12-05-2025
'The boss has changed': Rookie Calgary Liberal MP says he's ready to fight for Alberta's place in Canada
OTTAWA — Rookie Liberal MP Corey Hogan says he's ready to speak up for the 'No' side, in the event of a referendum on Albertan independence next year.
Article content
Article content
Hogan, who narrowly won the riding of Calgary Confederation in April's federal election, told the National Post that he won't sit on the sidelines in the coming debate over Alberta's future in Canada.
Article content
'Try to stop me from being a spokesperson for this country,' said Hogan.
Article content
Article content
'One of the main reasons I ran is I wanted to be both a strong Alberta voice and a strong pro-Canadian voice.'
Article content
Article content
Hogan believes that the pro-Canada message helped him edge out Conservative opponent, ex-provincial cabinet minister Jeremy Nixon.
Article content
'The main thing I heard on the doors was Donald Trump, Canada's existence, all of that… residents said over and over that they wanted someone who would fight for this country, and that's what I'm going to give them.'
Article content
He also said that Nixon's association with Premier Danielle Smith, whose cabinet he sat in from 2022 to 2023, may have cost him votes.
Article content
'Alberta separatism is an issue that divides Conservatives in a way that doesn't divide Liberals,' said Hogan.
Article content
Hogan said it will be vital in the coming months to confront separatist arguments head on, after Smith dramatically lowered the bar for triggering a referendum on the province's independence.
Article content
Article content
He wrote in a recent blog post that there is little reason to believe that Alberta would have a better go of building pipelines to tidewater as a sovereign state that can enter into international treaties, as Smith herself has claimed in the past.
Article content
'(Treaties) guarantee rights of access but they do not guarantee the right to build infrastructure across another country's territory,' wrote Hogan.
Article content
Yuan Yi Zhu, a Canadian-born professor of international law at the University of Leiden, says he agrees with Hogan, pointing to the plain language of the United Nations' law of the sea.
Article content
'The relevant section says that landlocked and transit countries may, by agreement, define pipelines as a means of transport to the sea… it doesn't say that they have to,' said Zhu.
Article content
'This is one of those rare issues in international law that's actually pretty straightforward.'
