The Independence Party of Alberta is extremely disappointed that the UCP Government and its NDP allies have continued to pursue a damaging anti-business lockdown campaign. Every day there is more and more data showing that the negative effects of lockdowns are not negligible, and were not given sufficient weighting by policymakers. Albertans, more than ever before, are losing faith in their political system, and are calling en masse for the government to stop its brutal assault on their personal choices. We believe that the government and their loyal opposition has allowed the whole pandemic to become a game of political warfare against their own people, dodging questions about mental health and the common good while continuing to take actions that do not suitably protect vulnerable Albertans. By implementing highly impractical and experimental policies developed by european and internationalist policy think tanks, many of which are actively involved with the war on Alberta’s energy industry, Jason Kenney has proven that he holds the needs of Albertans in lower regard than the wishes of his friends in Ottawa. The unhelpful and pseudoscientific partisan alarmism spewing out of the mouths of members of the NDP socialist party and the corrupt UCP kleptocrats has drowned out the sensible and pragmatic advice of doctors, creating a toxic atmosphere of despair and helplessness more similar to the former USSR than a western democracy. But, of course, no Albertan establishment politician worth their weight in caviar would ever let a good tragedy go to waste, as Alberta’s political upper class continues to treat our misfortunes like a game. On the federal front, the Bank of Canada has been snapping up the assets of Albertan companies, consolidating Federal authority and further stripping our woefully underrepresented province of its remaining sovereignty. If the government or their opposition truly cares about the wellbeing of Albertans into the future, they will allow Albertans to serve one another through individual participation in responsible, free markets without hindrance. While the closures of locally owned and family operated shops due to pressures from the lockdowns are treated as “necessary sacrifices”, the billionaire owners of the American franchises that are replacing them have doubled their profits. Since no other party in the country seems to be noticing that our tireless workers and rent-strapped local shop owners alike are suffering, that our youth are struggling with an epidemic of depression and self-harm, and that our economic opportunities are evaporating as more and more chains are placed around the necks of our creative innovators, it is up to the people of Alberta to stand up and declare that Canada literally does not work. And, indeed, anyone familiar with our history will know that Canada has never, ever worked for Albertans. Alberta, throughout its history, has been abused and pillaged by eastern companies and governments. From Bennet’s denial of the Great Depression and Pierre Trudeau’s disastrous National Energy Program to Justin Trudeau’s war against Albertan values and industries, our 115 year history has been marred by a constant war with Ottawa. Every year, Ottawa receives the equivalent of approximately six thousand dollars from each of the almost three million Albertan workers in this province which will not be returned to Albertans through government services. Despite paying proportionally more into confederation than any other province, we are the least represented province at the federal level. All the constitutional amendments in the world will never resolve the systemic anti-Albertan biases that are present in the value systems of Central and Eastern Canadians. It is the duty of every Albertan to ask themselves the following question: Is a maple leaf on our flag worth over ten billion dollars a year and a complete lack of control over our own destiny? And if so, are you willing to have your children pay that price as our neglected local enterprises shrivel up and die? Experts have a word for that sort of obsessive, unearned devotion: Stockholm Syndrome. While the road to our independence will be a long and challenging one, our party will be taking decisive action on behalf of the silent separatist majority even before we form government. When Bill 52 passes, we will support Albertans that organize recall referenda across the province to allow Albertans to remove their underperforming MLAs and their boss, Jason Kenney. Though the government has intentionally set the threshold impossibly high, Albertans have a knack for overcoming the most unfavorable of odds. As individuals, the members of The Independence Party of Alberta are tired of watching their family and neighbors suffer needlessly due to the poor decisions made by the government and the NDP socialist party over the past year. It is time to discover our independence, and reclaim our stolen fundamental freedoms. If you would like more information about The Independence Party of Alberta, please go to our website at www.abindependence.com. #DiscoverYourIndependence