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Calgary Herald

Nelson: Five million reasons why PM Carney must act

Finally, there's something to celebrate in Alberta: our province just cracked the five million mark. Article content Article content Some lucky soul this past weekend made history, though they'll never know it, as the population numbers relentlessly tallied by StatCan are gathered anonymously. Article content Thus, that magic five-million milestone arrived without any fanfare, late on Sunday. (As I write, we're already diligently working on our next five million — Alberta's population now stands at 5,000,648 and counting, according to Canada's real-time population clock.) Article content Article content It's an important milestone, nevertheless, and one we should take a moment to acknowledge. Article content Article content Because it was the various struggles and triumphs of those millions who came before us that collectively turned this province into such a unique slice of Canada. Article content It's likely most Canadians would say the same of their province: how special it is. Still, there's something about Alberta that is indeed different. Article content Most Canadians beyond our provincial borders would probably describe it as a conservative place. It isn't. Sure, Albertans have voted Conservative for decades — the recent federal election cementing that political tradition. Article content But in its wider connotation, we're not conservative at all. Not in the least. That lowercase noun implies an adherence to the status quo: keeping things the same with an aversion to change. Really? When was that ever part of Alberta's DNA? Article content No, at its heart, this is a radical province: the most radical in Canada by a country mile. Article content Article content All sorts of political and social movements were born or blossomed here, from the United Farmers, to the CCF — forerunner of today's NDP — to the wild and wacky world of William Aberhart and Social Credit, and the more recent rise of the Reform party. When Emmeline Pankhurst, the famous leader of the British suffragette movement, toured Canada in 1917, it was in Calgary where she received the most vociferous welcome. Article content Article content Yes, that radical and populist strain has run through Alberta from inception, which is why anyone who dismisses the current push for a vote on separation as a silly sideshow makes a dangerous mistake. Article content This undercurrent to go it alone isn't new. It has always flowed below the surface. It took a decade of Justin Trudeau's antagonistic federal rule to turn it into a raging torrent.