Western Alienation

In Canadian politics, Western alienation is the notion that the Western provinces – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the central provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Western alienation claims that these latter two are politically represented, and economically favoured, more significantly than the former, which has given rise to the sentiment of alienation among many western Canadians. Dr. Roger Gibbins, author and former CEO of Canada West Foundation defines western alienation as “a political ideology of regional discontent rooted in the dissatisfaction of western Canadians qua western Canadians with their relationship to and representation within the federal government.”