So much for Team Canada. Mark Carney may want all the premiers united behind him, but Alberta鈥檚 Danielle Smith has other ideas: she wants to use the election as her bargaining chip to get what she wants.
Her list of demands is long and she鈥檚 giving the federal government, whoever may be elected, six months to appease her or she will call a referendum. What will it be about? Sovereignty? Independence? Joining the U. S? Who knows? At this point it is the threat that is most important.
She also said last week that the Trudeau/Carney Liberals . Quite the equivalency.
And two weeks ago (before Carney won the Liberal leadership and then called an election) , she said that she had suggested to U.S. administration officials to hold off on the tariffs 鈥 due April 2 鈥 until after the election because it was boosting the Liberals and throwing Pierre Poilievre鈥檚 campaign into disarray.
鈥 鈥 the perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think 鈥 the new direction in America. And I think we鈥檇 have a really great relationship for the period of time they鈥檙e both in,鈥 she said.
When Carney met with her on Thursday in Edmonton she even refused to have her photo taken with him. And then she dressed him down for the way federal Liberals have treated Alberta for the last 10 years. I wonder if that includes buying the Transmountain pipeline so more oil could be shipped to the west coast?
To one of her demands Carney has already countered with an unqualified 鈥渘o.鈥 The emissions cap on oil and gas will stay in place he said on Friday. Another of her demands is returning oversight of the industrial carbon tax to the provinces. Carney has already said that he would likely increase the carbon tax on industry instead of levying a consumer carbon tax.
: 鈥渦nfettered鈥 access for pipelines to the north, west, and east; lift the ban on tanker traffic of the B.C. coast; and repeal of the federal Environmental Assessment Act. All this in six months.
She also added an intriguing afterthought that hearkens back to Jason Kenny鈥檚 tenure: 鈥 鈥 our province is no longer agreeable to subsidizing other large provinces who are fully capable of funding themselves,鈥 Seems like a reference to the equalization formula. Is she threatening to pull funds back?
So, is she for real or is she just shoring up the Conservative vote by issuing such ultimatums? Would she carry through with her pledge for a referendum after a panel gathers opinions from Albertans? Her record , which have not yet been made public, isn鈥檛 promising.
Smith has been beating this (oil) drum since before she was elected leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), so it is likely that while she has long wanted a Conservative government in Ottawa, there is something more to her incessant pounding than rounding up the Conservative vote. In Alberta, it was never in much danger.
She has set the bar really high and this could spell trouble for the Liberals if they win the election. Smith has already sided with Trump on many of the issues 鈥 take fentanyl at the border for example 鈥 and has insisted that only diplomacy will win the day with the Trump regime. She even went to Mar-a-Lago to try and convince him not to put a tariff on oil imported from Canada into the U.S.
I can鈥檛 help but think that she has bought into Trump鈥檚 鈥渆nergy dominance鈥 narrative 鈥 whatever that means 鈥 and sees Alberta as helping it along and benefitting at the same time. That鈥檚 why Smith keeps insisting on diplomacy with the U.S. administration. She really seems to think that she can sweet talk Trump.
But of course, Smith needs Poilievre to win if she is to accomplish this. If he doesn鈥檛 win the Liberals could indeed have a constitutional crisis on their hands.
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