Buffalo Declaration

The Buffalo Declaration is a Canadian political manifesto published on February 20, 2020. The publication was written by four Albertan Conservative MPs: Michelle Rempel Garner, Blake Richards, Glen Motz and Arnold Viersen. They denounce the underappreciated place that Alberta holds within the Canadian confederation as well as the lack of consideration with regard to its policies, its economy and its culture. The authors declared that it was a "final attempt to make [Alberta] an equal partner in Confederation," and the alternative will be that "a referendum on Alberta’s independence is an inevitability." When the declaration was released, Rempel declared that "Alberta is not, and never has been, an equal partner in Confederation. The people of my province are suffering and need real, structural change. A line in the sand must be drawn." The declaration faced mixed reaction.

The Buffalo Declaration is a Canadian political manifesto published on February 20, 2020. The publication was written by four Albertan Conservative MPs: Michelle Rempel Garner, Blake Richards, Glen Motz and Arnold Viersen. They denounce the underappreciated place that Alberta holds within the Canadian confederation as well as the lack of consideration with regard to its policies, its economy and its culture. The authors declared that it was a "final attempt to make [Alberta] an equal partner in Confederation," and the alternative will be that "a referendum on Alberta’s independence is an inevitability." When the declaration was released, Rempel declared that "Alberta is not, and never has been, an equal partner in Confederation. The people of my province are suffering and need real, structural change. A line in the sand must be drawn." The declaration faced mixed reaction.

Criticism

Murray Mandryk, a columnist for the Regina Leader-Post, said "rather than solutions or vision, [the declaration is] an outpouring of clumsy grievances borrowed from others — what conservatives once called 'whining,'" and was "another knife plunge into the heart of nation founded on reasoned compromise." Colby Cosh mocked the declaration in the National Post writing, "the main task is to train the Buffalo audience in an unfamiliar and unnatural argot of victimhood, one in which injustices are always 'systemic' and change must always be 'structural' and you get a failing grade if you go a hundred words without mentioning undifferentiated 'power.' If you feel 'disrespected,' as we Albertans surely often do, you should immediately take that to be evidence of a conspiracy against your ambitions." Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore Stephanie Kusie told the Hill Times after the declaration was released that while she supported most of the sentiments of the declaration, she it was "completely disingenuous to the Alberta caucus" for the authors to have written the declaration without the backing or consultation of other Alberta MPs. Former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley condemned the declaration saying in a statement, "at the end of the day, as a born and raised Albertan, I love this province. I will not have my values mistakenly described by extremist MPs in the conservative party."

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378677470 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.