OP-ED: Ottawa ignores Alberta. Alberta ignores her Unborn.

Richard Dur writes, "Alberta’s fight for autonomy is gaining steam — and understandably so. For decades, our province has been treated not as an equal partner in Confederation, but as a hinterland."

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Author: Richard Dur

Alberta’s fight for autonomy is gaining steam — and understandably so. For decades, our province has been treated not as an equal partner in Confederation, but as a hinterland: a resource to be exploited, a voice to be ignored. Our industries are choked by regulations drafted out East. Our families are taxed to fund priorities that reflect neither our needs nor our values. Values that are mocked, dismissed, and derided by politicians who neither know us nor care to.

Threats of Alberta separation aren’t a tantrum. They’re a reckoning — the long-overdue response of a province that’s been pushed too far, for too long.

But if Alberta is truly serious about charting its own path, it must mean more than pipelines and tax policy. A shallow, materialist self-understanding — one that limits autonomy to economics — is not just incomplete; it’s self-exploitative. Self-government isn’t just about managing oil royalties. It’s about affirming who we are — not just economically, but culturally and morally too.

Because in the end, who is it all for — the industry, the freedom, the fight for a future — if not our children?

And yet here lies the contradiction too few are willing to confront: we say we want control over our resources, our economy, our destiny — but when it comes to protecting the very children all of it is supposedly for, Alberta still defers to Ottawa without a fight.

If we claim to be building a province for the next generation, then we must be willing to defend that generation — even before they’re born.

Canada remains the only democratic country on earth with no laws regulating abortion — at any stage, for any reason. Not even North Korea can say that. And when it comes to the most vulnerable — newborns on the edge of life — this country has failed even the most basic test of humanity. Across Canada, documented cases show babies born alive after failed abortions being denied care — not as an exception, but as standard practice.

And here in Alberta, it goes even further: it’s not just abortion survivors. Even babies born prematurely — desperately wanted by their families — can be denied medical assistance. Not because they can’t be saved, but because provincial policy says they shouldn’t be.

Alberta Health Services still refuses active care for babies born before 23 weeks of gestation — even though children born earlier than that have survived and gone on to thrive.

Let that sink in: a child born alive in this province — an Albertan — may be left to die. Not because she is beyond help — but because a bureaucracy has decided she is beyond hope.

That’s not compassion. That’s institutionalized cruelty — engineered by administrators and enforced by politicians too timid to challenge the status quo. You don’t need to be a pro-life activist to see that something about this is wrong. You just need to believe a gasping newborn deserves a chance.

Ottawa doesn’t see Alberta — not really. We’re invisible to them. They ignore our needs, overlook our convictions, and downplay our contributions. Our votes don’t matter. Our voice doesn’t count. And in that, we should recognize something tragic and familiar — because we often treat our unborn the same way.

They, too, are invisible. Like Alberta in Confederation, they go unrepresented. They can’t vote. They don’t speak. And yet every one of them has a simple human claim: to be seen, to be protected, to be given a chance at life.

When a nation refuses to listen to a province, and a province refuses to protect its own children, both are guilty of the same failure: turning away from those they’d rather not acknowledge, pretending that what’s inconvenient isn’t real — and diminishing the worth of those who deserve to be seen.

The truth is, Canada’s abortion-on-demand regime was never chosen. It wasn’t debated. It wasn’t voted on. It’s the consequence of federal judges striking down abortion laws — and politicians refusing to replace them.

But while Ottawa remains silent, Alberta is not powerless. Health care is a provincial responsibility. On this issue, we don’t need greater autonomy. We don’t need permission. We need only to act.

Here are four urgent, just, and achievable steps:

1. Remove the 23-week limit on neonatal care. Especially as medical technology advances, doctors should not be bound by an outdated and increasingly arbitrary policy.

2. Mandate equal care for born-alive infants. Babies who survive an abortion should receive the same medical support as any other newborn of the same gestational age.

3. Require parental notification for minors. No 14-year-old girl should be ushered into a life-and-death decision without her parents even knowing.

4. Repeal the NDP era “bubble zone” law. Albertans should be free to offer help, hope, and alternatives outside abortion facilities — not silenced by government-imposed censorship zones.

None of these measures require federal approval. All of them reflect widely held Alberta values. And none will happen unless our elected officials find their courage.

Because the real barrier isn’t constitutional. It’s political.

Let’s be clear: the onus is not on Ottawa. It’s on our provincial MLAs, our ministers, and our Premier. The question isn’t what they can do. It’s what they’re willing to do.

And if they won’t stand up for Alberta’s children, then they’re not standing up for Alberta.

Because Alberta will never be truly free until her unborn are free from the quiet violence of bureaucratic neglect and political indifference — and protected, in law and in love, as our own.

Because without the right to life, all other rights are meaningless — whether Alberta is independent or not. Alberta already has the power, in many ways, to protect unborn Albertans. The shame is that it chooses not to. We must ask: what good would Alberta’s independence be if it continues to do nothing to protect its unborn — and frequently born — citizens?

For Life. For Alberta.

Richard Dur is an award-winning political consultant with extensive experience working on campaigns across Canada. In addition to his professional work, he serves as the volunteer Executive Director of Prolife Alberta, an organization dedicated to advancing pro-life public policy in the province.