Canada was built on Partnership, and that is the key to our success. It has been this way for a long time, long before Alberta became a province in 1905. In fact, those who built Canada did so largely in partnership and fought for Alberta, long before the province of Alberta was dreamt of.
Partnership before Alberta was a province
Long before 1905, there was the Royal Proclamation of 1763, a now-forgotten rule which would protect many who came thereafter. It would ensure the arrival of the Métis Nation and French Canadians - trappers, artisans and crafters. Names on any map still speak to this past: Lac La Biche, Plamondon, Grande Prairie, Beaumont, Legal, Falher, and Morinville. These names, French names, remain because of the stability that came through partnership, shared history and respect.
Before 1905, there was the War of 1812, “Fifty-Four Forty,” the Convention of 1818, and the Oregon Treaty. Before 1905, there was the Cypress Hills Massacre and the establishment of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP). Each time, those who were to become Canadian fought to preserve our form of partnership and togetherness.
Before 1905, the Canadian Crown signed Treaties with what would become most of Alberta’s First Nations. In 1874, Treaty 4 was given life. Treaty 6 came into being in 1876. In 1877 and 1899 respectively, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 were stood up and became a reality. Ottawa did so for peace and friendship. Ottawa did so understanding that Canada wanted an agreement that lasted “as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.” In doing so, they laid the foundation: one based on partnership.
A trade deal that became a country
Long before 1905, back in 1864, the Province of Canada, the Colony of Newfoundland, the Colony of Prince Edward Island, the Colony of Nova Scotia, and the Colony of New Brunswick sat down in Charlottetown and inadvertently discussed the contours of the British North America Act. They unwittingly created us: Canadians. Those who sat in on those conversations shaped our nation; a nation we call Canada.
Something that was supposed to be a trade deal to replace a Reciprocity Agreement with the US became more. It became a way to deal with colonial railway debt, a way to deal with American expansionist tendencies, a way to deal with the Fenians, and a way to deal with political gridlock in the Province of Canada, while also providing the Atlantic Provinces and the British Empire a chance to shift around the costs of governance. The formation of Canada was the creation of an island of stability, a place where “peace, order and good government” was not just a figment of one’s imagination.
Now, let’s not kid ourselves: Canada was not perfectly conceived. Our history is littered with the sorrow of our First Peoples; our history is littered with the hatred of the “Other.” However, those discussions that started in 1864, and the Dominion that came to be in 1867, also had another outcome. In 1871, the Dominion became more when British Columbia joined, requiring a nation-building project to be completed. The laying of an iron engagement ring - rails and railways - would take time, and it would only be completed in 1885.
Built by rail, built in partnership
With rails and railways, trains could cross the Prairies. Railways brought more people to Alberta. Some of those people came from Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Fredericton. Some grew up as Canadians. Some came from further afield. They might have been British subjects, or people who came from further afield through places like Pier 21 in Halifax. Sometimes, these new people came by rail from New York or Chicago. These new people would be joined by others who came by horse and wagon. However, all of these people came to a new land; all of them were different, and all of them were immigrants, all of them searching for a new life. They did so in partnership. They worked with our First Peoples to build this land.
Now, as was said, it was not perfect. But they tried to do better, and their descendants did better still. The land was trusted to the Canadian government by our First Peoples, and peace was provided in part by the NWMP. People arrived because of rails that were put down by many labourers, including those who were Chinese and Japanese, on trains that were manned by porters who were Black and White, with money provided by taxpayers in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, and Halifax. It is rail and partnership that allowed Alberta to become more. For those who argue that Alberta doesn’t have a debt to pay, they don’t remember what happened before 1905.
When Canada helped Alberta up
We know that being a part of Canada does not lead to perfect outcomes. However, we also know that partnership has its benefits. After all, Canada helped out Alberta when, because of provincial government policy, the Great Depression, and the Prairie droughts, Alberta was driven into bankruptcy in 1935. Canada helped to rebuild Alberta, and look at us now.
As is clear, partnership is not perfect. However, partnership led to the signing of Treaty 10 in 1906. Partnership with Canada created the TransCanada Pipeline, the Trans-Canada Highway, and the capital markets that fund Alberta’s industries. Partnership is how the Winnipeg Agreement came into being, an agreement which called on Alberta, Ontario, and the federal government to save Syncrude, a private company, from bankruptcy. This deal provided government money to Alberta’s “Oil Patch” to help the oil sands industry get its footing; a piece of paper that allowed it to become what it is today.
When Alberta led
Partnership meant that sometimes Alberta took the lead. Alberta’s constitutional leadership ensured provincial rights were strengthened with the addition of Section 92A, and the Notwithstanding Clause is an idea that came from Alberta. Or better put, Alberta is part of the reason why Canada’s most important law “guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
Why we should vote to stay
Alberta didn’t just appear in Canada. Before and after 1905, lots of Canadians worked together to ensure that Alberta would come into being and that it would succeed. Alberta’s history tells us of times when Alberta has fallen and has been helped up by Canada, and vice versa. So why should Alberta separate and lose its secret weapon, lose one of its greatest partners in its success?
Or better yet, why would Albertans want to weaken the very fundamentals of that partnership? For that reason, Alberta should vote to stay and vote against the other nine referendums. Each of the nine referendum questions is designed to destroy the very thing that we love: Alberta. The nine referendums are designed to tear at the fabric of partnership that makes up Alberta and Canada. For that reason, we should vote against the nine referendums. Albertans should vote to stay in Canada and maintain the partnership that has provided so much to so many.