Many in Alberta support independence, and many more across the West want out of Canada. You can feel it in the comments online, in the conversations at coffee shops, and in the energy at townhalls. People are restless. They want it to happen now.

But here’s the hard truth—we are a long way from making it real. Why? Because right now, we are nothing more than scattered voices. We talk. We argue. We complain. And then we wait for someone else to organize it for us.

Yes, we show up at APP meetings and other events. We nod along, we learn, we show support. But support alone doesn’t build independence.

Human beings create nations. And in this movement, we are going to focus on the latter part of that word—the “being” part. Because declarations don’t build nations. “Being” does.

The Forgotten Power of “Being”

We call ourselves human beings, but too many forget that second word. “Being” is not talk. “Being” is action. It is putting your hands, your mind, and your will into the thing you desire.

Without “being” the thing we want, it will never manifest into reality. And that’s why so many fall back on government and organizations—because it’s easier to let someone else do it for us.

But here’s the problem: those organizations are not working for you. Not the government, not the unions, not the councils or corporations. They are working for themselves. Their workers don’t create freely—they follow orders, because their paycheque depends on it.

That is the game. When the organization pays the worker, it owns the worker’s output. It buys their “being.”

Government: The Parasite That Controls the People

A parasite, by definition, is an organism that leeches resources from a living host in order to extract its own life force and proliferate. In our society, the host is the human “being,” and the parasite is the organization of government.

But governments are worse than ordinary parasites. They don’t just drain resources; they extract our “being”—our work, our money, our creativity. They take the output of human “beings” and then feed a portion of it back in the form of wages, pensions, and programs. And with that exchange, they tighten control: paying people while dictating what they can and cannot do with their own work.

Step back and you’ll see it: government is the biggest employer in society. Bigger than any corporation. Provincial, federal, municipal—it doesn’t matter. Between health care, education, administration, law enforcement, and all the agencies stacked on top, 10–20% of the population is directly paid by tax dollars.

And guess who is organized? The government. Guess where they get their money? From you and me, through taxes. And where do they spend it? Paying people. Because government, at its core, is the parasite that controls the people.

So what happens? People care more about their next paycheque than about whether their work is contributing to a healthy society. That’s the true power of the salary: the ability to buy the “being” of a person.

And let’s be honest—we have all done it. Every one of us has signed on the dotted line, exchanging our “being” for money. What do you call it when you sell your “being” to the highest bidder? There are many words for it: mercenary, prostitute, pen for hire, sellout, hack, scab.

Here’s the hard truth—another word for it is employee. And everyone continues living as if we are not all selling out our “being” to the one who pays. And the largest one who pays is the government.

We have sold our “being.” We have sold the results of our hard work to serve the vision of the organization. And here’s the irony: we all complain about what government does—without acknowledging that it is built from our own work, our own funds, our own lives. The parasites at the top control our collective output because we hand it over to them.

Then we wonder why the world feels broken. It is because we have given our power away, piece by piece, until the very system that enslaves us is built from our own hands.

The Parasite Cycle of Government

• They leech money through taxes.

• They extract it to feed the life force of government.

• The parasite becomes stronger and more organized.

• They extract even more (there are always new taxes).

• They pay people just enough of what they’ve taken to keep the human “being” alive.

Who Really Funds the Organization?

So what do we do about it? If we are the ones funding the very organization that controls us, then the responsibility is ours.

It’s time to defund the government in the only way that matters: by taking the resources we have and choosing where to put them. Choosing which organizations we empower with our own dollars.

Does the government allow this? Of course not. Because if you could choose where your tax money went, the whole system would collapse. Grassroots organizations would thrive. Bureaucrats would starve. And suddenly the parasites wouldn’t have a host to feed on.

That’s why taxes are mandatory, enforced by law. Because if it were voluntary—if people actually got to decide—we would finally see real democracy. A society where the people direct their funds, not the parasites at the top.

Reclaiming the “Being”

I don’t say this to shame anyone for their job. We’ve all been there. I say it to show the truth: the organization only has power because it buys our “being.”

But we can choose differently. Everything we value—schools, churches, railroads, homes, associations—was built by human “beings,” not by the state. It was our hands that created them.

If we don’t like the direction of our government, then we must “be” something else. That is our power.

A Call to Self-Organization

This is a call to the individual. To you, as a human “being.” You are not alone. Millions feel this way. But they feel powerless, waiting for orders, waiting for paycheques, waiting for someone else to act.

But who else is going to do it? The truth is we can. We must.

We need to self-organize. To redirect our energy, our “being,” and yes, our money—away from the parasites and into creation. It will take courage. It will take faith. But if we build it, others will come.

The Challenge Before Us

If this resonates with you, then it’s your responsibility to put your “being” toward something higher—something worthy of God and not the parasites of government.

If we keep selling ourselves to the parasites, we cannot be surprised when the world itself becomes parasitic. The evidence is all around us.

Our creation must be given to the Creator, to GOD Himself—not to bureaucrats, not to politicians, not to the endless machine of control. We must “being” in the name of Christ, for the love of neighbor and the love of self.

Because only when our “being” is rooted in God, expressed in love, and directed toward creation—not control—will we see a future that is free, alive, and truly independent.

So the question stands:

*What are you going to do with your “being”?

First off, good job to all who ran their campaigns. I hope everyone had good experiences touring the region and meeting the people who live here. And congratulations to Pierre Poilievre for winning back his seat and being able to attend Parliament in Ottawa. I’ll be clear: I do value your political commentary, and I think you do a good job as the voice of the opposition. I hope your presence in the House keeps Mark Carney and the Liberals in check.

But let’s be honest about what this election actually means.

It means nothing has changed for Alberta—because no politician in Ottawa will ever deliver the sovereignty, prosperity, or real representation our people deserve.

A System That Cannot Represent Us

This was not a win for Alberta sovereignty. This was not a win for Alberta independence. Poilievre, as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, cannot and will not stand for Alberta alone. His job is to represent Conservatives across the country. Right there is the evidence: our constitutional democracy is inadequate at representing the people.

I know there’s strong separatist sentiment in this riding because I spent four weeks touring it myself. I’m not a politician—just a citizen who wanted to understand what others think about our political, judicial, and bureaucratic system. What I found was consistent: people are unhappy, deeply frustrated, and losing faith. They are questioning what benefits government actually delivers. They are asking how their voices are being heard, how their problems are being solved—and most conclude they aren’t.

People feel powerless. Disgruntled by endless rules and policies. Frustrated with rising taxes and cost of living. Annoyed that government bends over backwards for big business while the struggles of ordinary people keep piling up. More and more, people are realizing nothing will ever be resolved at the federal level for local issues.

And yet campaigns like Poilievre’s keep telling us he’ll fight the “evil Liberals” and somehow make our lives better.

The Illusion of Politics

Here’s the pattern: the person who wins always blames someone else for the mess and tells us to vote for them so they can fix it. But think about it—over decades of watching politics, has this ever truly happened? If politicians could fix government into something that works for the people, wouldn’t we have seen it by now?

Instead, things continually get worse. Costs climb. Bureaucracy grows. Debt piles up. Division deepens. Government bloat expands. The truth is simple: no individual in the system is going to fix the system, because the system is doing exactly what it was designed to do—make citizens’ lives smaller, more controlled, and more dependent.

Government doesn’t exist to free us. It exists to manage us. To make sure we never step into self-governance and prosperity. To control every aspect of life within its borders. And it doesn’t just fail Albertans—it fails all Canadians.

Manufactured Problems, Manufactured Solutions

I don’t say this to blame Poilievre personally. Though Trudeau and Carney are fair game, the hypocrisy runs deeper than individuals. We’re told “those people” are terrible, but “my guy” will fix everything. That’s brainwashing.

We’ve all been indoctrinated—through school, media, and culture—to believe government exists to fix our problems. The truth is, government creates the very problems it pretends to solve. Inflation. Cost of living. Housing shortages. Immigration overload. Federal debt. Crime. Opioid addiction. Homelessness. Neglect of veterans and disabled citizens. If government worked, these things would improve. Instead, every single one is getting worse.

Why Representation Doesn’t Work

Here’s the math: one MP represents about 110,000 people. One voice, a hundred thousand concerns. That guarantees most voices go unheard. And with Poilievre as party leader, there is literally no way for him to represent this riding’s people directly. He admitted in a candidate forum that he won’t be around much—his job is to tour Canada. His promise? To give our issues a “big megaphone,” like pipelines.

But let’s be real. Hardisty is full of pipelines, tanks, and billions in infrastructure, and the town is still run down. The wealth doesn’t flow to the people. And while Alberta refines fuel, we still pay more at the pump than the Maritimes, who import from across the ocean. This isn’t fairness. It’s federal redistribution dressed up as equality, and in practice it means we’re being robbed.

And who’s doing the robbing? Look at the top politicians. Mark Carney, with over 100 conflicts of interest between his business ventures and his public role. Trudeau before him. Harper before that. These people are not public servants. They are managers of a machine that keeps Canadians in line while enriching themselves.

Nothing Changed Last Night

So what changed when Pierre Poilievre won his seat back? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

If we want real change—if we want to make our lives better and secure prosperity for our children and grandchildren—it won’t come from Ottawa. It won’t come from a polished politician like Pierre—just check his Facebook page for the pageantry of his campaign. And it certainly won’t come from electing one person to try and represent a hundred thousand voices.

One person can’t fix the system because they are agents of the system. They get paid by it. If they truly fixed it, we wouldn’t need them anymore. And no politician is going to work themselves out of a job. That’s why the future has to be people-led. Government agents will never solve the problems—they are the problems.

The Responsibility Is Ours

No one is coming to fix this. If we keep waiting on Ottawa, we’ll be waiting forever. The system isn’t broken—it’s working exactly as designed, and that design does not serve us. But people here are starting to see through the illusion. More Albertans every day are realizing that the promises of Ottawa will never match the reality on the ground.

That’s why the conversation is shifting. It’s not about which politician can shout the loudest in Parliament—it’s about whether we as Albertans are willing to take responsibility for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Real change will not come from polished speeches in the House of Commons. Real change will come from people standing shoulder to shoulder, deciding together what kind of future we want, and taking the steps to build it.

If you’re one of the many who feels that things are only getting worse—more expensive, more controlled, less free—then you know it’s time. Time to stop pointing fingers east, time to stop hoping that Ottawa will suddenly care about us, and time to take back power into our own hands. That’s what Alberta Independence is about.

We don’t need more promises—we need to take action as a people. We need to be the change we’ve been waiting for. And when we do, we will leave behind something far greater than frustration: we will leave behind a legacy of freedom and prosperity that belongs to us, and to the generations who come after.

That future won’t be handed to us. We have to claim it. And together, we can.

👉 Want more real conversations about Alberta’s future? Join the movement and sign up for our newsletter at www.albertadiscussion.com.

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On August 12th in Stettler, Alberta, more than fifty people gathered in a town hall setting for an evening of frank, open discussion on Alberta’s future. Host Jon Sedore, founder of Alberta Independence Discussion, opened the meeting by welcoming the crowd and reminding everyone why these gatherings matter: Alberta’s political crossroads can’t be navigated by slogans and soundbites alone—it takes face-to-face conversations, straight answers, and a willingness to wrestle with uncomfortable truths.

Sedore emphasized that the goal was not to put on a partisan rally, but to give Albertans a space to ask real questions of political leaders and hear their vision without the filter of party spin or media editing. “We don’t have to agree on every solution,” he said, “but we do have to agree that Alberta’s future is worth fighting for.” He acknowledged the possibility of heated disagreement but called on attendees to treat one another with respect, noting that the fight for Alberta’s future must be built on unity of purpose, even when strategies differ. He also flagged that independence, sovereignty, and reform are not abstract theories—they are decisions that could shape the lives of everyone in the room within just a few years.

With that, he introduced the evening’s lineup of speakers, each representing different corners of Alberta’s political landscape, but all tied to the same central question: Do we fix Canada from within—or leave it behind?

The Speakers

Jeff Willerton (Christian Heritage Party) opened the night with a deeply moral framing, drawing a straight line between Canada’s political history and what he sees as the erosion of life, liberty, and faith. “Those are God’s children we’re killing and maiming,” he warned, linking cultural shifts to what he considers moral decay. He traced decades of federal overreach, climate policy impositions, and assaults on traditional values—arguing that real change will require Albertans to break free from the “blue-red paradigm” and vote for leaders committed to ending abortion, euthanasia, indoctrination of children, and the cultural engineering he believes Ottawa is driving.

Jonathan Bridges (People’s Party of Canada) shifted the conversation toward fiscal responsibility and generational stewardship. Using Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund as a contrast, Bridges lamented Canada’s ballooning debt—$120,000 per person—while Alberta’s Heritage Trust Fund languishes at $5,000 per capita. “Instead of leaving an inheritance to our grandchildren, we’re stealing from them,” he said, urging the crowd to break from voting habits that have kept the same problems in place for decades. He made the case for smaller government, balanced budgets, and voting for principles rather than “strategic” blue-team loyalty, warning that every delay in changing course comes at the expense of our children’s inheritance.

Maxime Bernier (Leader, PPC) brought the federal outsider’s voice. A Quebecer and self-described federalist who nonetheless pledged to stand on the “Yes” side in any Alberta referendum, Bernier argued that both Quebec and Alberta have been lied to repeatedly by Ottawa’s power brokers. “If you vote no, nothing will change—if you vote yes, at least you have a chance,” he told the crowd. He laid out three possible outcomes of a “Yes” vote—true constitutional reform, outright independence, or even alignment with the U.S.—and urged Albertans to use a referendum as leverage for real change, warning that a “No” simply signals Ottawa to ignore the province entirely.

Cam Davies (Alberta Republican Party) reminded the room that independence sentiment in Central Alberta is stronger than media suggests, with younger Albertans often more in favour than their parents but less visible at events. While Quebec’s referendums were often a negotiating tactic, Davies stressed Alberta’s goal is different: “Independence isn’t a negotiation tactic for us—it’s an exit strategy.” He urged starting now on Alberta-first institutions—policing, tax collection, pensions, and immigration—so Ottawa can’t use them as leverage if a vote is called. He also criticized the province’s petition requirements, warning they drain time and momentum. “It doesn’t take a petition to do the right thing—it takes political will,” he said, calling independence a calculated risk worth taking over the “terrifying certainty” of staying in Confederation.

Ron Robertson (Independence Party of Alberta) took a historical and hard-line approach, connecting Alberta’s creation in 1905 to a pattern of imposed governance and resource control. He argued that Canada is already under a form of Marxist influence, pointing to Pierre Trudeau’s ideological history and current federal policies. “We can’t have sovereignty inside a system designed to control us,” Robertson said, advocating for a unilateral declaration of independence, a constitutional republic with strict limits on government power, and equal treatment for all Albertans without “special rights” enshrined in law.

Open Forum – Where the Room Comes Alive

When the formal speeches wrapped, the tone of the evening shifted into something more electric. The mics moved through the audience, and what followed was a rapid-fire exchange of ideas, challenges, and genuine curiosity.

The first round of questions tackled one of the thorniest issues in Alberta politics: the Indian Act. Audience members wanted to know exactly how each party envisioned handling Indigenous relations in an independent Alberta. Responses from the panel converged on the principle of equal rights for all Albertans, while also acknowledging the need to dismantle a system that has trapped many in dependency and stripped away property rights. “If everyone’s truly equal, there should be no special rights for anyone—and no second-class citizens either,” one speaker said to nods around the room.

Another hot topic was the timeline for independence. One attendee openly admitted they still wanted to give Canada “one last chance” before breaking away, prompting a mix of agreement and pushback from the panel. Davies cautioned that the damage done in even a few more years under the current federal direction could be irreversible. Bernier stressed that a referendum vote could serve as the “last chance” for Ottawa to offer meaningful reform—if rejected, Alberta should be prepared to leave. Robertson warned that delay has been the independence movement’s Achilles heel for decades, and that hesitation risks losing the momentum building now. “Four more years under this system will do damage we can’t undo,” he said.

The conversation also turned inward, focusing on unity—or lack of it—within the independence movement itself. Several attendees wanted clarity on why there are multiple independence parties, and how that might split the vote. The speakers explained the distinction between registered political parties and organizations like the Alberta Prosperity Project, which is an educational society rather than a political vehicle. Robertson and Davies pointed to their memorandum of understanding as an example of cooperation and called on others to follow suit, warning that running multiple pro-independence candidates in the same riding only helps the federalist parties. “Five pro-independence names on one ballot just guarantees a win for the people who want us to fail,” one speaker bluntly said.

Throughout the discussion, there was a noticeable absence of hostility. Even on points of disagreement, the exchanges stayed constructive, with speakers thanking attendees for hard questions and attendees showing openness to hearing answers they might not agree with. That willingness to engage—to challenge each other without shutting each other down—is what kept the energy high in the room right through to the breakout conversations afterward.

Key Topics Covered

• Historical federal overreach and resource control since Alberta’s founding
  “We were never meant to be an equal partner in Confederation—we were designed to be a resource colony.”

• Moral and cultural decline under Ottawa’s policies
  “When the government blames you for their crimes, you’re already living under tyranny.”

• Fiscal mismanagement and intergenerational debt
  “We’re not leaving our kids an inheritance—we’re leaving them the bill for our mistakes.”

• Referendum strategy: negotiation tool vs. direct exit
  “A ‘No’ vote tells Ottawa they can keep ignoring us—a ‘Yes’ at least forces them to the table.”

• Building Alberta-first institutions before a vote
  “If we wait until after a referendum to build them, Ottawa will make sure we never get the chance.”

• Risks of delay in pursuing independence
  “Four more years under this system will do damage we can’t undo.”

• Equal representation, Senate reform, and dismantling the Indian Act
  “If everyone’s truly equal, there should be no special rights for anyone—and no second-class citizens either.”

• The need for unity among independence parties and organizations
  “Five pro-independence names on one ballot just guarantees a win for the people who want us to fail.”

Closing Note:
The Stettler meeting demonstrated that Alberta’s political future isn’t just a matter of party platforms—it’s forged in rooms where people are willing to speak plainly, listen intently, and test their convictions against opposing views. Over fifty voices filled the hall, not in agreement on every point, but united in taking the issues seriously enough to show up and engage.

In that exchange—where tough questions met candid answers—the key themes of the night came to life: the urgency of action, the tension between caution and boldness, and the recognition that unity will matter more than perfection. These are not abstract talking points; they are the living, breathing conditions that will shape whether Alberta charts its own course or remains tied to the one set in Ottawa.

If there was one takeaway from Stettler, it’s that discussions like this are not just commentary on the times—they are part of the work itself. What happens in these rooms will determine what happens beyond them.

Disclaimer: Alberta Independence Discussion (AID) event reports are prepared as summaries of public discussions and are intended to reflect the range of views expressed by speakers and participants. These reports are not verbatim transcripts. Statements made during events are the responsibility of the individual speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of AID. Any factual claims should be independently verified. AID event summaries are drafted with the assistance of AI technology based on event notes, recordings, and transcripts, and are reviewed for accuracy and clarity before publication.