Western “Black Cubacois”

Calgary, Alberta | In western Canada, discontent against the favorable mobilization system in Quebec and the blocking of oil projects gave birth to a new separatist party. The Maverick Party wants to draw inspiration from Black Cubacos to send members of parliament to bring their demands to Ottawa.

On Wednesday night, despair was evident in the community hall in Kelly, a small village of 400 souls at the foot of the Rockies in the vast farmlands south of Calgary.

More than 80 people were crowded there just to hear the local Maverick party candidate.

Josh has some opposition to the Wiley Equalization Program, which, according to him, finances Quebec’s CPEs with Albertans money.

“Quebec seems to have a lot of weight in the House of Commons because they created Black Cubacois in the 1990s, a model used by Maverick, and it’s very effective for them. We want something like that in the West,” said the young father, who works in the energy sector.

Townspeople from Toronto and Vancouver also taste candidate anger.

“They live in Condos, they take Uber or the subway. Like the carbon tax. [imposée par Justin Trudeau] Don’t influence their lifestyle, ”Wiley said.

“No one represents our way of life in Ottawa,” he said.

Like spoiled children

In the living room, workers, farmers and small entrepreneurs laughed in unison. Eastern Canada drains revenues from the west, while at the same time having the courage to block projects such as Energy East, which brings oil from asphalt sand to New Brunswick.

“The East has the last word on everything. They wander around like little children telling moms and dads how to work at home and I have more than enough,” said citizen Caylan Campbell.

For his part, Tom Donnelly said he recently lost his oil and gas engineering company due to the Alberta economic downturn. “I’m 62 years old. My chances of being hired elsewhere are close to zero,” he said.

While not recognizing the specific decision, he blamed the federal government for creating an unfavorable environment for investment in the oil sector.

When asked why he supported the Maverick Party, Tom Donnelly used the old Reform Party slogan, which is reminiscent of decades of outrage in the West. “Western nations want it,” he dropped.

Disappointed with conservatives

In fact, it is now “in or out,” explained Jay Hill, the interim leader of the young political party.

Elected himself in Ottawa under the banner of the Reform Party in 1997, then parliamentary leader led by Stephen Harper, he is now obsessed with the national parties and the Conservatives at the forefront.

These must be subsidized so as not to upset one or another part of the country. “I’ve never seen conservatives say the Quebeckers formula [de péréquation] It needs to be changed to more accurately reflect provincial revenues, ”Hill said.

This is the view shared by the former elected Conservative of Saskatchewan under his former colleague, Brian Fitzpatrick, Stephen Harper. “Mr. Harper had very strong views on equality. When he came to power, he seemed to have forgotten them,” he said.

A voice in Ottawa

With the call for early elections, Maverick party aspirations this year are modest.

On September 20, the separatist fielded 27 candidates from Manitoba to British Columbia.

But the wrath of the West is very real and its movement may soon find a voice in Ottawa.

In Kayle’s small community hall, Jay Hill took it to display the microphone. “Federalism did not work for the West, it did not work for the West and would never work if we were not forced to change,” he said.

Maverick Party

• Wexit was created last year from the ashes of Canada.
• Try the major version of the Canadian Constitution.
• This includes the “right” of a province to transport its natural resources nationwide.
• If that fails, it hopes to form a new state with provinces west of Ontario

Trudeau’s election again fueled resentment

Calgary, Alberta | The feeling of alienation from the western provinces is not new. After years of hibernation in the boom of the Alberta economy, it is back and provides a fertile ground for the Maverick party.

“In the 2000s, in the Harper years, there was a silence.

But the recent economic downturn in the province and the election of Justin Trudeau have fueled resentment back to the East.

“There is financial insecurity in Alberts affected by the fall in oil prices,” the professor explained.

Pipeline projects on both sides of the Alberta border have been blocked, preventing producers from exporting their oil.

“Carbon tax [imposée par le gouvernement Trudeau] It has raised dissatisfaction, especially in rural areas, where we rely heavily on transportation, ”Mr. Bailey continues.

This dissatisfaction from the West was clearly expressed in the last federal election, in 2019: the Liberals were completely swept away from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

A Tools Dilemma

But unlike her predecessor, Erin O’Toole relied on a more “centrist” strategy to attract votes from parts of eastern Canada, much to the displeasure of some right-wing voters.

For example, the Conservative leader is proposing his own carbon tax reform, which is not very popular in the province.

However, it is difficult to estimate the true attraction of the Maverick Party to the population, especially with the onset of the economic recovery.

Another challenge arises for young construction, predicts Frederick Boyle. Unlike the Black Cubacos inspired by it, the party sometimes has to make big changes to coordinate the needs of the various western provinces it wants to represent.

A western cowboy Inspired by Yves-Franకోois Blanchett

As Tariq Elna, a true rodeo-loving cowboy, never thought of getting into politics before listening to Black Leader Yves-Franకోois Blanchett during a leaders debate in 2019.

“He said: I will never form a government, but I will work with any of you who vote for Quebec’s interests,” said a Maverick party candidate in Banff-Airdry Riding. I said to myself: Why don’t we have it? “