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The Alberta Agenda calls for provincialization of three things: pensions, police and tax collection (see previous page).

Many other demands could have been added to the Alberta Agenda, but weren’t – simply because our aim is to "Strengthen Alberta's place within Confederation" and not get bogged down in social or any other issues.

However, valid as other demands may be, they all involve a protracted fight with the federal government in areas of split jurisdiction.

What is unique about the three core items of the Alberta Agenda (pensions, police and tax collection) is that they are all now under federal management, and could all be provincialized without Ottawa’s permission. Everything on the list is something we can do, whether Ottawa approves or not.

The government of Alberta can take charge of them as a matter of constitutional right, run them better, and in the process deliver a stinging rebuke to the federal government that Alberta will no longer be a milch cow to central Canada.

If we want to make headway against federal interference in all the other areas, we must make full use of all the rights and responsibilities the Constitution assigns to us. If we don’t take our constitutional powers seriously, neither will Ottawa.

The Alberta Agenda is a constitutional platform, not a shopping list

Because the aim here is political, constitutional and most of all economical, the Alberta Agenda must be treated as a package.

It is fair enough to ask if any one of its individual items is practical and desirable. And it’s fair enough to ask if the overall package is affordable.

However, it is not valid to cherry-pick those items that bring us financial gain, and leave to Ottawa those that don’t. That would not be responsible, only selfish.

You’ll see in the following pages that an Alberta Pension Plan would be a huge financial winner for Albertans, a provincial police force would be break-even, and personal provincial tax collection would actually make money because Alberta would get this money directly and much sooner.

If Quebec and Ontario can do it, why not Alberta? Are we a major province or just a colony of central Canada?