From Tulsa to Calgary: A Warning Alberta Can't Ignore

How a once-booming oil empire forgot its own future - and why I've literally seen this exact movie before.

We are taking a break from the bill reading for today, as I feel this is important for people to see. Back to bills, tomorrow…

What is something you think of when you hear Oklahoma? Most people remember the song from the Broadway musical “Oklahoma.” If you think of it now, a lot of people think of a lack of education and poverty.

But that’s not what I remember. You see, I grew up in Tulsa in the 80’s and 90’s. The oil capital of the U.S. (at that time). I had grandparents on both sides who were somehow involved with oil. I will not bore you with the details, but my point is, I’ve been around the oil business since before I could crawl.

In the mid-1980’s, Oklahoma was untouchable. The skyline glittered with rigs, and churches promised prosperity to match in the Bible belt. Everyone believed the good times would last forever.

They didn’t!

When the oil market collapsed in the 1980’s, the state was caught flat-footed. Tens of thousands of jobs vanished, banks folded, and the politicians blamed everyone but themselves. Instead of rebuilding through education and diversification, they doubled down on the same trickle-down slogans: low taxes, small government, freedom from big bureaucracy.

Sound familiar, Alberta?

Danielle “Spiny” Smith has the mic now, and she’s reading straight from the Oklahoma playbook - I mean almost verbatim. It is the exact same one that turned a thriving oil state into one of American’s poorest.

Oklahoma had it’s oil. Alberta has it’s oil sands. Both had leaders who believed extraction meant immortality.

I grew up watching Oklahoma’s swagger curdle into desperation. The adults around me believed the oil would always flow, the schools would always stand, and the state would always shine. Then, the rigs went quiet, and the promises went with them.

We were told tax cuts would “bring jobs.” They didn’t.

We were told privatizing schools would “give parents choice.” It gave corporations control.

Now, living in Alberta, I can smell the same storm brewing. The slogans are recycled, the distractions refined. “Parental rights.” “Choice.” “Freedom.” Every time those words roll out of a politicians mouth, I remember who actually paid the price for them the first time.

Now, my grandchildren go to school here. They deserve better than my Deja vu.

There are a few things we can do to stop the spiral, but we need to get moving yesterday.

1. Starve the Propaganda, Feed the Schools. Every dollar going to charter expansion or corporate tax cuts is a dollar stolen from a classroom. PERIOD. We can’t “choice” our way to literacy. Fund public education like the democratic foundation it is - not a luxury.

2. Diversify or Die Alberta. Oklahoma rode oil until it broke it’s back. Alberta still has time to pivot - renewables, tech, green manufacturing. Every year we delay, the hole gets deeper.

3. Follow the Money. Watch who profits while you’re distracted by “culture wars.” It’s never the teacher or the nurse.

4. Stop Mistaking Religion for Morality. Faith isn’t the problem - weaponizing it is. Church pews shouldn’t dictate provincial policy.

5. CALL THEIR BLUFF. Loudly. Repeatedly. When you hear a politician say “Freedom,” ask: for whom? If the answer doesn’t include your schools, your hospitals, or your kids, it’s not freedom - it’s extraction.

Here is a hard truth Alberta.

Oklahoma’s oil boom ended forty years ago, but the scars are permanent - brain drain, generational poverty, and a political culture built on resentment.

Alberta we still have time to write a different ending. Prosperity isn’t measured by how much oil you pull from the ground - it’s measured by how many doors you open for the people living on it. Our politicians have all forgotten that!

If that sounds idealistic, good! Cynicism is how they win! Memory - and refusing to repeat it - is how we win!

Please fact check me - let’s talk about it! It’s just really hard for me to unsee it all! Like, comment and share. If you want to continue to hear truth rather than spin, please subscribe and consider buying me a coffee.