Something on my Mind: Albexit

As we continue to stagger under the mismanagement of Alberta's greatest resource—its people—I am amazed at the similarity of what Great Britain did recently about their past bondage and future freedom..

Britain has chosen, by the slimmest of margins, to leave an alliance that was choking them to death economically. Alberta is in much the same situation, only it's an internal battle, not an external one.

Britain voted to get out of the European Union, a conglomeration of nations, of which Britain was only one. Here, common Albertans need to think of doing the same with its local, provincial government. Alberta's thinking people need a way to push back the bullies in Edmonton, short of an election in two years.

That, of course, is easier said than done, but it does make for good newspaper column fodder. A referendum comes to mind, but would it work?

I have in front of me a paper that delineates the thousands of jobs lost, the scores of plants and head offices closed or moved, all because of the over-bearing meddling of the European Union. In other words, the people of Britain were abused by outside forces, with little input on their part.

The Union has bled Britain dry (directly and indirectly), and by doing so, has now become a real life lesson (read: warning) for what is happening in Alberta. The chief connection between the two scenarios is simply this: How do we deal deal with abusive authorities that bully their people?

"Brexit," as you know, is a blending of the words Britain and exit, much like smog is a blending of smoke and fog, and motel is a blending of motor and hotel. Grammatically-speaking, , the technical word for this is "portmanteau." Hence, "Albexit" is a combination of Alberta and exit.

While many people individually are fleeing from Alberta (thus creating their own Albexit) for a host of reasons, Alberta itself isn't going anywhere.

"Alberta isn't going anywhere" can be taken a number of ways—take your pick.

And leaving Alberta isn't an option for a lot of us. This is our home. Why should we be be forced to flee like fiscal and moral refugees because we have a government that is hell-bent on destroying our fair province? And for some reason, if this destruction is not intentional, I'm not sure if suffering under this bumbling leadership is any more comforting.

So the land is here, the people are here, and the government is here. One of them has to give. Well, the earth and dirt that make up Alberta cannot be moved.. And many of us, Alberta-born or Alberta-adopted, have no intention of leaving—though a second mandate for the NDP in 2019 may change that.

So the government itself needs an exit plan--their own Albexit, if you will. Not government itself, of course. You need law and order, governance, and all that. It's the type of government that we have that needs to go. We need a conservative, free enterprise, and competent government.

Voting them out is the most civil, legal means to do it, but can we afford (literally) to wait that long?

We need to be very careful here, then, that we don't fall into the same trap that Britain has, namely take action long after the irreparable damage has been done. Hopefully it's not too late to stop the moral, economical, and environmental bleeding here, brought on by systemic incompetence.

Just wondering if some European country could use 54 politicians and their bureaucratic minions? Maybe somewhere in the European Union: I hear there's an opening for a new country.