Dear friends, I feel like it has been forever since I reached out. The last four years have been crazy – the fire, the merger, the leadership race, the birth of my daughter, building a new home, and losing it to the flood just as we were moving in. Add to that the energy crisis and its impact on Fort McMurray and then COVID… and well, it’s been trying. But all of this has made me appreciate family and friends and our wonderful province and its wonderful people. When I stepped back from elected office I told you that I would be doing advocacy work on behalf of Alberta and to highlight the importance of resources to our prosperity and our future. To do so I created the Alberta Resource Advocacy Foundation (ARAF) to promote these issues and to survey Albertans on these topics. As I have said before, advocacy work is important because it is a way to push your friends to do the right things. If you go to www.BrianJean.ca you will find some of the 15 articles that I have published on Alberta, Western Canada and national issues. These will give you some insights into the issues that are motivating me. In thinking about these issues I have carved out some strong positions in the last few years. I was the first politician to say in print that “Canada is broken,” and that “Alberta is being pushed out of Confederation,” and that we feel like “an unappreciated colony within Canada.” The media and mainstream Canadian politicians think these are controversial opinions. The elite may disagree, but I believe that most Albertans feel like I do. Indeed, a poll that the ARAF commissioned in January 2019 found that 53% percent of Albertans, 75% of UCP supporters and even 26% percent of NDP voting Albertans agreed with the sentiment that “Canada is broken and we need to reopen the constitution.” While my views on Albertans' sense of alienation have found some support amongst Albertans who are involved in the different incarnations of the WEXIT movements, they often disagree with me when I observe that “as angry as Albertans are, they won’t vote for separation until we’ve tried to fix Canada and failed.” They are sure that most Albertans are angrier than that. And that a short political campaign could convince them to vote for separation. I believe they are wrong. But would like more certainty on it. Which is why the ARAF just commissioned the largest and most in-depth poll of Albertans ever done on these issues to truly understand their thinking on alienation, autonomy and the future Albertans want. Doing this type of polling is expensive but truly understanding Albertans is very necessary and the results of the survey were fascinating. To help cover the costs of this type of surveying, we are looking for sponsors. Anyone who donates will get a summary report of our polling from 2018 to 2020. Anyone who contributes more than $250 will get the executive summary of this current poll. Contributions in excess of $1000 will get access to all the questions of the current poll and the top-level results. I truly believe that understanding these issues is important for figuring out where Alberta’s future is going. It is important to find out how many Albertans can see themselves ever voting for separation and to understand what motivates them or causes them to be wary of this possible future. If Alberta wants to negotiate with the federal government and the rest of Canada from a position of strength we need to understand and work with the sentiments that drive Albertans. I hope that you find these questions as interesting as I do and I thank you for considering my request. Sincerely, Brian Jean, Founder, Alberta Resource Advocacy Foundation. PS: All the money that the ARAF brings in is put into research and advocacy, I receive no money from it at all. Please consider helping the ARAF advocate on these issues and check out www.BrianJean.ca to better understand my point of view. Have a question? Email us at abresourceadvocacyfoundation@gmail.com | 
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