Answers for the top five questions about Alberta independence.

Hey there. I've been coming off a lot of speaking events. I got a lot more coming

speaking events. I got a lot more coming and it's really obviously been a valuable part of the whole Alberta independence movement. And you know,

independence movement. And you know, there's people in groups going up. Mitch

is just running off his feet out there.

Jeff Wrath, uh, Chris Scott, Jason Lavine, people are going to these gatherings and learning about independence, supporting independence, and asking questions. Obviously, we we

need to answer a lot of questions to get those people who are undecided to make their mind up. Of course, presumably, we want them to support independence. And

I've really found a trend though of the same questions are often coming up at these meetings over and over again.

Well, all that tells us is we've got to answer those questions a little better and we got to be prepared to answer them often. We're going to hear them more

often. We're going to hear them more when this independence movement move really moves into the dooring campaigning phase and everything. All of

us who are trying to make the case for this are going to want to be able to offer a good concise, we can't have long drawn out discussions at the door, but an answer to some of the the questions

we're going to hear the most because it's it's important. So, I did a list of top um independence questions almost a year ago, I think, and it was wellreceived. But now with uh you know

wellreceived. But now with uh you know that much time and this many more meetings, I want to kind of rep prioritize and cover it because some things have changed and I've got a a much better idea of what people have been coming at me with at these

meetings. Number one far by far is

meetings. Number one far by far is pensions. People are asking about their

pensions. People are asking about their pension. People are worried about their

pension. People are worried about their pension and it's a genuine concern. And

if we look at polling, you know, things have changed this time with the independence movement. uh younger people

independence movement. uh younger people are actually embracing it far more than they ever did in the past. Mostly

because they're looking and they say, "I don't see a future in buying a house or having a long-term good career or uh you know, having a large family like I wanted to because that that future just

isn't available in Canada as it is." So,

they're looking at independence. It used

to be mostly older people looking at the independence movement. You see that at

independence movement. You see that at the meetings, but you know, when you go to the signing stations, that's another thing. I've been dropping by those all

thing. I've been dropping by those all over the place. people have been petition signing stations is fantastic.

You really see the younger people showing up there. You got to remember younger people don't have time or necessarily even interest in going to the public meetings, but a lot of the older people do. So that might be part of what skews the question too, but

clearly we've got to be clear on the pension question.

We will not threaten anybody's pension ever. Uh we we have to make it clear two

ever. Uh we we have to make it clear two things. Even if Alberta becomes

things. Even if Alberta becomes independent, pensions are transferable. Okay? You can

move right now. You could move to Batswana. You and if you qualify for

Batswana. You and if you qualify for Canadian pension, you will get your pension payments every month while you're there. OAS, those things they

you're there. OAS, those things they move. They follow you. Those are

move. They follow you. Those are

entitlements of yours that you paid into. Works the same with any private

into. Works the same with any private plan as well. I mean, they aren't contingent on you being in the same country where you began. Now,

some people think that Canada would do something as as as ridiculous as cutting off people's pensions if Alberta became independent.

For one, they won't do that. Okay, they

really won't. I I know the country does a lot of bad things. Uh but even if they did in that absurd awful scenario,

remember there's no way Albertans are going to let their fellow Albertans become vulnerable and starve due to that. Now looking at the pension plan

that. Now looking at the pension plan alone already, I I don't have the numbers on hand for that. It's we pay out I believe nine billion and and we collect six billion. There's like a three billion a year surplus just

because of our demographics and our earning ability in Alberta. We're

already getting a bad deal on a pension if we had to take it over on the fly because Canada said we're going to stop paying all Albertans because you voted to become independent. All right. Well,

we've got the revenue to do it. And if

you look at the overall thing as well, we send out uh you know, we have a net loss of $23 billion every year just paying into the federation and then

not getting back in goods and services and transfers. Okay, that can be

and transfers. Okay, that can be dedicated towards pensions. There's no

way we would ever let any Albertan pensioners collect less than what they're already collecting within Canada. We just why would we possibly want to do that? And

we have to assure people because they are worried. So, you know, we got to

are worried. So, you know, we got to cover the two fronts. For one, you're entitled to that pension from Canada. We

would make that as part of our negotiations after a positive vote on how we extricate ourselves from the existing plan and what sort of balance would come over. And people worry about a disruption as well. Look, it wouldn't

happen overnight. It's not a light

happen overnight. It's not a light switch. They're not going to stop

switch. They're not going to stop payments the day after yes vote. But

it's a legitimate worry if a person's dependent on it. We have to assure them this will not happen. And no matter what happens, we will make sure that all of

our seniors get at least what they're getting in pension and OAS and GIS right now. We're not going to become

now. We're not going to become independent just to make a whole bunch of our seniors become insolvent and homeless. Okay? But that case has to be

homeless. Okay? But that case has to be made. It it gets almost frustrating. I

made. It it gets almost frustrating. I

said that to somebody the other day because, you know, I I hear the same question a hundred times and and you get almost impatient with it. But I got to remember it's not one person asking me the same question a hundred times. is

100 people ask me the same question over and over again which means we aren't answering it well enough or even if we are a lot of people just want that answer so be prepared to answer that one

number two and it's still there and you hear it all the time but we're landlocked yes we are we're landlocked right now in fact

due to the cowardice of the federal government in refusing to make a federation what it's supposed to be which means you facilitate trade across provinces even if the other that that's

the few authorities that they have if this is going to be a federation is supposed to be partnerships that don't allow other provinces to hinder trade among each other but they don't they allow British Columbia to stop our our

export of goods they allow Quebec to stop our export of goods they give a false veto authority to the indigenous I'll talk about that more in a minute because that's another one of the questions

how can we do any worse I guess is the question, right? So, if we become

question, right? So, if we become independent and and we got to talk again, there's lots of landlocked nations in the world. Some people talk about how there's the UN treaty that, you know, forces the allowance uh for

landlocked countries to to get their goods to port. And that's true, but you got to remember as well, it's not like the UN's going to march in with the blue helmets and force British Columbia to allow us to put another pipeline through them. Just gives you a little more

them. Just gives you a little more weight when you're negotiating. But

everything is about negotiation. and

who's offering who what and what's coming through. And we have a mountain

coming through. And we have a mountain of leverage as an independent province.

We have squat for leverage in the federation. In the federation, we get

federation. In the federation, we get short changed on Senate seats, supreme court seats, uh prime ministers, and uh House of Commons seats per capita. We

have little leverage as a province. They

take us for granted. And independent

Alberta, on the other hand, then you negotiate nation to nation. Then you say to British Columbia, we would like to put a pipeline through. And it's not like you can take a bulldozer and force it through another country, which is

what it would be. You have to make a deal. You have to make sure they get a

deal. You have to make sure they get a piece of the action. You know, they both parties have to do well. But if they become intrigent and really not allowing this to happen, okay, that's fine. You

remember there's only four rail lines that come from British Columbia to Alberta. We can block them as a country.

Alberta. We can block them as a country.

We'll just block them. We'll block the highways and block the rail lines.

How many hours would it take before they start opening negotiations to have a pipeline? Hours. Because the containers

pipeline? Hours. Because the containers are going to be stacking up, the trains are going to be backed up. The port is going to be backed up. They don't have another route to get across. Likewise,

goods coming from Eastern Canada to get to the West Coast port all getting backed up over there. It's not going to happen. They realize that. That's what

happen. They realize that. That's what

I'm talking about. Mutually beneficial

relationships and negotiations. So

people saying they'd never allow anything through British Columbia ever again if he became independent is just a falsehood. It's shallow and uh we would

falsehood. It's shallow and uh we would negotiate getting our goods to market.

It's mutually beneficial for both sides.

In the federation, it doesn't appear to be. So the landlocked issue is not

be. So the landlocked issue is not really a big hindrance. Likewise, our

population, you know, five million people. Well, Norway is not starving,

people. Well, Norway is not starving, are they? That's where they're sitting

are they? That's where they're sitting at. Uh they, you know, the Norway fund

at. Uh they, you know, the Norway fund with oil and gas, by the way, people keep saying, "Why can't Alberta do that?" because that normally doesn't

that?" because that normally doesn't have a Quebec yolk hanging over its neck draining equalization every year and I know we don't write a direct check for equalization. I wrote a video on that in

equalization. I wrote a video on that in another thing. Either way, the landlock

another thing. Either way, the landlock issue won't bother us. Look, some of our most prosperous nations are landlocked.

Switzerland, Austria, uh Venezuela, look at that. All the oil and gas in the

at that. All the oil and gas in the world, huge coastlining, they're dirt poor. It's a manage matter of policy,

poor. It's a manage matter of policy, not coastal access as to how things go.

and we will have better policies as an independent Alberta. So, back to the

independent Alberta. So, back to the indigenous thing that comes up a lot and we're certainly hearing a lot of it in the news because opponents, the federalis, the federalists, the the

independence opponents like putting out that mythological nationhood power upon the indigenous people. They like to make it sound like

people. They like to make it sound like we need their permission to become independent, which is 100% untrue. Okay?

It's untrue.

And that myth is going to keep going.

And yes, some of these indigenous chiefs, they're either lying or they don't even understand their own rights.

I think there's a little bit of both going on with that. I mean, they went to meet with King Charles for crying out loud. What century do they think we're

loud. What century do they think we're in? Okay, I understand. We have crown

in? Okay, I understand. We have crown land. Change the word to make it modern.

land. Change the word to make it modern.

It's government land. King Charles has no claim on it. He has no real authority here.

The treaties seeded 98.3% of this province forever in perpetuity.

Absolutely. And the natives were very clear in signing off saying they have no future claim to that land. The 1.3%

remaining that's reserve land that may end up we were talking about partition. There might be little groups

partition. There might be little groups then within uh reserves who say that they're still part of Canada post independence and with the treaties.

Well, there were agreements to that identifiable group. Okay, fine. We'll

identifiable group. Okay, fine. We'll

see how that works out. You guys

negotiate with Canada, do your thing, build an airport and and fly back and forth over Alberta, do your thing, whatever. We'll negotiate that and work

whatever. We'll negotiate that and work it out, too. Uh we're not throwing away treaty rights. We're not uh you know,

treaty rights. We're not uh you know, looking to have a referendum to uh dissolve the treaty. So, there is an interesting discussion with the Bruce Party about doing that. But we do want to get out of having you know things

like racebased policy in our constitution like section 35 in the federal constitution. And that's another

federal constitution. And that's another area where our opponents like to uh offer mistruths about the powers of section 35 for the indigenous. It means

we have to consult them. The word

consent is nowhere in there. We do not need their consent for for industrial projects or for independence.

Consultation, sure. There's no better way to consult in the world than holding a referendum where every citizen gets a vote, indigenous or non, and they will be consulted. They'll have eight months

be consulted. They'll have eight months to consult. We're working on it. Um, but

to consult. We're working on it. Um, but

they have to be treated with respect.

They are Alberta citizens and we should work with them as much as we can. But

for people saying we can't go because the indigenous, it's just a lie. Okay?

And if anything, it's dividing us already with a a population of citizens of Albertans who are already socially divided from the rest of us uh badly enough that we really really don't want

to, you know, make that any worse. But

answering the indigenous question, can they stop it? Do they have that right?

Absolutely not. They do not. And uh

unfortunately, I don't always trust the wisdom of judges.

If they try to block the referendum and use this uh false indigenous right of veto to do it, remember, you're telling Quebec that they can't go as well. I

don't think they're going to take well to that. You know, the attitude of

to that. You know, the attitude of Quebec when it comes to these things, they say, "We're going to do it anyway.

We don't care. We don't recognize your stupid rulings. So, let's just stick to

stupid rulings. So, let's just stick to the rules we've got and the rules let us go potentially." And that's the next

go potentially." And that's the next part with the question people are asking because that's what a lot of the opponents that Jason Kenny's the Fabio's Lucas and others. You can't go. You're

not allowed to go. The Clarity Act doesn't let you go. You need Canada's permission to go. You need to have a constitutional amendment with seven province of 57 population to go. It's

all a lot of whooie, guys. Okay,

look at the clarity act. The Clarity Act lays out a legal path for the independence of a province.

It might be a tough path. We might not successfully navigate that path, but there is a path. When somebody says it's impossible to go, they're lying. And we

have to counter that lie. They're lying.

We can go and we're following the path set out. And very few countries have

set out. And very few countries have that path. It's great that we have it in

that path. It's great that we have it in a democratic mechanism. The first step of that path is a referendum with a clear question, which we already have proposed and that's what people are petitioning for. And then the the

petitioning for. And then the the tougher part that's in the Clarity Act.

What constitutes a clear majority? Look,

they would put a basic majority or another point, another term in the legislation if they really meant 50% plus one. I've heard from people say

plus one. I've heard from people say it's 50% plus one is enough. It's a

majority. It's not. It's not.

I I the worst possible thing we could have in an independence referendum is a 50.5% yes vote because we're going to be mired up in challenges and people questioning

whether that constitutes a clear majority or not. I don't know the exact number of what it is. The number I use often is let's say 60%. Because it's

unquestionable at that point. Two out of three Albertans are saying that's enough. We're ready to rule. We're ready

enough. We're ready to rule. We're ready

to go. Don't question us. Plus, it gives us a lot of strength leverage when it gets to the other part of the clarity act because it does mean yes. When we

vote yes, it triggers the next step of the process and it is a process where you begin negotiations with the rest of the country. But the negotiations are to

the country. But the negotiations are to negotiate the exit of the province, not to block it. And it says within that in good faith and that means on both parties.

It's like if you've started the process of a divorce, you start negotiating. You

go back and forth with your spouse. Some

people can get through it smoothly and rel relatively quickly. Other people

eventually have to get to a point of a judge that says this is the going to be the deal. We're done. You're out. And

the deal. We're done. You're out. And

this will be a little different. If the

other spouse is being intrigent eventually and will not let it happen and they do mention that in the Supreme Court reference case, there's nothing to stop us from doing a unilateral declaration of independence. Nothing.

What really what are they going to do about it if we try on good faith and start negotiating in Canada? So when

people are talking about that constitutional amendment need okay yes that would have to happen for the province not so much for the province become independent but that's going to have to happen once the province becomes independent because the country is now

different it's changed the affair is different that's a you problem you know what do we care about what the Canadian constitution is going to look like if we're leaving the federation so if they

want to say you got to wait for us to get our constitutional crap in order no that's not negotiating in good faith that's stalling that's putting demands on us when we've already uh moved

towards the door. So, uh no, we're out and we'll deal with that when we get to it. Either way, it's difficult. It's not

it. Either way, it's difficult. It's not

going to happen overnight. It's going to take a lot of work. It would take a very strong positive vote. It would take some negotiations. It would take some time,

negotiations. It would take some time, but it's not impossible. So, when people say you can't do it, when they say it's illegal for Alberta to leave, when they say it's treasonous, when they say they're traders and things like that, they're lying. They're lying. So, who's

they're lying. They're lying. So, who's

on the right side? The ones that have to make up lies to make their case are the ones who are actually following the rules set out in the Clarity Act.

The independence groups seem to be more principled at this point, don't they?

Just another final one. Now, there's a lot of questions that come up and 100 things you could talk about, but one that's been interesting and we're hearing a lot again about it's more of a vacuous approach, but we're hearing it a

lot. And there's there's fair enough

lot. And there's there's fair enough questions about saying you won't be able to take the national parks, you won't be able to take the military bases, you won't be able to take the, you know,

federal prisons, federal assets, federal buildings. Guys, that's what

buildings. Guys, that's what negotiations about. People ask, "What

negotiations about. People ask, "What will happen with the national parks?"

Well, we negotiate. We talked to the other side. I mean, again, if we're

other side. I mean, again, if we're talking about collective ownership, that means Alberta owns a chunk of every other national park in the country, too.

So, we're giving up our share of that and we're having them here because we got to get realistic. Let's say Alberta becomes independent. Are we going to

becomes independent. Are we going to keep these national parks with what?

Helicopter only access to get into them.

Come on, let's get real. That's not

negotiating in good faith. That's not

reasonable. We will negotiate. They will

become national parks within the independent Alberta. Same with

independent Alberta. Same with penitentiies, military bases. It takes

discussion back and forth, but there's no refusing to let us have it. It

doesn't work that way. We're not going to cut little chunks out of the province over there still under federal ownership. This is opponents playing

ownership. This is opponents playing what aboutism with us. Just what about what about what about what about what about hoping we give up. Look, it's

going to be hard. There's hundreds of things we have to deal with. But it's

funny people talk about we got to deal with currency. We got to deal with

with currency. We got to deal with passports. You got to deal with Yeah. So

passports. You got to deal with Yeah. So

what a hund and some countries already do all this. We're not talking about reinventing the wheel guys. This isn't

impossible at all. We pay for it all. We

just be taking it in house. But we have to answer those questions. So somebody's

asking about say the federal assets question which in my view is a again it's from people making a shallow foolish case against independents.

But the person asking that question might genuinely be concerned because they heard from somebody who is lying to them about what would happen to those assets and they're genuinely concerned.

So we have to answer those genuinely and appropriately to make them comfortable because we got to take those question marks out of people's minds before they're going to move that pen over to the yes side that we need and

getting that clear majority that we need. And that time's going to pass

need. And that time's going to pass fast. So, I just wanted to share that

fast. So, I just wanted to share that because as I said, when I go to meeting after meeting after meeting and I hear the same things, that tells me that more people need to hear it then and we need to prepare better answers for it because we're all making the case. It's amazing.

I mean, thousands of volunteers, popup signing stations everywhere. I'm getting

booked solid for speaking engagements because people want to hear about this and they're moving on this. I've never

seen anything like it. I'm pumped. And

of course, I always got to make my plug because I do write the guide on this sort of thing, the Sveratus Handbook.

It's got more details on how to be a more effective advocate for the independence of Alberta. Uh, grab a copy if you could. There'll be a link to it down in the video description. And uh,

if you're looking to get involved in anything else, check out StayFree Alberta. All the events are there

Alberta. All the events are there holding are all listed there and places where you can sign the petitions and things like that. Either way, I just wanted to answer those most common questions because it's so important to

get all that clear. And uh, carry on, folks. We're on the right track.

folks. We're on the right track.