Mark Milke, founder and president of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, offers a blunt assessment of the Alberta independence movement: “Starting a separatist movement is like starting a war. You think you’d be home by Christmas and you’re still in the trenches four years later.”
Western frustration, but not separation
Milke understands Western anger but does not believe separation from Canada is the answer. Over sushi in a downtown Calgary restaurant during Stampede week, he shared his vision for renewing the federation. “What’s the core problem in Confederation?” he asks. “I would submit to you that the core problem of the last 50 or 60 years has been Quebec politicians, separatists or not.”
Milke, who voted against the Charlottetown Accord in Canada’s 1992 nationwide referendum because he “didn’t like special status for Quebec,” traces much of the West’s frustration to decades of federal catering to Quebec nationalism. Quebec’s economic turn leftward after the 1960s, combined with constitutional wrangling and interventionist policies, dragged the national direction in ways that harmed resource-producing provinces.
Business leaders weigh separation
Business leaders in Alberta who once dismissed separation but now consider it seriously are not “deplorables,” Milke adds. “I know people in this city that make billion-dollar decisions that will probably vote for separation.” Yet he cautions against the gamble. Nor, he suggests, should Alberta copy Quebec’s model of extracting special status.
Instead, Milke recommends the country aim to be the “Switzerland of North America” — prosperous, open within its borders, and focused on genuine opportunity rather than managed outcomes or identity-based claims. Provinces should compete on excellence, not lobby for preferential treatment. “Subsidies from the federal government are not my definition of success,” he says plainly.
Renewal through older Canadian strengths
For Milke, the renewal of Canada lies in rediscovering older Canadian strengths: individual rights, rule of law, and merit. He sees Alberta as often embodying the freedom-loving, responsible spirit that characterized much of pre-1960s Canada. He draws inspiration from individuals who stood firm in difficult times, pointing to the Churchill statue on the grounds of the Government of Alberta’s McDougall Centre, installed two years ago as a pushback against cancel culture.
Yet Milke is no romantic. He acknowledges flaws in Canada’s past and present, including failures to live up to civil society ideals. But he rejects the notion that the only choices are the current trajectory or rupture. Renewal is possible if the country returns to principles that once made it distinctive: protecting the individual regardless of background, limiting arbitrary power, and measuring success by opportunity and outcomes rather than equity quotas or historical score-settling.
