“Alberta and the West Assembly” is a two-day virtual conference that will be live-streamed on Sept. 19 and 20. The conference will examine the Western province’s growing dissatisfaction with Canadian federalism and the competing proposals announced to address that frustration.
Manning, the former leader of the federal Opposition, announced the event in a news release on Aug. 13. He will co-chair the conference with Gordon Campbell, the former premier of British Columbia.
“This Alberta and the West Assembly will have a strong Alberta focus, due to growing interest in the Oct. 19 provincial referendum,” Manning said in the release.
“But it will also include participants from the other Western provinces [that] share many of Alberta’s concerns and … bring a pan-Western perspective on proposals for remedying those concerns.”
Manning is part of an organizing committee that includes Jack Major, a former Supreme Court justice, Bryan Gould, the founder of Aspenleaf Energy Limited, Dallas Howe, the former chairperson of the Saskatchewan Potash Corporation, and Calgary lawyer Glenn Solomon.
Organizers say the Assembly is being held in response to growing dissatisfaction with how Canadian federalism is functioning, increasing concern that the status quo is “unacceptable,” skepticism that government announcements adequately address Western concerns, and a lack of non-partisan venues for citizens to discuss and consider potential solutions.
“Alternative options for addressing these discontents are being offered, and this virtual Assembly will be a public education exercise in a democratic forum to provide informed presentations and thorough examinations of such options.”
The Assembly will examine four approaches to addressing Western concerns: compiling demands made by Alberta and Saskatchewan premiers and Western business leaders; strengthening provincial powers and leadership within Canada; exploring secession proposals ranging from Alberta independence to closer ties with the United States; and considering what Alberta’s future within Canada could look like if it chooses to remain.
Representatives of these positions will present them, with delegates—including those with expertise in economics, fiscal policy, constitutional law, federalism and public policy—cross-examining them.
During live-streaming of the proceedings, members of the public and media will be able to submit questions and suggestions for consideration, the release said.
The Assembly will conclude with a follow-up session in October to review the input, the deliberation’s transcripts and the results of the Oct. 19 referendum, and generate recommendations about what participants believe is “the best path forward for Alberta and Canada West.”
The organizing committee will then submit the recommendations to the the legislatures of the western provinces so that elected officials can examine the findings.
Referendum
The text of the question on separation will read, “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
Other questions will ask whether Alberta should seek more control over immigration and limit some health care and education services to citizens, permanent residents and those with “Alberta-approved immigration status.”
The referendum will also include proposals to work with other provincial governments to abolish the “unelected federal Senate,” ask for Alberta to have more say in picking judges in the province, and give Alberta more authority to regulate provincially in areas where its power potentially overlaps with the federal government.
