Thursday, October 31, 2019
VOLUME 2 I ISSUE 18
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
What’s next for the West?
Border City talks separation, western alienation following federal election TAYLOR WEAVER
EDITOR
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West e rn C a na d a is sending a message to Ottawa. Roughly 80 Border City and area residents made their way to the Lloydminster Exh on Sunday evening to discuss What’s Next for the West after Justin Trudeau’s Liberals walked away from the Oct. 21 election with a minority government. Participants heard how Western Canadians are fed up with Prime Minister Trudeau’s lack of support for the energy sector, among many other things, and have felt a sense of defeat since the 2015 federal election. “This isn’t a room full of wild and crazy ideologists that want to separate just for the point of separating; that’s not why we’re here. We’re here out of desperation, wouldn’t you agree?” said Drew Lake in an opening statement to the crowd.
Lake is a life-long oil and gas worker from Lloydminster who has been politically active as a board member with the Conservative Party of Canada and the United Conservative Party for several years. “We all watched the election results and it just wasn’t very good for us out here. We’re going on five years of being battered and bruised, and a good chunk of that had to do with commodity prices, but let’s face it, policies have made a huge impact, especially with the lack of pipeline capacity,” he said. “The west is hurting bad and it’s time to gather the people and have a serious discussion about the future.” Lake explained the goal of Sunday’s meeting was to
raise awareness that westerners just can’t take any more. Economically, the energy and agriculture sectors in the west have been tough on many hardworking Canadians. “People can understand the intrigue and excitement in 2015 with Trudeau and the election … a fresh young face, exciting message, something different …
but after the last four years of demonstrative performance, out here we view it as a lot of follies, especially on the energy file,” he said. “People out here can’t fathom the Liberals winning a single seat, let alone enough seats to form a government again. “This is very, very serious and we need to send a message. When you have a bunch of
lawyers and oilfield workers that are Canadian at heart and feel like they’re backed into a corner and there aren’t any options for survival, that’s a big deal.” Lake added his intent on Sunday was to bring awareness to politicians that it’s time to step up the game when it comes to the energy sector. The word on the minds of those in at t e nd a nc e w a s se p aration, something being heavily discussed throughout Western Canada. “I’m not a separatist at heart but I’m starting to run out of ideas, and I think our politicians are too,” said Lake. “There’s very little they can do at this point and I think it’s been a bit of a laughing stock
WEXIT founder Peter Downing speaks at the Lloydminster Exh on Sunday evening. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
for others in the country when they hear about the West wanting to separate. “It’s not out of spite or greed; it’s out of pure desperation. There are as many ideas on separation as there are people. Some people want to move to the U.S., some people want to stand alone, some want Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and parts of B.C. to band together.” With the Liberals now holding a minority government, Lake explained this outcome could be more detrimental to the west than a Liberal majority. “The Liberal minority is kind of a worstcase scenario because if they want to pass votes through Parliament they’re going to have to form a coalition with the NDP or Green Party and, quite frankly, their policies are a lot more extreme towards oil and gas,” he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3