By Alex McCuaig

BUFFALO DECLARATION

Motz says Buffalo Declaration meant to spark solutions to Western alienation

Feb 22, 2020 | 3:06 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – In a bold manifesto asserting many grievances in Alberta, Medicine Hat MP Glen Motz joined three other MPs from the province Thursday, including Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen, in signing their names to the Buffalo Declaration with the intent of getting a better deal from the federal government while warning of independence if it doesn’t.

But while the declaration covers a wide range of issues from senate and electoral district reform to the amount and prominence of Western artists in the nation’s capital while comparing Alberta’s treatment by Ottawa to that of a colony, Motz says the document is not about separation.

“Absolutely not,” said Motz Friday afternoon. “I’m not a separatist fan. Alberta is better inside the Confederation and Canada is better off with Alberta in it. I do not support anything to do with Alberta separating.”

But the document backs the idea that Alberta and Saskatchewan have never been seen as equal partners in Confederation from the beginning, highlighting that a proposal to form a unified province of Buffalo – from whence the declaration takes its name – in 1905 was scuttled due to Eastern Canadian interests.

But Motz says it’s time to move the conversations forward on how to deal with these historical and current wrongs committed against the province.

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“This is above politicking. This is above anything to do with a party. This is about making Canada stronger, making Alberta stronger inside of Canada,” said Motz. “That’s what this is all about and getting feedback from people and letting them know we are taking this seriously.”

Former Medicine Hat MLA Jim Horsman agrees the declaration is reflective of the predominate sentiment of Albertans theses days. But the MLA who was part of the Alberta delegation which repatriated the Constitution as well as being part of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords warned the declaration may be trying to take on too much at one time.

And when it comes to a number of aspects of the declaration, it would be hard not to achieve them without reopening the Constitution.

“It’s pretty all encompassing,” said Horsman of the declaration. “Rather than try and solve all the problems, maybe we’d be better off to just tackle something that is achievable to get a sense of equality, which, obviously this paper and from what I’ve been hearing is not really felt in Western Canada.”

Horsman said one of the reasons for the defeat by referendum of the Charlottetown Accord was due to the number of topics it tried to deal with which gave a majority of Canadians something to dislike about the constitutional amendment.

So far only four of the 33 Alberta-based Conservative Party MPs have signed onto the declaration. Though, Motz says several more had a hand in crafting the document and he expects more MPs will throw their support behind the declaration.

(With files from EverythingGP staff)