There has always been a lot of right-wing Christian rhetoric in Alberta. A lot of the original settlers were Americans and their descendants still identify with the US.
A lot of it is just Alberta believing its own myth though. They will tell you that they achieved everything on their own, that the rest of Canada never contributed at all. They've taken federal money from the start though, and continue to take federal money to this day. The most blatant example of this is the oil sands. It simply would not exist if the rest of the country hadn't paid to get it rolling. Expecting a little back on our investment is perfectly reasonable at this point. We've been more than patient.
They'll tell you that the NEP almost destroyed the province. That isn't true. The entire country, in fact the entire world was suffering at that time. The NEP kept fuel prices reasonable across the country, led to the building of infrastucture (paid for by the feds) that benefits Alberta to this day, and kept the rest of the Canadian economy in better shape than the US's. Without it, Alberta would have been in much worse financial shape.
They will tell you that there's a democratic deficit and that Alberta doesn't get as much say as they deserve. That's a load of crap. Alberta is better represented on a per capita basis than Ontario is, yet they complain that Ontario has the power. Ontario does have the power. They have it because they have the people. That's how democracy works.
They will tell you that they would be better off as a US state. US states with similarly small populations have all the same complaints about Washington as Alberta has about Ottawa though, so they are either mistaken or lying when they say that.
They will tell you that Alberta gives more than its share to the country. This is true to an extent, but Ontario gives far more, not just in money but as an economic engine to produce wealth in the rest of the country.
They will tell you that Kyoto is a plot to steal their oil wealth. This is the biggest load of crap of all. The oil industry itself has said that Kyoto will cost it only between 7 and 25 cents per barrel, depending on the extraction method. Even when oil was $20.00 per barrel that was not a major blow.
Their real problem with Kyoto is that it will eventually cut into the markets they have for selling their product. They hold the country over a barrel and they like it that way, so they don't want Kyoto to change it.
Most of how Alberta got the way they are is by believing their own myth and the rhetoric of their leaders. When the rest of the country says that greed isn't good and that science is a better judge of environmental problems than right-wing rhetoric, it tosses them into a tizzy.
