The year was 1901. There was no Alberta. There was no Saskatchewan. There was Manitoba – but a fraction of its present size. There was BC – but separated from the rest of Canada by the North West Territory & Rupert’s Land, purchased by Canada in 1970 from the Hudson Bay Company.
Just as today, it was time for a decision. A decision that would shape the West for more than a century – until today.
”If you form part of what I would like to see – one big province in the West, you will have unlimited resources; you will be able to do things no province in Canada has ever been able to do …”. The words of Frederick Haultain as he made his impassioned speech to create a vast province stretching from Manitoba to the Rockies .
What might have been. What could have been.
What could still be.
The politics of the day ultimately turned on Premier Haultain & separate, smaller, less economically independent provinces of Alberta & Saskatchewan joined the Confederation of Canada in 1905. History books tell the tale of what took place.
Voice of the West invites all Westerners & Northerners to join the discussion of what still could become a reality. Frederick Haultain’s vision of a West with unlimited resources – able to do things no province in Canada has been able to do.
Voice of the West is meant to become your voice as Westerners. Voice of the West will provide facts, will ask questions that must be asked. Voice of the West will allow you to ask your own questions, in the process perhaps providing your own answers worthy of merit – worth sharing with others.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana
The West is not condemned to repeat past mistakes.
A brighter future perhaps awaits for Westerners & Northerners bold enough to accept the challenge