‘Huge mistake’ to assume decisive Alberta referendum means West is happy: Preston Manning

Despite Alberta’s decision to remain a province of Canada rather than hold another referendum, anger is still simmering at the surface, says Preston Manning.

The former Calgary MP and leader of Canada’s Reform party, which later morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada, doesn’t believe that the issues that prompted Alberta’s referendum have been solved.

Much of the angst being felt in the West, and even in other parts of Canada, are rooted in federal intrusion, said Manning. “The big question now is … remain and do what?”

On Oct. 19, Albertans went to the polls to respond to a list of 10 questions, ranging from immigration, inter-provincial relations and the desire to secede. Preliminary, unofficial results for the last question about separating show a 75-25 split against it.

Premier Danielle Smith, who recently vowed there would be no more secession referendums, should define what it means to build a strong and sovereign province within the federation, said Manning.

“It means beefing up the provincial activity in every area the constitution assigns to the provinces, and pushing the envelope in the joint jurisdiction areas, which are agriculture, environment and, of course, immigration, and presumably she’s going to be doing that,” he told National Post.

The major areas of federal intrusion are natural resources, health, municipal governance, along with property and civil rights.

One solution that would quash some discontent is for the federal government to show that it can compromise. “Civil rights is a provincial responsibility, and so one thing the federal government could do is to pass a statute, an act respecting provincial sovereignty, whereby it repealed or amended those statutes that authorized the intrusion.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has not addressed what can be done in any of his speeches, said Manning. Carney urged Albertans to vote for a united Canada while speaking in Edmonton on Oct. 16. But he has not shown a “flicker of recognition of what was the cause of this. Not just the referendum, but all the forces behind it,” Manning said.

It’s a “huge mistake” to assume that all is well after a 75-25 split, said Manning. It’s a problem not only in Alberta, he added. It extends to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia — “a whole bunch of other provinces that are not happy with federal-provincial relations.”

It would make sense to put forward a “grand bargain” between the federal and provincial governments that could satisfy both parties. The federal government could offer to withdraw from certain areas, while the provinces could withdraw from trade and commerce, a major area of federal jurisdiction that the provinces have “invaded.”

There are also smaller solutions that would prove the federal government is listening, like not challenging the notwithstanding clause or negotiating a new immigration accord with Alberta (or any province that wants one), similar to the one struck with Quebec in 1991.

“These would not be difficult. But it would send a signal: ‘We hear that you’ve got angst about this and that. We’re responding,'” he said.

These issues are all coinciding with the turmoil caused by tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his rhetoric against Canada.

“Trump is sitting on top of a populist movement,” said Manning. “But what part of the country has had more experience with populist movements that became government than any other part of North America? Western Canada — all the third-party tradition of populist groups, and there’s lessons to be learned from that.”

One lesson is to understand how you get to the leader of such a movement. “You don’t get to him necessarily by talking to his five top advisors on Wall Street or in Washington. You get to a populist leader through his followers, and Carney has no sense of how you do that.”

He added: “There’s another way to handle Trump on tariffs, but not the way Canada’s done it.”

What Canada has done is use anti-Americanism as a tool. It’s “easy to use” in an election, he said, but difficult to turn it off after. Even Trump’s rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state started as a joke but “Canadian politicians took it deathly serious. Now it becomes a chip in a game.”

The entire situation could have been handled differently. And Manning is hoping that the angst felt in the West, and other parts of the country, can eventually be settled with policies that will make Canada prosperous and secure “down the road, not just tomorrow.”

After a more than 50 years in politics, at 84 years old, Manning said that it’s his love of the country that keeps him involved.

“I think we have a magnificent country, and I think it can be governed better,” he said.

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