Kim McDonald

I don't post much. I travel X to respond to others and offer truth (and sometimes questions) in threads where the OP or comments are off the rails.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@DoctorSpratley @LindaBowyer17 @bruce_arthur Because it's CANADA!!

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

She's reckless because she created the separation "desire" in the first place.

I always vote Conservative and I don't dislike Smith, but one must always remember that she IS a politician. Politicians say things to get themselves elected and the most effective way is to create a "problem" that only that politician can solve.

Smith is the one who kept saying that Ottawa was stealing from Alberta and that Alberta was subsidizing Eastern Canada, etc. etc. She created the "enemy" to fight. She got elected, got on with the job and forgot about her campaign rhetoric. A lot of Albertans didn't forget, though.

What she did is reckless.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

You are absolutely incorrect on this. Canada does NOT hate you.

The Alberta separatists have conflated their hatred of the Liberal Party as hatred of "Canada." The Liberals are NOT Canada. I'm Canadian. I don't live in Alberta. I hate the Liberals, too, but I LOVE my country.

Seeing how some of the separatists are behaving online and being abusive to other Canadians is certainly not winning them any allies or sympathy.

Here's the reality. Whether I live in Ontario, Alberta or New Brunswick, my federal tax burden on my salary would be exactly the same and I, just like every Albertan, have no power to dictate or control federal spending, so why be ignorant to me?

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

So, tell me how you envision this going, really.

Let's say that Alberta can secede. It's a process that will take between 5 to 10 years. There will definitely be another federal election before Alberta could be independent, that's for sure.

Now we are somewhere between 2031 to 2036.

It has already begun, and is continuing globally, to move away from fossil fuels as much as possible. It is known there will always be some need in colder climates to at least have a "back up" of fossil fuel, even if it is not the primary source of energy. But, the demand for oil is going to significantly drop in the next 25 years.

While Alberta has an immense amount of oil, it is universally known that is the most expensive to extract and refine. Add to that the waning demand, and how WILL an independent Alberta support itself after 2050? Is anybody thinking that far ahead? What's the plan?

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

I live in Ontario and make very good money. If you have the same salary as me while living in Alberta, you and I both pay the exact same amount of federal taxes.

Ontario, like Alberta, is a "HAVE" province with 3 times the population, collectively pays 3 times as much in federal tax and except for a couple of anomalous years (2008 - Housing Bubble & 2024 - Massive immigration), also receives $0 equalization payments. So tell me why Alberta has it so rough and it's unfair.

Do you know what is REALLY different between Ontario and Alberta? In Ontario, we have 2+ MILLION people living below the poverty line. In Alberta you have less than 200,000!!

So, we have 3 times the population but TEN times the number of people living in poverty. So, WE don't get transfer payments, either. So, do you know how these people are supported? With high provincial taxes on top of the federal!

We pay 8% provincial sales tax on top of the 5% GST on almost everything we buy. You don't.

We have land transfer tax. Toronto has DOUBLE land transfer tax. You don't.

We have to pay Health Premiums. You don't.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@erik_thorvalds I did tell Quebeckers that when they were looking to separate. They didn't and neither will Alberta, for the same reasons.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@erik_thorvalds There are about 680 Billion of them. They are called dollars.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

No. The first thing would be the redefining of what constitutes the country of Canada. All references to Alberta as a province, which was created by the federal government out of its North-West territories, would have to be removed. The legal borders would have to be redefined.

Seat allocation would change as the government would likely remove some seats and then have to redistribute what remains based on population, just as it is now. Alberta has approx. 5 million people. Remove that number from the country and it would likely cause a change to the number of seats other provinces currently have.

At the end of the day, these are discussions of what would have to happen if Alberta left Canada, but as Alberta will not be leaving Canada, because objective reality will eventually sink in, I'm chalking all of these discussions up to a great lesson in civics. It seems many, many Canadians are in dire need of it.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

Most provincial votes don't require constitutional amendments, but the secession of a province does.

The amendment would rewrite clauses that pertain to:
- geographical boundaries and the naming of the provinces
- federal political seat allocation
- adjusting the amending formula, itself. Currently 7 of 10 provinces need to approve. After, it would be altered to 6
- equalisation payments
- division of assets and liabilities
- Indigenous treaty rights

These are just a few of the many things that are found in the Canadian Constitution that would need to be addressed.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

There would absolutely be no recognition of Alberta separated from Canada by any of the international bodies if Alberta separated unilaterally.

Also, you are incorrect about what you call "good faith" negotiations, to a degree.

What must be understood by all is that it is the federal government of Canada, and ONLY the federal government, which has the authority to deem a supposed separation referendum question sufficiently precise and acceptable. A province could hold a hundred referendums and the feds could reject them a hundred times. This is why the FIRST referendum question in Alberta will be whether or not to hold a referendum regarding separation.

The separation question has to be so precisely worded and provide so much disclosure that the drafting of such a question will cost a lot of dollars in legal fees. If the referendum on whether or not to hold a referendum shows not much interest, it dies there.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@CB4755 @CSmartarsery @Mellyfax Sure. It's Part V of the Constitution Act

https://t.co/jIqyBaKKcg

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@CSmartarsery @Mellyfax You do know that you don't just leave because Y(OU vote, right?

You do understand that a Constitutional amendment is needed where 7 provinces accounting for at least 50% of the population ALSO have to agree.

WE, the rest of Canada, actually have ALL the say!!

Good grief.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@AsbstosAlbertan @RiseOfAlberta No, that is not how the law is written. The Constitution Act granted exclusive jurisdiction of resources to the PROVINCE. If Alberta separates it will no longer be a "province" of Canada so the Constitution will not apply.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

It's unlikely that title would return to the Crown, but you did highlight a valid point.

The Constitution Act, 1867 s. 109 and the amendments of 1982 at s. 92A grant exclusive "provincial" jurisdiction over the natural resources found within each "province." However, if Alberta separated it wouldn't be a province any more and the Constitution would no longer apply.

This means that as part of the separation negotiations, Canada would likely demand a percentage of the revenue from the sale of the resources, including oil, and this would ultimately result in more money leaving Alberta to the Canadian government than is now.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

Okay, for argument's sake let's say you win the referendum. Then what?

The rest of Canada says NO and unless you, the province in which the people are the least taxed in the country, can somehow make OTHER Canadians believe you're victims and change their minds, you could hold 100 referendums and it wouldn't change a thing.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

The only reason to ever threaten separation is as a negotiation tactic to get some "better" cooperation with the federal government.

For some of you; however, it has turned into a religion and you can no longer see the forest for the trees.

What you do not realize is that it doesn't matter what Alberta wants if the rest of Canada says, "NO!" A Constitutional amendment would be needed and to get that both the House of Commons and Senate need to approve. Then you need to get a minimum of 7 provinces that must account for at least HALF of the population to approve.

Ontario and Quebec will NEVER approve and together that is nearly 26 million in a country of 40 million. Do the math.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@That_Bebbzy_Guy How is keeping the people informed about the REAL $$ cost associated with separation "actively campaigning" for Ottawa and Carney?

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@CalgaryDave I honestly do not know or understand what separatists think separation looks like, but Smith's numbers are in the range of cost. Alberta's share of the federal debt is a large portion on its own.

[Kim McDonald @TorontoKimM]

@bruce_mcgonigal These warnings are absolutely credible.