EDMONTON, AB, September 16, 2022– Fairness Alberta Executive Director Dr. Bill Bewick will be meeting with political and economic leaders in Toronto September 16-19 to build support for reforming federal fiscal and environmental policies that are impoverishing Canada and fueling a national unity crisis.

“Sending so much wealth every year from productive provinces to those east of the Ottawa river is inefficient and unfair. When in return we get layers upon layers of anti-energy and agriculture policies directly threatening our future prosperity, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that alienation is climbing,” said Fairness Alberta Executive Director Dr. Bill Bewick. “Getting Ontarians to see that Equalization and uncompetitive regulations are very costly to them too is the key to getting Canada unified and prosperous for the next generation.”

On the fiscal front, renegotiating the Equalization formula before it expires in 2024 is Fairness Alberta’s primary goal, but the group has also been focused on creating a coalition of the ‘have’ provinces (BC, AB, SK, ON) to press on multiple fronts to reduce the federal government’s enormous regional redistribution of wealth to regions east of Ontario.

On the environment and energy front, Canada’s policies are increasingly out of step with global realities. Reducing food output and barriers preventing LNG from cutting coal emissions in Asia are the two most glaring examples. Fairness Alberta has launched an “Unjust Transition” campaign to show Canadians that a premature “transition” away from oil and gas is not only impoverishing Canada but also hurting the world. Dr. Bewick’s recent National Post column showed that the strict targets announced on energy and agriculture target western provinces, and erode Canada’s ability to provide energy security to our allies and feed the world.

“Energy security, food security, and inflation are the three biggest challenges in the world right now but policymakers in Ottawa keep making these problems worse with their single-minded focus on domestic emission reduction,” added Dr. Bewick. “With the U.S. recently deciding not to price carbon, we can’t just charge ahead with expensive policies that will drive up costs on families and make businesses uncompetitive, including those in Ontario.”

There is a new section with background on the Fairness Alberta website and Dr. Bewick published a nationwide column to launch the campaign: The Unjust Transition: Canada’s energy sacrifice is hurting the world, not helping it.

Fairness Alberta is a grassroots, non-partisan, and non-separatist association of concerned citizens, aiming to increase awareness across the country related to Albertans’ major contributions to Canada, while also providing clear, factual information on unfair federal policies that are anticipated to undermine the prosperity of Alberta and other contributing provinces further.

For further information or to arrange interviews (Dr. Bewick is in Toronto until Monday), please contact:

Bill Bewick, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fairness Alberta
Cell: (780) 996-6019
Email: [email protected]