The Honourable Ralph Klein
Premier of Alberta
Room 307, Legislature Building
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6

Dear Premier,

I know you are a committed Canadian and how much Albertans love their country. For this reason, I am writing to address any misunderstanding that your recent comments may have created about your unwavering attachment to Canada.

I am sure you will agree that nothing justifies secession – or the threat of secession – in Canada. Nothing justifies such a threat, whether in Alberta, in Quebec or anywhere else in our great democracy.

Secession is a very grave act whereby an international border is established between fellow citizens who thus cease to be fellow citizens. There is no justification in our democracy for transforming Canadians into foreigners in relation to one another.

Since the end of the Second World War, whenever secession has occurred, it has been in the context of decolonization or following the break-up of totalitarian empires, where fundamental rights have been violated. This bears no resemblance to the context of a well established democracy such as Canada.

Nowhere in the world is the spectre of secession raised with regard to an international protocol on the environment, or a wheat board, or a firearm registry program. Albertans who oppose Kyoto, the Canadian Wheat Board or the Firearms Act are no less Canadian than other Canadians. Albertans who support those federal policies are no less Albertan than other Albertans.

Both our governments are working to develop the best policies for our country. In the process, we sometimes have disagreements, which we have to overcome as best we can. But it would be unfair to Canada to call into question its very existence simply because our governments have disagreements. Other democracies do not do so.

I have lived in France and in the United States. I have met many French and Americans who strongly disagreed with policies of their national governments. I have never met any who, as a result, called into question their belonging and attachment to their country. There is no reason for things to be any different in Canada.

I hope you will clarify that fundamental difference between love for one’s country and opinions about one’s governments, as Premier and party leader, whenever the spectre of separation is raised.

"Don’t slay the messenger," you say (Calgary Herald, February 19, 2003 p. A1). But, this is the point, you are more than a messenger – you are a leader. And a leader must say that the threat of secession is morally wrong in a democracy.

As you yourself have previously stated in an open letter on February 9, 2001: "The existence of tension in a federal system however, is not a sign of irreconcilable differences – it is inevitable and exists in all federations."

As for our current disagreements, let us continue to work towards resolving them for the benefit of Albertans and all Canadians. That is what our fellow citizens expect of us, in this Canada in which we all believe.

Sincerely,

Stéphane Dion