In an unholy alliance, Labour leaders and prominent Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) members have joined hands with corporate interests and right wing politicians. Their aim: to thwart Alberta separatism.
But this will not work. Support for Alberta separation hasn’t changed, remaining around 25 per cent, since the formation of the alliance. And the separatist camp is carrying a commanding lead in fundraising.
Given the premise of separation, and the amateur, scandal ridden character of its leadership, it shouldn’t be so hard to fight. But it is, if you handcuff yourself to business interests.
Strange bedfellows
During the Calgary stampede, Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan handed out leaflets produced by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce is a bosses’ organization which exists to further the interests of the ruling class. For example, lately they have come out in favour of Carney’s proposal to modify the Labour Code, making it easier for the government to take away the right to strike.
This is not a force that the labour movement should be sharing a bed with. All an alliance like this can do is alienate ordinary people who, correctly, do not want to be part of a movement in defence of business interests and the status quo.
Unsurprisingly, the leaflet’s central argument, which Gil parroted, is that separation would be bad for business.
But many things are bad for business—including the things McGowan usually advocates for: wage increases, benefits, union rights, and so on. Conversely, what is good for business is not good for the workers. For example, since 2014, oil bosses have been rapidly increasing their profits while real disposable income per capita has fallen by 13 per cent.
To make matters worse, McGowan quotes none other than hated former Conservative Prime Minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher to argue against referendums in general, saying that they are the “device of demagogues and despots.” So Gil’s inspiring message becomes: “I want business to have more profits and I oppose your right to vote.”
And then there is the alliance of Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney. Notley was premier for the first NDP government, Kenney the first United Conservative Party (UCP) government. Two former premiers, once bitter rivals, are teaming up “for the good of the country” and are co-chairing the Canadian Chamber of Commerce campaign: “Alberta and Canada: Stronger Together.”
When Jason Kenney was premier, Rachel Notley and the rest of the NDP used to talk about him as if he were Satan incarnate. And he was, or the closest thing to it. Kenney presided over the most vicious cuts to social services since the Ralph Klein era. And unlike Klein, nobody likes Jason Kenney. At the end of his premiership he was so unpopular that he was forced to resign in disgrace. There is absolutely nothing to gain from parading the corpse of his political career onto a stage.
These are a couple of the most egregious examples of what is known as class collaboration. It is the unity between the exploited and the exploiters–or between fish and sharks. And nothing good ever comes from this.
Cut the separatist movement off at the knees
It is more important than ever for the labour movement to develop an independent working-class response to the Alberta separatist movement.
Even though it looks unlikely that the separatists will win the referendum on Oct. 19, they are not going to just go away if they lose. When asked about what they would do, separatist leader Jeffrey Rath said, “We’re never giving up”. If there is no resolution to the underlying frustrations that drive separatism, and no genuine working class movement to express this anger, it will linger on after the referendum and may come back with a vengeance as the crisis of the system intensifies.
The logic of the separation movement is that Albertan capitalism has been constrained by Ottawa—therefore if we separate, Albertan capitalism will thrive, jobs will be plentiful, and the rivers will flow with lemonade. These ideas have captured a certain layer of the working class, especially those who experienced the oil booms prior to 2014 and want the good times back.
But the reality is that the boom was an aberration, and ever since, the oil companies have been making more profits while employing fewer workers. The separatists are primarily winning people over with the argument that separation would help Albertans keep more of their money. This has an effect because in Alberta real wages have fallen more than in any other province since 2019. Regular people feel cheated out of their money, because they are being cheated—the separatists are just wrong about who is cheating them.
We cannot defeat this menace by lecturing people about separation being “bad for business” or making vapid arguments defending “Canada” in the abstract. The problem with the strategy of Rachel Notley and Gil McGowan is that they are uniting precisely with the people who are to blame for the disastrous fall in living standards. Jason Kenney and the Chamber of Commerce of Calgary are the loyal servants of the oil barons who have gotten away with murder, increasing their profits while the rest of us suffer.
An independent working-class response to the separation referendum is needed to point the finger at who is really to blame and propose a way forward. This of course means criticizing the separatist leaders. But this also means criticizing organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, as well as hated politicians like Jason Kenney who got us into this mess in the first place. Uniting with those people instead only feeds into the separatists’ argument that they are the only ones who want change, while everyone else wants Albertans to shut up and accept the status quo.
Last but not least, an independent working-class response would target the oil barons who have ruled Alberta for years. This has not led to any benefits for working class Albertans—but unsurprisingly, the oil companies are set to take in $90 billion in profit this year. That is more than the entire provincial budget. For years, these companies have taken in all of the wealth, but contributed very little. They’ve dodged taxes, littered the province with toxic wells, and cut investment by half of what it was in 2014.
This is why life is getting worse. There is no money for schools, hospitals, or any of the good things in life, because the oil barons, their UCP lackeys, as well as establishment conservatives like Kenney and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce have ensured that the wealth will flow to shareholders, and not to ordinary people.
The separatists have gained some traction because they promise a better life. The labour movement must show the way forward to a real better life: through expropriating the parasitic oil bosses and bringing this immense wealth under democratic control of the working class. This could immediately raise living conditions of all working in Alberta, end the crisis in the education and health sectors and give working class people something to fight for.
