On Oct. 19, a referendum with ten questions will be presented to Albertans. Of these ten questions, none are more consequential than that of Alberta’s independence.
The separatists, along with Danielle Smith herself, would have you believe that the issue is a conflict between the East and the West. Without Ottawa’s interference, life would be better. But Alberta has always been split in two: Alberta for the workers and Alberta for the bosses.
The truth is, nobody is suffering in the Alberta of the bosses. The top four oil companies are on track to earn $38 billion in profits this year, almost twice as much as last year. Smith and the UCP are working to change the oil royalty scheme so the oil barons can profit even more dearly—at the Albertan taxpayers’ expense. For their loyal service to the oil barons, Albertan politicians are paid the highest out of all provinces and states in North America.
Most importantly, the division between East and West seems to disappear inside the boardrooms and corner offices. While the oil barons complain endlessly about the political and economic dominance of the bankers, they are more than willing to work with them to make profits.
The Big Five banks, headquartered in Toronto and Montreal, have hundreds of billions of dollars tied up in Alberta’s fossil fuel industry, including US$131 billion loaned out in 2024 alone. This means the interests of the banks out east are tied to the interests of the oil barons out west. They care about profits and nothing else.
How has this affected the Alberta of the workers? Ten thousand jobs were cut in the oil and gas sector last year, while an estimated 25,000 more indirect job losses occurred across the province. For our sacrifices, average Albertan workers are only making $76 more per week than they did ten years ago, accounting for inflation.
Meanwhile, schools are overflowing—some classes have as many as 60 students! When teachers fought back, they were unceremoniously forced back to work with anti-strike legislation. People are dying in hospital waiting rooms while the UCP does nothing but make healthcare worse by pushing for privatization.
The “Alberta Advantage” was a convenient slogan during past oil booms, but now it’s long gone for the workers. We keep getting poorer, so the rich can keep getting richer. It’s no wonder that Albertans are fed up and angry.
But Smith and the separatists are deliberately misdirecting this anger. Talk of separation has become a pressure release valve for all the accumulated discontent of ordinary Albertans. Ottawa is the convenient scapegoat.
An independent Alberta would not solve any of the problems workers face in the federation. The oil barons and their political puppets are Albertan workers’ main enemies. Separation is as good as surrendering to them.
As workers, we have no desire for Smith and the UCP to negotiate with Ottawa on our behalf. Of course, we also have no illusions that the anti-strike, pro-privatization federal government will solve any problems facing the working class. We have our own accounts to settle with Carney and co.
The boss’ Alberta could not run without Alberta’s workers. Our hard work keeps the lights on and makes the oil flow. Without us, Alberta—and the profits being raked in by the bosses—would come screeching to a halt. The working class has the power to set things right.
The same is true in the rest of Canada. The workers of the East are not the enemy of Albertan workers. The same layoffs, the same wage cuts and the same attacks on living standards are happening across the country. It’s the bankers, oil barons and billionaires that are to blame.
As communists, we call for a united struggle of all of Canada’s workers against our common enemy. The issue is not East against West. It’s workers against bosses.
