Confused by Brexit? Get ready for “Wexit.”
Political leaders representing a large chunk of Canada are talking about breaking off from the rest of the country in the wake of Justin Trudeau’s reelection — and this time they’re not primarily in French-speaking Quebec, long known for its independent streak.
Instead, it’s the country’s western, oil-dependent provinces fueling the breathless talk of secession amid a perception that Trudeau and eastern urban liberals are calling the shots at their expense. And it’s emerging as one of Trudeau’s most complicated headaches as the prime minister moves toward the start of his second term next month.
“Is it real? Yeah. People are mad,” Randy Hoback, a Conservative Party member of Parliament in central Saskatchewan told POLITICO. “I’ve never seen it like this.”
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Citizens in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan agitated for political change in Ottawa over the past year as attempts to build a coastal pipeline expansion continued to falter and as farmers got trounced by trade tiffs with China.
They got what they wanted in their region — Conservatives swept all but one parliamentary seat in the elections, leaving Trudeau’s Liberals with virtually no presence in Canada’s oil country. But it didn’t translate to new federal leadership, as Trudeau’s party dominated in eastern Canadian cities, including Toronto and Montreal, and still commands a strong plurality of seats in Parliament.
The result: Talk of a break with the rest of Canada — dubbed Wexit on social media — is accelerating as some in the western part of the country say enough is enough.
Source: Trudeau victory prompts ‘Wexit’ talk in Canada’s West
