Demand fairness from Ottawa and from Edmonton

A few weeks ago, Albertans voted to reduce inequities in the federal equalization program. The deficit between the dollars that leave to and come back from Ottawa has recently been as high as $27 billion in one year. During times of crisis, it feels like salt in open wounds that Quebec blocks Alberta’s ability to sell the oil which generates the equalization wealth Quebec receives.

The appetite among some equalization recipients is insatiable. Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet recently dreamed of siphoning even more federal funds to his province at Alberta’s expense by suggesting that equalization should also be washed through imaginary environmental standards.

It is therefore crucially important that Albertans redress existing inequities and prevent designs for future ones.  In doing so, they will protect the fruits of their own labour and their heritage to future generations.

However, threats to the current fruit and patrimony of Albertans do not exclusively come from outsid…