Photo courtesy of Alex McCuaig - A group of about 100 people gathered at the Medicine Hat Lodge on Sunday to attend Wexit Alberta's first public meeting in the city.

By Alex McCuaig

Wexit

Warm Hat crowd greets Wexit Alberta leader

Nov 10, 2019 | 5:10 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – A crowd of about 100 showed up on a snowy Sunday to the city’s first Wexit meeting, welcoming the separatist movement’s leader with a warm reception.

“Everything Kenney is talking about now should have been done a long time ago. So it really speaks to the weakness of previous governments. If he wants to show the strength of his government, we need to see a referendum on separation,” said Peter Downing, Wexit Alberta leader.

Downing – decked out in a Medicine Hat Tigers jersey – was unfazed by Premier Jason Kenney’s speech the day before announcing a sweeping range of initiatives which appears to be aimed at staving off the latest version of western separatism.

If anything, the Downing was emboldened by the creation of the Fair Deal Panel.

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“One-hundred per cent,” said Downing when asked about Kenney’s announcement. “I wrote an open inferno wall letter just at the same time we were submitting our application for party registration.”

Wexit’s “inferno wall” outlines many of the initiatives previous brought up in the early 2000s firewall letter co-penned by the likes of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta cabinet minister Ted Morton which advocated for greater provincial authorities.

Downing said more than 250,000 people reacted to Wexit’s Facebook page within 72 hours of the federal election last month, and its momentum which the movement has the infrastructure to capitalize on.

“We’ve got 1,700 people who are scheduled to come to our event in Calgary next week,” said Downing.

Local organizer Tamara Lich of the local event said Western Canadians are feeling alienated.

“And one of the statements that I heard here today which hit home to me was is not the west is leaving the east but the east has already left the west,” said Lich.

Medicine Hat city councillor Jim Turner was also at Sunday’s meeting, applauding several times at comments relating to Alberta separation.

Given an opportunity to comment on his thoughts about the meeting, Turner replied, “no comment.”