Sovereignty Act reflects spiritual illness
In time of polarization, Alberta needs prophets of hope, not division
When I moved to Alberta in 1978 to begin my journalism career, it was with hesitation. I was leery about living in a province ruled by an ideology of cowboy individualism. Having lived in three other provinces, I relished being Canadian and was suspicious of any province putting itself above the nation.
I worked at The Red Deer Advocate, in a centre of a region where politics was an amalgam of conservative, ultra-conservative and so conservative that it made your eyes pop out. For a year I was the paper’s political reporter. The job enabled me to meet all sorts of Albertans, some of whom reflected the stereotype of the Alberta redneck and many more who didn’t. Although I didn’t cover the stories, the early 1980s saw an overtly separatist candidate elected to the provincial legislature and the revelation that Eckville teacher Jim Keegstra taught his students that the Holocaust was a fraud and that Jews are an unsavoury people. Keegstra wasn’t typical, but he taught for several years without anyone blowing the whistle.
Soon, the province was thrown into a fever pitch over the federal National Energy Program. Later developments included the rise of the Reform Party and the Firewall Letter of 2001. Now, Danielle Smith, a leading contender to become leader of the United Conservative Party and premier of the province, has proposed the Sovereignty Act.
Although no text of the proposed act exists, the idea is to give the provincial legislature the power to reject any federal law or judicial decision it believes unfairly attacks the province’s rights or the interests of its people. The Sovereignty Act has been called blatantly unconstitutional. If passed by the legislature, it may create a legal morass which could affect Alberta’s and Canada’s stability for years.
The axiom of Alberta politics is that the sure way to curry favour with the electorate is for a messianic leader to ride in to save the province from intrusions by an inexplicably hostile federal government. The strategy has worked time and again.
At the Aug. 30 UCP leadership debate, one candidate, Leela Aheer, called the Sovereignty Act what it is – “crap.” “The Sovereignty Act is an attack on our Canadian and Albertan values. It is an excuse to leave Canada when we should be looking for ways to lead Canada.”
The province does have legitimate grievances or at least has had them in the past. However, the overreaction to those grievances and the demonizing of the current prime minister gives me pause. This is not democratic politics as normal but a spiritual disease.
A healthy human being must maintain a balance between trust and mistrust. One who trusts everyone and everything is Pollyannish; one who has no trust in others or in society’s institutions is often mentally ill. Today, the societal balance has shifted sharply toward mistrust, a mistrust which Aheer had the courage to challenge.
Mid-twentieth century Catholic philosopher William Lynch labelled this disease as gnosticism. The gnostics, insofar as they were Christian, were early heretics who contended that the spirit is divine, and matter evil. For them, Jesus was not truly incarnate. He only appeared to be human. The gnostics claimed to have secret knowledge of God not accessible to the rest of the human herd.
This may appear to have nothing to do with Alberta politics. What makes it relevant is the gnostic belief that the laws of “the world” are evil, and it would be sinful to obey them. The gnostic Albertan believes that the federal government is an implacable evil force bearing down on the province against which we are utterly defenceless. If we don’t fight back with every ounce of our will, we will be left impoverished and unable to act with autonomy.
Stated so baldly, the Alberta attitude is laughable. Ours is the wealthiest province in the nation, we have cut petroleum royalty rates to a fraction of what they were in the 1970s, we don’t have a provincial sales tax, and our personal and corporate income tax rates are the lowest in Canada. Even without added taxation, the province is projecting a $13 billion surplus in the current fiscal year.
Yet, we feel set upon because some money collected through federal taxes is shared with other provinces. Few, if any, understand the equalization formula well enough to say whether it is fair or unfair. But we don’t care to understand. We see ourselves in a battle between absolute good and absolute evil. And this narrowing of the horizons of our imagination is what Lynch saw as the core of mental illness.
In these times of increasing polarization, we need prophets of hope, not division. We need elected officials who will defend local and regional interests but with a spirit of gratitude for the strength we all gain through being united. Albertans should imbibe that spirit of gratitude and be willing to share our God-given bounty with other Canadians and indeed with people around the world.
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Sovereignty Act reflects spiritual illness
Your historical and political analysis of what's happening in Alberta is once again right on. A sovereignty act will have ugly consequences. I can see right-wing activist pushing for a similar initiative here in Saskatchewan. Forget about issues like healthcare and education. This is once again good and thoughtful political commentary. Well done. Michael Huck
Would love to connect with you. Looking at creating more of a dialogue on faith and politics. We started Just Faith Alberta as a way to connect people who think through faith and politics which I had to put aside as I am seeking a nomination for a seat with the NDP. It is articles like yours that is missing from the inboxes of christians in Alberta or their social media feeds.