CALGARY – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith declared Thursday that public desire for the province to leave Canada has reached an unprecedented high, citing deep frustration and anger with the federal government. Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Smith highlighted the nearly 18 percent of the vote garnered by a separatist candidate in a recent byelection in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding as evidence of this heightened sentiment. While acknowledging a 1982 byelection in the same riding saw a separatist candidate win with over 40 percent, Smith maintained that current levels of separatist support are record-breaking for the present political climate.
Despite this, Smith noted that the victory of her United Conservative Party candidate in Monday’s byelection indicates Albertans still want her government to engage with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal administration. When asked what her government could do to quell separatist desires, Smith asserted that the responsibility lies with Ottawa, drawing a parallel to the 1982 byelection. She recalled that separatist sentiment “evaporated” a couple of years later after then-prime minister Brian Mulroney abolished the National Energy Program—a federal policy that had introduced price controls and significantly increased the federal share of oil production tax revenue, deeply angering Alberta.
Smith contends that several current federal laws similarly stifle energy production and investment in Alberta, acting as the modern-day equivalent of the National Energy Program. She has repeatedly called for Prime Minister Carney to eliminate policies such as a proposed emissions cap, net-zero electricity grid regulations, and the West Coast tanker ban. “If Ottawa wants to work with me to cause that (separatist) sentiment to subside, then we need to materially address the nine bad laws that have created that negative investment climate,” Smith stated. “If they make the changes that we’re requesting, then I suspect they can take the air out of that movement.”
Federal Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking alongside Smith, expressed hope that recently passed federal legislation aimed at speeding up the approval process for major projects would signal a “turning point” for Canada, fostering unity and a faster pace of progress. Smith herself acknowledged that this new federal legislation, which passed in the Senate on Thursday, offered some hope for change.
Earlier this week, Smith announced the formation of a 15-member panel that will tour Alberta this summer to gather ideas on how the province can counter federal overreach. This initiative mirrors a similar endeavor undertaken by former premier Jason Kenney in 2019, with Smith indicating her panel would use Kenney’s findings as a starting point. Among the topics for discussion by Smith’s panel are the creation of a provincial pension plan, a provincial police force, and a provincial tax collection agency. The panel is also reportedly polling Albertans on establishing their own immigration permit system, which could restrict non-approved immigrants from accessing provincially funded services like health care and education.