After a ‘no’ to secession in Canada, the next step

Canada – thanks to just one of its 10 provinces, which holds 97.5% of national oil reserves – is among the world’s top five oil producers. But residents of that far western province, Alberta, have been increasingly frustrated by decades of environmental and green energy goals and regulations that, they say, have constrained the use of and benefits from the natural resource at their disposal.Still, on Monday, Albertans declared a clear “no” to the notion of seceding from Canada in a referendum (on whether to hold a future binding referendum on separation). The 3-to-1 result bolsters Prime Minister Mark Carney’s stated goal of making Canada a “global energy superpower” as well as the cause of national unity – for now.It also underscores the ongoing task of defining (or redefining) what it means to be Canadian in a geographically vast and increasingly diverse nation. The demand, in the view of many observers, is how to reconcile regional preferences, cultural differences, and centralized versus local decision-making in a federal, democratic system. It’s a civic demand not dissimilar to that confronting citizens of the United States and other parts of the world. “The central question is ... not how to make Canadians the same. It is how to make people who are profoundly different believe that they are participating in the same political community,” according to Salma Siddiqui, vice chair of the Forum of Federations, an Ottawa, Ontario-based nonprofit. This requires constructing a civic identity founded on the values of “equal membership, common democratic institutions, participation in public life, and reciprocal obligations to other citizens,” she wrote in Policy Magazine last month. “Our beliefs, our languages, our backgrounds, and our traditions are not concessions made to our citizenship. They are the very expression of it,” is how Mr. Carney put it in a pre-referendum speech last week in Calgary, a city built on oil production and a proud ranching and rodeo culture.“Unity is not uniformity,” the Canadian leader, himself a native of Alberta, stressed. As with their neighbors to the south, residents of Canada’s western prairie and mountain provinces take pride in a pioneering spirit and rugged independence that have enabled them to prosper in often harsh terrain.“Those roots are part of the West’s identity,” according to Gary Mar, president of the Canada West Foundation. “Part of the problem is that Ottawa sometimes forgets” this, he wrote in the Calgary Herald this month, referring to the nation’s capital some 1,800 miles to the east.An experienced provincial legislator and former representative in Washington, Mr. Mar is calling for “a practical examination [of] ... what can realistically be improved.” The choice cannot be between extremes – breaking Canada apart or maintaining the status quo, he noted. “We should be more ambitious than that,” he urged. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. But, he cautioned, for such a process to succeed, “Egos will need to be parked. Overt partisanship sidelined. And inflexible ideologies shelved.”Such advice might well be taken by citizens and political leaders in other countries, too. ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.