We need to focus on connection, not division
By Lethbridge Herald on June 28, 2025.
Rob Miyashiro
Lethbridge West MLA
As we approach Canada Day, I find myself reflecting on what it truly means to be Canadian—especially in a time when unity is being tested by forces of division.
Recently I had a long conversation with a constituent who had lived in a country that separated from the U.S.S.R. He described to me what that time was like for the people of his country, and he detailed a lot of instability and stress. The discussion of separatism in Alberta has brought a lot of that stress and instability back for him.
He is not alone. Many people have written to me to express their concern about the premier’s flirtations with separation and the UCP’s secessionist talking points. Many of us are old enough to remember the financial losses created by Quebec’s separatist movement. There is no appetite in Alberta for the kind of economic and personal strain that separatist rhetoric brings.
This year, the celebration of our national identity carries a deeper urgency. It is not just a day of fireworks and flags, but a moment to reaffirm our shared values in the face of growing separatist rhetoric, particularly from elements within the United Conservative Party and fringe parties.
Canada Day reminds us that our strength lies in our diversity and our commitment to one another. It is a day to honour our hard-won rights and freedoms.
In Alberta, we are proud Canadians and proud Albertans—these identities are not mutually exclusive. Yet, some voices are trying to convince us otherwise, sowing seeds of division under the guise of provincial autonomy.
Let me be clear: advocating for Alberta’s interests within Confederation is not the same as threatening to tear it apart. The separatist undercurrents we’re seeing are not about empowerment—they are about isolation.
And isolation is not a solution to the real challenges Albertans face. Whether it’s affordability, health care, or education, the problems demand co-operation, not confrontation.
Last weekend I had the honour to attend the National Indigenous Peoples Day events held in Lethbridge on the summer solstice, June 21, the longest day of the year. The summer solstice holds deep significance for many Indigenous peoples and is often a time for celebrations and continued traditions.
We need to remember that we are all Treaty people and the Indigenous People are the original keepers of this land that we now call Canada.
I hope to see you at the Lethbridge Pride Festival today. It is a vibrant, joyful celebration of love, identity, and inclusion and a powerful reminder that we must fight for the inclusive world we want to live in.
The same principle applies to our province and our country. We must fight for the inclusive Canada that we all want to live in.
National Indigenous Peoples Day, Pride, and Canada Day are not separate ideas. They are all about the care we owe one another in a society. Each celebration is about the courage and the commitment to stand up for one another and alongside one another. They remind us that the work of building a just and inclusive society is never finished.
This week also brought a fresh wave of democratic renewal to Alberta. On Monday, three new MLAs were elected in by-elections across the province. I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to:
• Naheed Nenshi, who now represents Edmonton-Strathcona and takes his position as Leader of the Opposition.
• Gurtej Singh Brar, who held Edmonton-Ellerslie for the NDP.
• And the UCP’s new MLA in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Tara Sawyer.
These results show that Albertans are engaged, thoughtful, and ready to shape the future of our province through democratic means—not through division or despair. So, as we gather to celebrate Canada Day, let us do so with pride—not just in our flag, but in our neighbours. Let us reject the politics of separation and embrace the promise of solidarity and inclusivity. Let us remember that our future is not something to be fought over, but something to be built—together.
Happy Canada Day! Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day! Happy Pride!
21-20
Oh please, The USSR was decades ago and much has changed since then. The NDP leans on communism with their socialist ideas, along with their Marxist and wokeist policies! I no people in modern Holland who spent a lot of time here in Alberta and see the NDP and even the Liberals as leaning toward communism. So it is all in a point of view!
The NDP won in areas such as Edmonton that were already in NDP terrority, so you are grasping at straws.
I remember you on Council very well as we fought to stop and then close the SCS . . . you were very divisive and attack those Councilors who stood up for our concerns, with a display of unacceptable decorum! Nenshi is no better! You destroyed our city and the NDP destroyed our province by forcing the SCS’s on us . . . yes many of us fought to prevent the Lethbridge SCS from opening in Lethbridge, yes you were a major, forceful supporter of the SCS.
Don’t tell me how great you are or how great the NDP are! The Premier has displayed true leadership in the tariff wars and Alberta continues to prosper better than other provinces who have taken the elbows up approach!
You can beat you chests all you want, using the conflict and false information approach your party continues to use in an effort to desparately gain power, but it will fail!
The Premier is allowing a democratic process to continue in a free democratic society by allowing ‘a petition’, which I believe will fail, and if not there, it would fail in ‘a referendum.’ Once again the NDP has to use FEAR tactics to gain support! Fear, attack, accuse, yet no viable, tangible solutions to the issues!
Nenshi is going to lose more support the more he opens his mouth in the future, and they will remember the real you from your Council dog fights!
The Premier has continued to say she wants Alberta to have the respect it deserves in a UNITED Canada!
We are not all a bunch of sheep, and we are not all blind, or deaf, and we are not a bunch of ill informed, druggies who are constantly demanding more and more . . . the give me, give me’s who shut down every good project to pay for their AISH checks, social programs and union pay increases that always kick the taxpayer when they are down by demanding more!
Let me remind you of how well the federal NDP made out in the last federal election . . . you will see that in the next provincial election because Nenshi will continue being Nenshi! Ask Calgary what they think of him years later!
“”The NDP won in areas such as Edmonton that were already in NDP territory, so you are grasping at straws.”” … Isn’t that essentially what Pierre polivier is doing in the battle river – crowfoot riding?
So AISH recipients, social programs and unions shouldn’t exist ? etc.
Triggered, hair-on-fire ninny, living in the past…. way to go pursuit!
Pierre lost in his riding for election manipulation by the Longest Ballot Committee who are made up both NDP and Liberal ex staffers, or so they say they are ex! When you run 200 candidates to prevent the encumbant from winning it is far beyond reasonable, it is manipulation and goes against the very spririt of just and fair elections! They ran 85 candidates in his riding and want to run over 200 in the Battleford-Crowfoot riding!
The NDP has no respect for the democratic process in elections by not standing up against such practises!
But, most NDP are blind to this, unless they are the ones impacted! Go blow another fatty or what ever drugs you do!
I stand with PD!
Well said PD! LOL! You just can’t cure stupid, can you! Truth spoken clearly in your rant! Lots to talk about tomorrow at coffee – LOL!
yeah, you can go out for a cheap cup of coffee off the backs of peasant servants working min wage. for them to earn a living wage, your coffee would cost a good bit more, the big corp earns a good bit less, and those that work to get the coffee out of the fields earn a decent living.
but that would be commie crap, right? you deserve to have more!
get brainwashed much?
Mister Miyashiro, you are definitely following in the footsteps of the failed NDP West MLA, Shannon Phillips as displayed by your non-involvement in Community activities! You state in your today comment, “We need to focus on connection not division”. Very strong words but you are NOT heeding them, where were you during the Canada Day celebrations not only at Henderson Lake but elsewhere? Your total absence is very telling…… how does this align with your stated “connection”? It simply does not! While UCP Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf was at the Canada Day celebrations with his dedicated supporters/volunteers, the entire day, meeting and greeting those in attendance, not a far off, MP Rachael Thomas also had a pavilion set up and she was there connecting with the community. Mr. Miyashiro, why aren’t you “practicing what you are preaching” regarding connecting???
Here is proof of connecting! Canada Day celebrations at Henderson Lake.
great income “job” if you can get it. hmm, how does one get such a great paying job that foremost serves oneself?
Here’s even more proof of connecting! Henderson Lake Canada Day celebrations. Rachael Thomas MP and her team of volunteers was on hand reaching out to our community.
Whoopee!
who are the suckers that volunteer for a puppet being gifted 200k a year by tax payers for doing so little?
MP Rachael Thomas “connecting” at Canada Day, Interfaith Food Bank celebrations at Galt Gardens. Rob Miyashiro??? No where to be seen!
great income “job” if you can get it…i get it now, just tell folks you are a conservative.