I have been laying low these days waiting for the outcome of the unenviable pipeline fiasco currently gripping the nation. Oh my, says the Polite Separatist, the American backers of the protest groups must be laughing themselves into a tizzy as they see the fruit of their labour come about. BC fights Alberta, Trudeau backs the pro and anti pipeline movements at the same time and Canada is falling to pieces. Not bad for a few millions invested in the right places and paid to the right people.

And just like the pipeline debacle, the separatist sphere is also seeing upheaval. And it’s getting so that one can’t tell the players without a program!

WIPA, WIPBC, WIPMan, Saskatchewan Separation Party, Separation of Alberta from the Liberal East, Alberta Independence Movement, Yukon/NWT Independence Movement, Canadian West Independence, The Republic of Western Canada, Alberta Independence Movement, WIP-SK, Western Canada Separation, Constitutional Republic of West Canada, Coalition for Separation of Western Canada, Canadian Secessionist Movement, Westcanada Separatist Group Rally Page, The Western Freedom Alliance…Did I miss any?

Now, to be fair, some attempts have been made to rally the troops under one banner in Facebook but success is somewhat dubious beyond nice logos and bold talk. It is largely the same situation that makes enemies of independence dance with delight. Fragmentation is the enemy, more than those who fight us because fragmentation saves them sweat and hard work. In effect we are doing their job for them.

I’ve said it before and I say it again. Concentrated effort, with definite roles assigned to each group, to focus like a laser point on one province, one with the highest likelihood of success, will take the day. The other Western provinces will follow.

Now, back to pipelines. John Horgan, the Premier of BC, is firmly stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. He can remain as premier so long as he placates the radical Green Party and they are deadly opposed to any form of fossil fuels, progress, pipelines and perhaps even Dilithium Crystals from Star Trek. He must oppose, even though a consistent 60% of the population of BC are in favour of the pipeline, in order to keep the Greens happy so he can sit in the Premier’s chair. It is a prime example that amply illustrates the lack of moral turpitude and the lengths he is prepared to go to curry favour. He knows that to stand up for the majority and the economy of BC would mean an immediate election. And more, he knows he would lose.

For British Columbians, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that their province and their economic future rest with a political party that has three seats and 16% of the votes.

And so poor John Horgan has to do the bidding of the Greens, Tides Canada, George Soros, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Greenpeace, Pembina Institute, Environmental Defence, David Suzuki, the Sisu Institute and some 50 other anti-oil groups. Anti-pipeline activists say they’re protesting pipelines to “keep oil in the ground.” And yet, against Texas, where oil production has doubled, or California, or the Gulf coast or Alaskan oil fields there are no multi-million-dollar campaigns.

Poor John has to jump to their music but not to the clear majority of British Columbians. It seems that every new generation of British Columbians have to relearn that lesson of the folly of having an NDP government.

So what does all this mean to Western independence?

In the short run, not much beyond anger and frustration. But it does serve to show that as our time gets nearer and people become more attuned to the idea of the West as a country in its own right, great care must be taken to ensure all voices carry equal weight with one notable exception, that being foreign interference either directly or indirectly in our internal affairs. And that will be a tough thing to do since foreign interference is so pervasive in Canadian internal affairs that it will require extensive legislation and tough enforcement to make sure Western Canada alone decides its destiny. In “A Better Way” I propose a system of referendums to address this and make sure the voice of the people alone influence government.

Canada is slowly self destructing. It is incumbent on all of us to learn the valuable lessons of its decline in order to build a better tomorrow in an independent West.