Understanding Alienation in Western Canada: Is "Western Alienation" the Problem? Is Senate Reform the Cure?

Journal of Canadian Studies, Spring 2005 by Lawson, Robert J

This essay investigates the conceptual foundations of "western alienation" and evaluates whether Senate reform is the appropriate cure for alienation in western Canada. It disputes the thesis, put forward most persuasively by political scientist Roger Gibbins which argues "western alienation" is both an exceptional type of regional alienation and is more salient for many western Canadians than other types of alienation. Two main problems with this conceptualization of western alienation and, by extension, its claim about how we ought to understand alienation in western Canada are identified and explained: a failure to acknowledge the wide variation and complexity of regional alienation within the West; and the marginalization of political alienation. The essay argues that the problem of political alienation is central to understanding the alienation of many citizens in western Canada. Because "political alienation" is rooted in discontent with political representatives, institutions, and procedures for decision-making associated with representative government in Canada, the essay concludes that the curative benefits attributed to regionally biased institutional reform of the federal government (e.g., Senate reform) by proponents of the western alienation thesis are more limited than otherwise suggested.

Cet article examine les fondements conceptuels de l'« aliénation occidentale » et se demande si la réforme du Sénat est le remède approprié pour éliminer l'aliénation dans l'Ouest du Canada. Il conteste la thèse présentée de manière très convaincante par le politicologue Roger Gibbins qui affirme que l'« aliénation occidentale » est un type exceptionnel d'aliénation régionale et est plus saillant pour plusieurs Canadiens de l'Ouest que d'autres types d'aliénation. Deux problèmes importants visant cette conceptualisation de l'aliénation occidentale et la façon dont nous devrions interpréter l'aliénation dans l'Ouest du Canada sont identifiés et expliqués : un défaut de reconnaître l'importante variation et complexité de l'aliénation régionale dans l'Ouest et la marginalisation de l'aliénation politique. Le présent article avance que le problème de l'aliénation politique est un point essentiel aidant à comprendre l'aliénation de plusieurs citoyens dans l'Ouest du Canada. Puisque l'« aliénation politique » est causée par la participation de représentants, établissements et procédures politiques non populaires à la prise de décisions associées avec le gouvernement représentant le Canada, l'article conclut que les avantages curatifs attribués à la réforme institutionnelle avec un biais régional du gouvernement fédéral (réforme du Sénat) par les promoteurs de l'aliénation occidentale sont plus limités qu'on ne le croyait.

"Western alienation" features prominently in the Canadian political lexicon. In the aftermath of the recent federal election, talk about it has only intensified (Gibbins 2004). The seminal work of Roger Gibbins and the Canada West Foundation (CWF) attributes widespread alienation among western Canadians to the regional experience of the West in Canada. Western alienation is defined 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 (Gibbins and Berdahl 2003, 26-56, 81-82; Gibbins 1980, 167-69). This conceptualization rests on two central claims: first, western alienation is an exceptional type of regional alienation (in Canada); second, western alienation is more salient for western Canadians than other types of alienation, especially political alienation. Gibbins's conclusion, which is shared by the CWF, is that more effective regional representation for the West in the institutions of the federal government, e.g., the Senate, is the necessary antidote for the problem of alienation in western Canada.

This essay investigates the conceptual foundations of western alienation and evaluates whether Senate reform is the appropriate cure for the problem of alienation in western Canada. I focus particular attention on Gibbins mainly because of his prominent role in conceptualizing western alienation and his relative success in persuading academics, politicians, and media that western alienation is a political problem par excellence in western Canada. I also examine research conducted by the CWF, a prominent research institute concerned with promoting the interests and concerns of the West, which has been influenced tremendously by Gibbins's ideas about western alienation.1 My main purpose here is to question whether the concept of "western alienation" explains the problem of alienation in western Canada adequately. I do not dispute the assertion that western Canadians are alienated. I object mainly to the putative claim that alienation in western Canada is both an exceptionally western Canadian phenomenon and primarily regional in nature, i.e., most appropriately understood as "western alienation." Instead, I consider whether political alienation, which Gibbins himself marginalizes as a plausible explanation, might better explain the alienation that persists in western Canada.2 By "political alienation," I mean the alienation of citizens in western Canada from political representatives, processes of political decision-making, and institutions of representative government (Barber 1984, 245-51; Offe and Preuss 1991, 164-65; Taylor 1995, 278-79; Warren 2002, 680-82).