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Firewall Letter To Alberta Premier Ralph Klein

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In January 2001, six right-wing academics, including Stephen Harper, Tom Flanagan and Ted Morton, released the “Firewall Letter” to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, outlining what new direction Alberta must take in its relations with the federal government. The letter argued that the Progressive Conservative (PC) government must protect the province from “a misguided and increasingly hostile government in Ottawa” (“Alberta firewall letter”). They urged Klein to use the powers given to him by the Canadian constitution to evict the federal government from the areas which fall under provincial jurisdiction. These suggestions would radically alter the relationship of Alberta with the federal government and change the Alberta political culture (Brownsey …show more content…

It has seemed that Quebec’s issues and concerns have outweighed all other national concerns. The main issues that are highlighted are the ongoing debates over sovereignty and language. During the 1960’s Quebec’s “Quiet Revolution”, led by Jean Lesage’s Liberals, were able to gain significantly more control over health care, education, and natural resources. Further demands were made by the elected sovereignist Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois (Dickinson and Young 2003: 324-327). All the provinces of Canada sought to include Quebec into the discussions of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, which were a package of proposed economic and political concessions intended to persuade Quebec to remain within Canada, as well as to reform the Senate. Both these accords failed, which also led to the failed 1995 Quebec referendum on national sovereignty. These concessions were similar to what Ernest Manning’s western Reform party of Canada desired, as they sought for democratic reforms fueled by discontent with the east, but received far less support (Kincaid et al., …show more content…

However, I feel the proposals sought in the 2001 “Firewall Letter” seem no longer relevant, as the conservative Harper government, which took power in 2008, has drastically changed the political, economic and cultural balance throughout the country. According to a study by Loleen Berdahl in 2010, provinces are becoming more satisfied with the federal government, particularly in BC and Alberta. This study showed that by 2008 over 75 per cent of Albertans and over 60 per cent of British Columbians felt that their province was being treated fairly by the federal government. Ironically, this feelings of alienation has increased in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces (2010). The conservative majority government in the House of Commons is represented cross regionally, while both the Liberal and the Bloc Quebecois no longer create disproportion regional representation [see Table 8]. There also has been significant changes to federal economic policies with the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and now the Free Trade Agreement of the

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