 elmer stanley knutson (october 30, 1914 &ndash; august 9, 2001) was a canadian businessman, activist and fringe politician. knutson was a strong supporter of creating an independent western canada, in which the west would become sovereign from canada's federal government. he has been credited with "whip[ping] western alienation into a political movement." ==politics and activism== with the advent canada's national energy program in 1980, which gave the federal government more control over oil and gas resources in western canada, he founded the western canada federation (west-fed), a non-partisan organization to fight the federal liberal party. knutson held the belief that the 1931 statute of westminster, which granted legislative equality with the united kingdom to canad
1914_births 2001_deaths Canadian_military_personnel_of_World_War_II Canadian_people_of_Norwegian_descent Canadian_political_party_leaders Confederation_of_Regions_Party_of_Canada_candidates_in_the_1988_Canadian_federal_election