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Old 03-19-2019, 04:13 PM   #3253
CorsiHockeyLeague
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First, I'm not actually sure the question you wrote is permissible. A call to negoatite the secession of a province is fine, a call to re-negotiate the structure of confederation at the point of the gun of secession may not be.

But in any event, I don't think anyone is suggesting that it's fancifully impossible to invite a negotiation about re-structuring equalization payments. It's just fancifully impossible to think that a UCP government would be able to do anything about equalization by pursuing those negotiations. Secession is just an inherently different animal; provided that Quebec had engaged in good faith in those negotiations and treated other provinces fairly, there would have been no basis to prevent the province from leaving. There's plenty of room to argue, if you're the feds, that the current equalization structure is fine and effectively just deny Alberta any concessions at all.

Again, if Kenney is just saying "we want to start negotiations with the provinces and federal government to change this structure", I think it would be viewed as a lot more reasonable. But why would you hold a provincial referendum for that? Just make it part of your party platform and do it once you're elected.
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