Populism, Sovereignty, and Democracy in Alberta

Join MISC at 4:00 pm on Monday, January 19th at the Faculty Club (3450 McTavish Street) for Dr. Jared Wesley's lecture on Populism, Sovereignty, and Democracy in Alberta.

From a conventional perspective, Alberta politics today seems like a more extreme version of itself. In this view, the UCP government is one of the most conservative in the province's history and a century's worth of western alienation has come to a crescendo with the rise of separatism. A closer look reveals something different about Alberta's new right, however: they are not conservative, and their goals have less to do with sovereignty than "making Alberta great again." The Common Ground team at the University of Alberta has surveyed over 10,000 Albertans and convened over 100 focus groups over the past six years. Our findings reveal a decided disconnect between public opinion and political culture in the province, exposing daylight between who Albertans are and who they see themselves to be as a community. In this talk, Dr. Jared Wesley outlines how this gap contributes to the democratic backsliding and separatist movements in the province, and what Albertans must do to pull the province back from the brink.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A and reception. This event is free and open to public; registration is required via Eventbrite.

Jared Wesley is Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), Co-Director of the Peter Lougheed School of Politics and Democracy, a professor of political science, and member of the Black Faculty Collective at the University of Alberta. He leads the Common Ground research team, which is examining the intersection of public opinion, political culture, and public policy in Western Canada. He has co-authored three best-selling books in Canadian politics and public administration: Inside Canadian Politics, The Public Servant's Guide to Politics in Canada, and No I in Team: Party Loyalty in Canadian Politics.