In this episode of Wild Bros Country I sit down with my new friend and absolute wealth of knowledge on all things Alberta politics- Wyatt Tanton to discuss the single most Wild Bros Country thing I can think of—the move to make Alberta its own country of wild bros.
AKA. WEXIT.
Wyatt has spent the past two years committed to making The Case Against Wexit, a YouTube video—and I would be inclined to call it a documentary of sorts—which is the product of hundreds of hours of research, writing, editing, and shooting by Wyatt himself.
When I first sat down to watch it, I was shocked by its length, at over 2 hours long I began to suspect that maybe there was more to the WEXIT movement than I had realized.
In my own ignorance I wrote all separatists off as lifted truck driving, truck-nut loving, Trudeau hating, Trump worshipping, racist fuckwits. But now that I’ve watched the mini-documentary sorts, and had a near 5 hour conversations with Wyatt, I only think that about some of them. Of course there is a complex history behind what brought so many ppl within our province to believe that Alberta would be better off it turned on its cowboy boot heels and two-stepped out of Canada.
I highly recommend watching the Case Against Wexit. I learned so so much, and as Wyatt summarizes, “it explores the history of separatism in Canada as well as in movements around the world. It dives into the issues the separatists have and the claims they make, as well as some deeper dives into Alberta's political history and character - and ultimately tries to answer the question of "Should Alberta leave confederation?”.
Anyways, I had to edit our conversation down from 5 hours to this. I learned so much from both my conversation with Wyatt and from The Case Against Wexit.
Now I know you’re all on the edge of your seats to learn all about western separatism, so with out further ado here is someone far more educated on the topic than myself.
We reference the Case Against WEXIT frequently in this episode, and for good reason. If you’re interested in watching it, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgnl-xTqY8oUT--rDQUUxA (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgnl-xTqY8oUT--rDQUUxA)
While you’re there please like/share/subscribe to the Alberta Political Accountability Hub on YouTube.
If you have some extra cheddar and appreciate the tireless work Wyatt is putting in to create a healthier political climate in Alberta, please consider supporting his projects on Patreon: www.patreon.com/APAH (http://www.patreon.com/APAH)
Alberta Political Accountability Hub Links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgnl-xTqY8oUT--rDQUUxA (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgnl-xTqY8oUT--rDQUUxA)
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlbertaPAH
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ (http://www.facebook.com/)
AlbertaPoliticalAccountabilityHub
Patreon: www.patreon.com/APAH (http://www.patreon.com/APAH)
Wyatt Tanton:
Instagram: @wyatttanton
Twitter: @wyatttanton
9 May 2021
The One Where We Abolish the Police. And Prisons.
In this episode of Wild Bros Country I talk to Sarah Dharshi, an abolitionist, intersectional feminist, social media specialist, and anti-racist educator.
I've been following Sarah on Twitter for a while now and have always been keenly interested in the content that she posts, the education that she provides, the insight that she adds, and I have always admired her *zero* bullshit approach to tying all these things together.
In this episode we talk about abolition, transformative justice, intersectionality, the UCP, racism, white privilege and many things in-between. We focus largely on how when we look at many of the issues we face as a province through the lens of abolition and transformative justice, hashtags like #AbolishThePolice, #AbolishPrisons, #AbolishThePatriarchy etc. seem much more approachable and far less extreme. In fact, abolition isn't extreme at all, it just requires us to imagine a better world and work together towards a future that doesn't depend on state violence, control, violence, and white supremacy.
This is only meant to serve as a very introductory look at what is meant by these terms that we have been hearing a lot more of in the past year or so. I encourage everyone listening to seriously consider abolition not just as a far-left-wing radical concept, but as a caring and compassionate movement we can all work towards every single day. In every single action, by simply giving a shit about each other and working together to dismantle systems and institutions that disproportionately benefit some and immeasurably harm others.
Hope you enjoy!
And make sure to follow Sarah Dharshi on Twitter and Instagram:
@Sawrasaurusrex
Sources:
Please read anything/everything by Angela Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore on the subject of abolition.
https://abolitionistfutures.com (https://abolitionistfutures.com/)
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/02/12/We-Actually-Mean-Abolish-Police-Rinaldo-Walcott/ (https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/02/12/We-Actually-Mean-Abolish-Police-Rinaldo-Walcott/)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-UE8wwXEtc
18 Apr 2021
The age-old question: Is spin class an essential service?
In this episode of Wild Bros Country I talk to Danika, a small business owner in rural Northern Alberta, who, at the age of 29, left her full time gig as a Labour and Delivery RN and opened her own Spin Studio in the Lakeland which is now known and loved as Wheel Fit Co.
I became aware of Danika only through Instagram, where she released an emotional video vowing to deny the most recent set of restrictions and to keep her spin studio open.
Which, I couldn’t possibly be any more opposed to. The first time I watched the video, I was livid. A comment I had typed out read like this; “Wow, I can’t imagine a more oppressed group of people than white women in a spin class.”, amongst other spicy comments that I had typed out and deleted. Having lived in the Lakeland myself, I realized that I knew many of the people in the comment section of her post who were applauding her and supporting her decision. These are people I went to high school with, worked with, and cared about at one point in my life. So, I slept on it. And the next day I sent a message to Danika asking if she would be interested in having a conversation on the podcast to talk through this. Thankfully, she agreed.
I came out of the conversation wondering, how many Albertans are actually *for* a #CovidZERO approach? In favour of a full lockdown? How can we all get on the same page? How do we convince our government that this is what many Albertans wants? Would they even listen?
Here is that conversation.
*Please note, since this conversation Danika has made the decision to close her spin studio until further notice. Please do not harass her. She is my friend now.
For more information on #CovidZero, please visit www.wildbroscountry.com or email me at emmadeady@wildbroscountry.com
25 Mar 2021
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