The current BC Conservative Party leadership contest is casting light on an aspect of BC’s identity that bears closer scrutiny. Five leadership candidates remain in the hunt to become British Columbia’s next Premier, a lofty ambition requiring the courage of a lion, the wisdom of Plato, the vision of Aristotle and the judgement of Solomon. The contest has proven challenging, even difficult at times, and perhaps that is as it should be. BC is in a current financial crisis that is worsening every day as the current NDP government under the dubious ‘leadership’ of David Eby is mishandling crisis after crisis, economic, social, political and ideological. Voters are becoming increasingly disillusioned and many are leaving BC for fairer pastures where those disenchanted residents are hoping for better jobs, afffordable home purchase opportunities and perhaps even a freer political climate where parents can raise their children with an absolute minimum of government interference and ideological indoctrination.
While all five current candidates have shown somewhat predictable consistency and agreement on many political, social and economic issues, only one candidate, former Federal Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay, has rolled out a plan that economically actually addresses the concept of a ‘Western Alliance’ with Alberta and Saskatchewan. This initiative boldly addresses a “bold plan to build the infrastructure, constitutional foundations, and economic freedom that will define Western Canada for generations.” [quote from findly4bc.ca website]
Findlay’s vision addresses an economic reality that is hotly debated in BC and fundamentally interwoven with the social, legislative and judicial challenges created with the passage of BC’s DRIPA legislation designed to incorporate the United Nation’s UNDRIP declaration relating to all internal BC economic activities of consequence moving forward, together with unforeseen challenges on crown lands, private property, demands of repatriation, restorative justice and reparations. BC is somewhat unique in its status of having less than 5% of its land under normative treaties – a historical anomaly stemming from its colonial history both pre and post Confederation. Coupled with the BC Constitution as written and recent judicial decisions, a level of economic and social uncertainty has arisen in BC with no apparent ability of the sitting BC NDP majority legislature to bring forward a satisfactory resolution in the foreseeable future.
The result is collapsing public confidence in BC’s economic prospects and a commensurate decline in private investment in the province. Investors do not intend to risk capital in projects that can be assaulted with claims of vested interest from any number of otherwise disassociated parties and the Eby led NDP government has been rendered impotent by threats of significant physical intervention and civil unrest should any proposed changes be made to existing (beneficial to First Nations and related claimants) legislation, including DRIPA. Couple the stagnation of future resource development projects with the existing antipathy in BC politics to expansion of resource related transportation corridors through BC to seaport destinations and it is easy to envisage a BC that is becoming economically crippled with consequences detrimental to all BC residents, now and in the future.
It is unrealistic to expect that David Eby can survive this crisis. It is also highly unlikely that the NDP can survive the damage they themselves have created – thus opening the door to the very real, likely probability that the new leader of the BC Conservatives will, in fact, lead that party into a BC legislature with a majority – and a mandate to ‘fix what’s broke’. That’s perhaps the good news for some. The bad news is a reality check. The hole that the BC NDP under David Eby is terrifyingly deep – and getting deeper.
There is no easy fix and the recovery process will be long and difficult – exacerbated by an uncooperative Liberal government under Mark Carney that is also stifling growth and resource development in the West for his own arcane reasons. BC has not yet hit bottom and a general election is not even guaranteed before October 21, 2028. A huge amount of economic and social damage can be done in the meantime. Job seekers, including young professionals and their families, are already leaving BC in droves and current prospects for immediate solutions that will benefit non-aboriginals is bleak, at best. BC needs not only a quicker election but a complete reversal in ideology, an absolute commitment to economic activity in the resource sector and legislative amendments to restore certainty and confidence in British Columbia and its economic prospects.
It’s time to circle back to Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her bold plan to create a Western Alliance to help BC dig itself out of a hole so deep that, even now, many discouraged BC residents and voters can barely see the light of day. Make no mistake, the road to recovery will be long and difficult – and that’s after BC digs itself out of the hole that we’re in. It will take a very unique individual with an unenviable resolve and determination because the challenges will be many, the opposition will be fierce and the hurdles will seem endless. But the road to recovery is never easy and all BC residents and voters will serve themselves best by remembering how we got into this mess – and what it took to extract ourselves from an ideological folly of our own creation. Not all BC are going to understand our peril at this critical time. Many BC voters will fiercely reject the pain that recovery is going to cause as their complacency and unsustainable belief system ideology is shaken to the core – exposing it for all of its fallacies and shortcomings.
I will now get to the real crux of the challenge that lies ahead. Let’s consider that BC voters and residents grudgingly accept that BC is in crisis and that serious measures must be taken, however painful, to assure prosperity and a bright future for succeeding generations. Let us, for argument’s sake, assume that a timely election results in a BC Conservative majority government with the power to right our sinking ship. Let’s further assume that the captain of our ship is the newly anointed leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay who has both the wisdom and the foresight to recognize that a ‘Western Alliance’ with the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan is our absolute best chance to ensure recovery and a bright, prosperous BC future. [Disclaimer: As an economist who has actually done business as an analyst in those adjoining provinces, I agree with her basic premises.]
My very real concerns (as both an analyst and a cynic of long standing)?
- BC does not see itself (currently) as an aligned partner of the other Western provinces, economically, ideologically, politically or societally.
- Alberta and Saskatchewan similarly do not see BC as an aligned partner with shared values, visions and initiatives.
- A Liberal federal government under Mark Carney will impede, rather than support, any notion of a Western Alliance that is detrimental to the long held Liberal policy that Western Canada must be held in check; denied from both political as well as economic power within Canada’s federation.
- Any agreement among three distinct, diverse provinces will require an enormous expenditure in time, legislative resources and political will which must be unwavering and enforceable over time in order for a Western Alliance concept to have any meaningful chance of succeeding.
- A Western Alliance must be written in a manner that survives political changes in any, or all, of the distinct provinces. I do not envisage any such agreement surviving without constitutional recognition. For the record, currently Alberta and Saskatchewan do not have written constitutions in which any form of Western Alliance could be contemplated, enshrined or enforced. Any Western Alliance would, at best, be similar to a Memorandum of Understanding which could be broken at any time, without consequence, by any of the parties thereto – notwithstanding any hopeful boilerplate clause wording to the contrary. Essentially, a handshake agreement.
- Any potential Western Alliance would be politically and economically strengthened against federal interference if all participating provinces strengthened their own provincial autonomies over constitutional authorities already granted included provincial income tax, pension plan, health care, education, resource development, immigration (shared federally), environment oversight (shared federally), and a myriad of others contemplated both in the famous ‘Firewall Letter of January, 2001 in Alberta) and in my own 2017 White Paper on a New BC Party (a copy of which will be appended as the following blog post). Leverage against a hostile federal government would be mandatory and essential to long term success, including negotiating federally regulated favourable terms and conditions for interprovincial transportation initiatives.
- Rightly or wrongly, I’m not sure most BC residents west of a north-south line dissecting the Okanagan even see themselves as part of ‘the West’.
- Similarly, many in Alberta and Saskatchewan see BC as ‘Lotus Land’ with dramatically, unacceptable differences in ideology not easily bridged by any economic agreement.
In a Nutshell, those are my views on the matter. I welcome yours.
Respectfully,
Glen Walushka, Moderator and Host
Voice of the West and Independent Media Canada
Saddle Up and Let’s Ride.