Western Alienation (Canada)

Introduction

Western alienation refers to the sense of antagonism that many Western Canadians feel towards the rest of the country and especially towards the federal government. It’s a result of generations of perceived mistreatment of the West, especially the prairie provinces, by federal policies. 

This feeling identified as “alienation” ebbs and flows depending on political circumstances. For example, when the federal government enacts policies harmful to the West, the feelings of alienation increase and sometimes lead to political action. When federal policies are viewed more favorably, the feeling subsides. 

Academic perspective

Western alienation has been studied as a political phenomenon and formally described this way: “Western alienation encompasses a sense of political, economic and, to a lesser extent, cultural estrangement from the Canadian heartland.” It reflects the perception that “western Canada is always outgunned in national politics and that as a consequence has been subjected to varying degrees of economic exploitation by central Canada.”^[1] 

Although Western alienation can be said to have existed since the early settlement of the prairies, it became especially pronounced after Pierre Trudeau first became prime minister in 1968. A key aspect of Trudeau’s political program was to defeat Quebec nationalism by making Quebeckers feel at home right across the country. Part of this program involved the Official Languages Act in 1969, to make French more prevalent from coast to coast.  Many Westerners resented the government-imposed increase of French-language presence in the West and the prioritizing of Quebec issues in national politics. 

Terminology

Despite its apparent usefulness as a catch-all term for anger in the West, conservative political scientist Barry Cooper of the University of Calgary has challenged the notion of “Western alienation” because it misconstrues Western political culture. 

According to Cooper, the concept of “Western alienation” was fabricated by left-wing Eastern intellectuals. Furthermore, he writes, “The fact is, western alienation does not describe Westerners’ sense of regional identity so far as they are concerned.”^[2] In Cooper’s view, classifying Westerners’ anger towards the federal government as “alienation” is essentially a way of dismissing the legitimate grievances of the West. 

History

Energy War

However, the greatest surge in Western alienation occurred after 1973, when war in the Middle East led to an enormous increase in the price of oil. Trudeau instituted a federal export tax on oil and established a Canadian price on oil much lower than the world price. Both policies benefited central Canada at the expense of the West, especially Alberta. 

Throughout the 1970s, Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed fought Trudeau over oil pricing and resource ownership. Albertans overwhelmingly supported Lougheed and felt hostile to the federal government. 

The hostility became especially heated after Trudeau enacted the infamous National Energy Program (NEP) in 1980 which involved significant federal intervention into provincial resource jurisdiction. This led to the election of a separatist candidate to the Alberta legislature in a by-election in Alberta in 1982. 

After Trudeau resigned and Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney was elected as Prime Minister in 1984, western alienation subsided since it was believed Mulroney would be favorable towards the West. This did not last long. 

Reform Party of Canada 

In 1986, Mulroney’s government awarded a maintenance contract for Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets to Montreal’s airplane manufacturing company Bombardier, despite a Winnipeg company winning the contract according to the government’s own criteria. This led to a surge in Western alienation that culminated in the creation of the Reform Party of Canada. 

The Reform Party’s motto was “the West wants in” because its goal was to increase Western influence in Canada’s national institutions. It elected many MPs from the West during the 1990s, including most of Alberta’s seats. 

Western alienation once again subsided after the Conservative Party of Canada formed government in 2006 under former Reform Party MP Stephen Harper. However, it immediately began to build after Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in 2015. 

Conservative relation

Western alienation has usually been identified with conservatism. This is because the kinds of policies imposed by the Liberals on the West have involved increasing federal control at the expense of provincial authority and commonly rely on socialistic central planning. By contrast, conservatives favor provincial powers and free enterprise economics.