The Tyee Podcast: We Have Got to Stop Talking About Alberta Separatism

This October, Albertans will make a choice about their future. Either they’ll vote to stay a part of Canada or they’ll vote to leave.

Well, actually, they won’t vote to “leave.” They’ll vote to have another referendum on whether Alberta should start the process of trying to leave. But the legal minutiae don’t really matter.

In many ways, the entire referendum doesn’t really matter. Whatever the outcome, we are all going to keep hearing about Alberta separatism for many, many years to come.

Never has a delusion been this elevated in the province, says Nate Pike. The host of the popular podcast The Breakdown AB says this “destructive version of bread and circuses” has bubbled up from online conspiracy forums and racist immigration fears into a movement whose concerns — no matter how outlandish — are now driving public policy.

“And to elevate them, for the premier of the province to elevate them, to allow those things to further propagate, is not only demonstrably harmful but to me it is, it’s just patently irresponsible,” says Pike.

On this episode of The Tyee Podcast , Pike tests our censors as he explains where the separatist movement came from, how much of it is being driven by foreign interference and how the vast majority of Albertans who are tired of this conversation need to fight back.

“This asymmetrical warfare that they are playing on us needs to be responded to, and it can't be responded to with apathy.”

Listen to this episode by clicking the embedded podcast player below or by following ‘The Tyee Podcast’ on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeartRadio , Amazon Music , Pocket Casts or YouTube .

Note: Episode transcripts may contain errors. Always check the corresponding audio before quoting any part of the transcript.

Harrison Mooney I am really sick of hearing about separatism. I mean, the referendum on whether Alberta should start to begin the process of maybe looking into leaving Canada is still weeks away. That means several more weeks of grievance politics, of foreign interference claims, of electoral shenanigans. I can’t do it, but believe me, nobody — absolutely nobody — is more tired of this topic than Albertans. This is the Tyee Podcast. I’m your host, Harrison Mooney. Every episode, we dive deeper into the stories shaping the West Coast, because Canada needs more B.C. and Alberta, too. For the vast majority of the population, all of this separation talk is an embarrassing distraction from the very real issues impacting Alberta. Unfortunately, the discourse is being influenced by a small but mighty collection of angry online activists, racist conspiracy theorists, and good old-fashioned grifters. Nate Pike says we need to stop enabling this madness. The host of Alberta’s popular podcast, The Breakdown, joins The Tyee this week to explain why it’s time to turn off the fire hose of bullshit. Don’t go anywhere.

Harrison Mooney Nate, thanks so much for joining me. I’m excited to talk to you because I don’t actually know what’s going on in Alberta. Like we write a lot of stuff at The Tyee, and I read most of it, but I don’t understand what’s going on in Alberta.