Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Oct 15, 2026 · 26 min · 11 segments
One of the fundamental tenets of independence movements is that you need a distinct culture if you’re going to have a nation. So what makes Alberta culture distinct – and how are people in both camps…
Zain VeljiGuest
Elamin AbdelmahmoudHost
Mariel BuckleyGuestListen, I know we are talking about Alberta, but if you guys don't mind, I wanna start with this moment from Bloc Québécois leader Jean-Fran- François Blanchet.
The first idea is to define oneself as a nation.
Therefore, it requires a culture of their own, and I am not certain that oil and gas qualify to define a culture.
I recognize that those are controversial things to say for the leader of the Bloc Québécois, but I think it's an interesting place for us to start.
It's impossible for you to separate, like, the music that you make from the place that you're from.
What are the things, what are the ingredients and elements that actually make Alberta culture unique, you think?
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, it's such an interesting question that has been on my mind so much with what's going on, but to be honest with you, I, I don't typically tend to separate Alberta from the prairies very much.
When I think of identity as far as a culture, um, maybe the premier of Québec [laughs] is talking about, I tend to lump the prairies in as a group.
I think Western culture, um, and prairie geography, um, is a bit beyond the Alberta borders, uh, which is why, you know, all of this feels a bit silly to me.
But, uh, yeah, certainly I don't, I don't know that there's, aside from, like, a good work ethic, there's obviously a bit of agrarian, um-
... a t- you know, a ton of agricultural work and, um, and, you know, cowboy poetry stuff.
There's, there's some deep roots and a humble sort of attitude that comes from the West, but, uh, I don't think it's necessarily only to Alberta.
I, I, I take your point, though, the idea that, like, you don't tend to separate Alberta culture from prairie culture, but that's still a sort of a distinct, separate thing that you can, you can sort of listen to a song and go, "I know this is from here." Like, there, there's something about that that you can sort of identify as from the prairies.
Listen, I know we are talking about Alberta, but if you guys don't mind, I wanna start with this moment from Bloc Québécois leader Jean-Fran- François Blanchet.
The first idea is to define oneself as a nation.
Therefore, it requires a culture of their own, and I am not certain that oil and gas qualify to define a culture.
I recognize that those are controversial things to say for the leader of the Bloc Québécois, but I think it's an interesting place for us to start.
It's impossible for you to separate, like, the music that you make from the place that you're from.
What are the things, what are the ingredients and elements that actually make Alberta culture unique, you think?
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, it's such an interesting question that has been on my mind so much with what's going on, but to be honest with you, I, I don't typically tend to separate Alberta from the prairies very much.
When I think of identity as far as a culture, um, maybe the premier of Québec [laughs] is talking about, I tend to lump the prairies in as a group.
I think Western culture, um, and prairie geography, um, is a bit beyond the Alberta borders, uh, which is why, you know, all of this feels a bit silly to me.
But, uh, yeah, certainly I don't, I don't know that there's, aside from, like, a good work ethic, there's obviously a bit of agrarian, um-
... a t- you know, a ton of agricultural work and, um, and, you know, cowboy poetry stuff.
There's, there's some deep roots and a humble sort of attitude that comes from the West, but, uh, I don't think it's necessarily only to Alberta.
I, I, I take your point, though, the idea that, like, you don't tend to separate Alberta culture from prairie culture, but that's still a sort of a distinct, separate thing that you can, you can sort of listen to a song and go, "I know this is from here." Like, there, there's something about that that you can sort of identify as from the prairies.
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