I’m not as naive as you may think I am. I am fully aware of who funds the environmental organizations to limit our ability to get our resources to market. I’m fully aware of who gets to benefit when we can only sell our products to a single customer. I’m well aware of who restricts our output, stops us from selling to Europe, and then goes ahead and sells their own product to Europe.

I also know who is currently trying to negotiate first rights of refusal for our vast stores of critical mineral wealth. It ain’t about selling Canadians milk, if you know what I mean. I also know which country stands to benefit from an isolated Alberta and its vast oil reserves, arable farmland, cheap energy, cheap land, and cold weather (data centers).

Can Alberta separate and be like Norway, Austria, or Switzerland? Sure, but it will be a lot harder due to the proximity of the elephant in the room.

Does it leave and risk the chance of being absorbed by the US and becoming a vassal state to another master? Sure.

Which is most likely? Probably the second.

But then I ask, are we not already a vassal state to a master?

So there’s a small chance we could end up like Switzerland, or a greater chance we become a state of the US rather than one of Canada.

I’m still willing to make that wager, because in both scenarios, in my mind, my kids are better off.