It was only a few weeks ago that Alberta’s independence movement – Wexit – was full of vim and vigour.

New members signed up by the thousands after the October federal election which delivered a minority government for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals while completely shutting them out in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In early November 700 people packed a dance hall in Edmonton to vent their fury against the federal government which they blamed for all the province’s economic troubles.

“We will not allow ourselves to be divided. We’re going to make Alberta great again, and that is when we cut ourselves off from the leech that is Eastern Canada,” said Wexit founder Peter Downing, sporting a blue “Make Alberta Great Again” ball cap.

But while at the time the thought of running away from home may have been emotionally satisfying for Wexiteers it may not seem like such a good idea in the face of a pandemic.

Who knows how much money will eventually pour into Alberta over the next few months, given Trudeau’s plans for significant wage subsidies, income guarantees, Employment Insurance, and government-backed loans designed to buoy people and businesses hit hard by the shutdown of the economy?

But one thing is for sure: an Alberta government would never have been able to mount that kind of disaster relief.

And given that the price of western Canada’s particular brand of oil (Western Canada Select which is heavy on bitumen content) is under $5 a barrel thanks to the Russians and the Saudis flooding the market, how would this Alberta government raise revenue? By hiking taxes?

And what if the newly independent state of Alberta was not part of the Canadian health care system? Would doctors actually want to practice in Alberta? Wouldn’t a lot of them leave for other provinces? They are already embittered given that the UCP government has been waging war with them even as they strain to deal with COVID-19.

Would independent Alberta be able to acquire desperately needed medical masks and equipment without the added weight of a much more powerful level of government?

Would 3M be inclined to listen to Alberta if it ran out of much-needed masks?

And if Indigenous and remote communities in the northern part of the province needed the help of the military to establish field hospitals who would Alberta call on?

For some rabid Wexiteers the pandemic has only strengthened their conviction that the federal government is out to deliberately destroy Alberta.

As in this ridiculous Tweet posted by Downing, a former RCMP officer and Wexit’s head honcho, right after schools and child care centres were closed in Alberta: “If Alberta shuts down schools and daycares, just about every parent has to stay home from work to care for their kids.... SHUTTING DOWN our Economy. Just like the Feds want. The “Climate change” scare failed. Don’t fall for the new scare.”

Downing is a fan of Donald Trump’s approach to the pandemic, which makes no sense at all given that the death rate in the U.S is four times per capita than what it is in Canada.

The Wexit spokesman is even advising people to get a prescription for hydroxychloroquine, the medication that Trump keeps promoting as a cure for COVID-19 even though there is no evidence of its effectiveness against the virus but there are clearly serious side effects.

That kind of promotion via social media may have been one of the reasons why Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, Deena Hinshaw, last week made a point of warning doctors and pharmacists not to prescribe it as a treatment for COVID-19.

There’s no question that the vast majority of Albertans are more than a little worried about the future given the combination of the pandemic and the crash in oil prices.

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Premier Kenney has warned it will be as severe as the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Alberta is going to need plenty of grit, innovative thinking, and wise action if the province is to gain a foothold and start pulling itself up from the abyss.

Exploiting the fear and insecurity that abounds with fanatical ideas about Alberta going it alone, as Downing and his gang are doing, is the last thing we need.

GS Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward

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