BBC. "The people who lived here in the early days, you had expectations of self-Government , the communities, and basically all of frontier. "

Today, Albertans' common concerns can be summarized in Three Words : representation, equalization, and Oil .

Alberta was called "the Texas of Canada"

With 34 seats, Alberta will take only about 10% of Canada's Parliament, The House of Commons. But economically, the Oil -producing province contributes 17% to the GDP of the country.

Then the compensation payments are there, The Money , the "not" provinces receive from the Federal Government . Alberta contributes billion per year to the Federal tax pool because of its strong economy, but has not received a payment since 1965.

This remained true, even when Alberta was hit with the worst financial crisis for many decades.

Between 2014-16, a glut of supply caused a plunge in the world price of Oil , led to the loss of More Than 100 000 jobs in the province and a full-on recession.

Alberta ' s economic recession

the GDP-growth in Alberta / Canada

source: Statistics Canada

Since then the economic recovery is weak, especially as several pipeline projects in limbo.

The feel of many Albertans anxious and ignored, says Peter Downing, a right-wing political muckraker.

"We have always been in order to help other parts of the country, if you need in," he says.

"But if we need to, we have nothing, but you have to quit all the way. "

Type Wexit

Mr Downing hopes to spin this sense of economic betrayal in a viable political movement, with The Creation of Wexit Alberta .

The Group advocates for the Western Province to separate from Canada and form its own nation (possibly together with one other Western Province ). It is an old idea That has gained momentum, as the relations between Alberta and the rest of the country have deteriorated.

separatist candidate running in Albertan elections since The 1930S , but never gained a power, unlike the separatist politicians in Quebec .

In the year 2019 provincial election, the Alberta Independence Party received about 13,400 votes, or less than 1% of the popular vote. While these results do not mean may, the threat of political time, there are signs That it is growing, according to a recent Environics Institute survey.

In Alberta , 56% of the respondents agreed with The Statement , "Western Canada gets so few benefits from being part of Canada, That you might as well go it on their own," to 28 points from 2010.

Although the separatists can from each end of the political spectrum, in the libertarian Alberta , they tend to be on The Right side.

This is, in part, on The Movement of the revival in the 1980s, when Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau , the deeply unpopular " National Energy program, the Central control of the Albertan Oil and the Federal Government are implemented.

Getty what Albertans think Trudeau

12%think That Justin Trudeau should be the next Prime Minister

83%want to, his Liberal Party from the Government

Ipsos survey, 01/10/2019

Now, this dislike has moved in the direction of his son, current PM Justin Trudeau , the re-election on may 21. October.

The Liberal leader is deeply unpopular in the province, in part because of his father,

The Conservative Party , led by Andrew Scheer , is expected to sweep the province.

earth v economy

Climate Change is one of the main concerns in the whole country, of this election, and Mr. Trudeau -who once said he would like to promised to "phase out" of Alberta 's Oil Sands - to bring you Canada zero-Emission by 2050.

And the bullseye on Alberta ' s Oil Sands , which contribute to this.

Two of the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec , have Already Gone to court to stop the industry from the construction of pipelines through their territory.

In the mouths of climate activists, the Oil Sands sounded like a "dirty word," says Martha Hall Findlay, CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a non-partisan Think Tank .

But in Alberta , she says, they are the lifeblood of the economy, and is responsible for much of the country's prosperity as a whole.

"It's not as if the people are less passionate about Climate Change , but there is so much misinformation about the energy industry That it polarized really," she says.

Getty Alberta ' s Oil Sands

by the numbers "

2. 9 million barrels per day

82 kggreenhouse gas emissions per barrel

$38. 84per barrel of Western Canadian crude Oil (03/10/19)

source: Natural Resources Canada

recovers the legal battle with other provinces have to vent significant project delays, which have helped The Price of Oil just as it was, his slump at the end of 2018.

this decline had effects in the whole Alberta economy, University of Calgary economist Trevor graves.

"The recovery, while it was robust in the year 2017, just stalled completely in 2018, and we have the type of apartment, for The Last year and a half," he said.

Alberta Sycrude oils fields

Many Albertans debt, Mr Trudeau policy for this turn of events, and Mr Cooper, the Albertan political scientist who is also a separatist, saying he is sure That if Mr. Trudeau is re-elected, Albertan separation will soon follow.

"I think it is inevitable," he says.

These feelings as far as the mainstream went, That the Conservative Prime Jason Kenney was even sympathy, he would with the separatists, although he said, "rather the focus is on the separation of him from the Prime Minister 's office".

But Mr. Trudeau has also been angered climate activists has, if he has the Trans Mountain Pipeline will be bought in 2018 in the amount of C$4. 5 billion ($3. 4bn, £2. 7bn). The Project has been suspended for an indefinite period of time, which was purchase by Kinder Morgan , which said due to legal battles, and Mr. Trudeau , it is the only way to ensure That it would be Built and That Alberta and Canada's economy would remain on track.

While That seems like a victory for Alberta , Ms Findlay says, it is a symbol of the current Government is to protect failure to Alberta interests.

"No One wanted to buy the Federal Government , a pipeline," she says.

"We would much rather be in an environment where the Private Sector could actually Built a project like this. "

canada, alberta, canada election 2019

Source of news: bbc.com