海角社区官网

What we鈥檙e likely to see in Western Canada isn鈥檛 just disappointment. It might be anger. The same anger that has fuelled the Conservative movement through the Trudeau government’s “lost decade,” and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre鈥檚 rise with his trademark populist appeal.

We might also see frustration morph into anger over a loss that many thought was once guaranteed.

Before I get accused of stoking anger by writing about it, I鈥檒l point to the response to a post I recently published on LinkedIn about degrees of anger, which included a 2022 Maclean’s magazine cover featuring a glasses-wearing Poilievre with the headline, 鈥淲hy Is Pierre Poilievre So Angry?” The reactions speak for themselves: 鈥淎fter ten years of terrible management, we should all be angry at the Liberals,” “Yes, we are all angry because the government takes and takes,” “Anger is exactly what is called for to fix a broken Canada,” and “Being passionate about your beliefs is not anger!”

In Quebec, the dream was sovereignty. In the West, the dream is influence 鈥� to bring it home, to use one of the many Conservatives鈥� slogans. In both cases, the emotional investment was massive. But the emotional fallout is markedly different.

Many Quebecers grieved a dream deferred. Western Canadians are poised to rage against a system they believe ignores and betrays them 鈥� a view Preston Manning has added his influential voice to.

In an based on an interview with Manning, he doubled down on an earlier warning that the election of another Liberal government could trigger a national unity crisis: “If the Liberals are re-elected,” he reiterated, “the West may be motivated to find a way out of Confederation.”

What he鈥檚 calling for is a legitimate forum for disgruntled Westerners to express their anger. There鈥檚 that word again.

If this anger becomes about more than losing an election that should have been won, it could lead to a loss of faith. And that鈥檚 a much more dangerous place for any federation to find itself in.

The 鈥渢wo solitudes鈥� that once described French and English Canada might now feel more like solitudes of grievance: one born of cultural identity, the other of political and economic estrangement.

But while Quebecers learned to channel their solitude by supporting constitutional negotiations and measures of cultural affirmation, Western Canada鈥檚 anger is taking a harder edge. It鈥檚 less about dialogue and more about disconnection.

It鈥檚 easy to dismiss these emotions as sour grapes. It would also be a mistake. You can鈥檛 build a future country by ignoring the fractures that elections reveal.

There are fractures even within Quebec, where the emotional landscape is not uniform, despite the rise in patriotism triggered by Donald Trump’s annexation talk. Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet鈥檚 last-minute appeal to hardcore sovereigntist supporters, calling Canada an 鈥渁rtificial country,鈥� does not represent all Quebecers, nor does it necessarily pose a greater threat to unity.

However, his voice is prominently heard on the national stage, making his statements resonate far beyond Quebec鈥檚 borders. In contrast, separatist movements in Alberta don鈥檛 have the same platform or national reach (yet), making Blanchet鈥檚 statements more widely amplified.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will, of course, speak of unity as the key to a stronger Canada. But he鈥檒l need to do more than deliver speeches 鈥� he鈥檒l have to connect with those whose hopes for a Conservative victory, seemingly guaranteed just four months ago, have been dashed.

The man is good with numbers. He鈥檒l need to be even better with people 鈥� including the ones already waving F-Carney flags.