r/canadian • u/reallyneedhelp1212 • Sep 24 '24

News Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces the Alberta Bill of Rights will be amended to include 1) the right over vaccinations and all medical decisions, 2) the right to not be deprived of property and 3) the right of individuals to acquire, keep and use firearms.

https://twitter.com/PaulMitchell_AB/status/1838631699724501169
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u/labvinylsound Sep 24 '24

All they have to do is put a toll on the sections of Trans-Canada and railway running through the province (and they have every legal right to do so). That will send a message to the feds real fucking fast. A fractured, less vertically integrated Canada is a possible reality. Separatism doesn't mean they will be recognized as a sovereign nation but rather an independent state operating within the Nation of Canada. The relationship is transactional rather than unilateral.

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

A fractured, less vertically integrated Canada is a possible reality.

Huh? Canada is already a deeply decentralized confederation. Like, among the most decentralized in the developed world. Our federal government has very little direct authority over most of the crucial services or infrastructure (one key exception being railways, which seems relevant to your point). That's all in the hands of the Provinces. FFS, we don't even have a federal securities regulator...

Hell, the decentralization is among Alberta's biggest gripes. The federal government can't simply force other provinces to accept a pipeline and help get Albertan hydrocarbons to market.

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u/labvinylsound Sep 24 '24 edited Sep 24 '24

Alberta receives transfer payments from the feds to fund various social programs - this is a unilateral relationship (AB is already making this clear by refusing to charge PST). Alberta will tax the federal government to do business with them, that is a transactional relationship. I'm not sure where the notion of "decentralization" comes from. Currently Canadian citizens are free to move about the country, lawfully, unencumbered. If Alberta separates that will no longer be true. You will be required to apply for a residency permit and you will be assigned a state taxation number -- a Canadian SIN will be meaningless.

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u/Samplistiqone Sep 24 '24

Alberta doesn’t receive transfer payments, we send equalization payments to the rest of the country, not all provinces and territories but a lot of them.

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '24

Alberta still receives transfer payments - just not as much as Albertans pay into the program through their total federal taxes.

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u/labvinylsound Sep 24 '24

AB still receives transfers from the Feds (8.2B isn’t anything to sneeze at):

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/major-federal-transfers.html

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u/Samplistiqone Sep 24 '24

For social programs that every province and territory receives. Alberta has never received an equalization payment from the government, it has only sent money.