C.<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@causeburn" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>causeburn</span></a></span> </p><p>Western alienation is real, and is to a great degree justified. Note: I'm not a separatist or anything, I'm not partisan (no Canadian party represents my views), I just live in the prairies and have a front-seat view.</p><p>The issues that cause this <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/alienation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>alienation</span></a> are longstanding. This didn't just arise because of Trudeau, or even just because of the last generation of governments. It goes back further than that. The west sees many reasons to believe (rightly or wrongly) that they get short shrift from the federal <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/government" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>government</span></a>.</p><p>One recent example: Ottawa saw a threat to Canadian auto workers (southern Ontario only, natch) in desirable Chinese electric vehicles that have taken much of the world by storm. So Ottawa slapped a 100% <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/tariff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tariff</span></a> on Chinese electric vehicles. It's not only the US that can play stupid games.</p><p>The <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/stupid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>stupid</span></a> prize they won is a 100% <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/tariff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tariff</span></a> by China on the import of Canadian canola oil and <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/canola" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>canola</span></a> meal. This is a hugely important cash crop all across the prairies, and China represented farmers' biggest <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/market" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>market</span></a>. This tariff has decimated that income. Farmers are hurting because of it, and the prairie provinces' economies are still significantly tied to <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/agriculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>agriculture</span></a>.</p><p>Ottawa basically doesn't care. Have to protect Ontario jobs. Eastern farmers aren't affected. Why do anything to help prairie <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/farmers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>farmers</span></a> and provinces?</p><p>Note this is just one example. There are many, in all areas of society, politics, and economics.</p><p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Canadian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canadian</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/west" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>west</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/prairies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prairies</span></a></p>