A day before provincial leaders from across Western Canada enter the second day of their annual meeting, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called for her counterparts to work together with a “spirit of collaboration” when it comes to oil and gas projects.
Though premiers at the meeting in Kananaskis, Alta., planned to discuss trade, the economy, energy security, defence and nation-building projects, much of what the leaders spoke to reporters about after their discussions on Monday focused on Alberta separatism and that province’s relationship to neighbouring British Columbia.
Last week, Smith announced plans to include a question on Alberta separatism on ballots for a referendum scheduled to take place this fall. She said she plans to vote in favour of Alberta remaining a part of Canada.
Smith said Monday that her province’s relationship with B.C. has been strained for a long time, even before Premier David Eby took office, citing barriers to what she called “critical infrastructure” for Alberta energy that she said were put in place by former B.C. premiers.
“Let’s remember these ports are not British Columbia’s ports, they’re Canada’s ports, and in being Canada’s ports, that means they’re our ports too,” Smith said. “In the spirit of collaboration, that’s the attitude that all premiers should take to this.”
B.C.’s coast is Canada’s coast, said Eby, who noted he’s committed to working with Alberta and the federal government in the region. However, he said he must stand up for things British Columbians care about, like having a seat at the coastal pipeline table as well as lobbying Ottawa to reinstate the north coast tanker ban.
Western premiers have “a lot of work to do,” and they must band together to be able to succeed, Eby said.
“I know we feel a million miles away from Ottawa, sometimes we feel like the last consideration of Ottawa,” he said. “That’s why working together, we can make sure that our space in Confederation is held and we can also, at the table, work out areas where we disagree.”
At a news conference, Smith said separatist sentiment in Alberta has been “a long time coming.”
“You don’t end up in a situation where a million or more Albertans have given up on the country overnight,” she said. “You get there because of successive barriers to us being able to realize our economic prosperity and be able to attract investment and be able to govern ourselves.”
Around 700,000 Albertans signed citizen-led petitions seeking to force votes pertaining to Alberta’s spot in Canada, with around 400,000 signing the Forever Canadian petition which was seeking a legislature vote on if Alberta should stay in Confederation.
Pro-separatist group Stay Free Alberta said it has collected around 300,000 signatures, though these haven’t been verified by Elections Alberta. The petition asks for a separatist referendum question. The future of that campaign is now in doubt after a judge ruled earlier this month that Alberta’s chief electoral officer made an error in law when he approved the citizen initiative petition.
Eby reiterated his stance against Alberta separatism, saying Canada needs to work together at a time when the president of the United States has suggested he wants to turn the country into its 51st state.
“Canada is a family and we’re not always going to agree with our family members — always going to agree with Premier Smith,” Eby said. “She’s going to fight for her perspective and I understand that. … But we all are united in a larger project and we don’t always get our way.
“It doesn’t mean that now is the time to break up the country.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said some of the same frustrations with the federal government that are driving Alberta separatism are also brewing in his province.
“What you have heard about, with respect to the last 10 years of building frustration in Alberta, those are present in Saskatchewan as well,” he said Monday.
“I hear about them almost on a daily basis.”
However, Moe said his Saskatchewan Party still stands firmly behind Confederation.
“We support a strong and growing province of Saskatchewan with the united nation of Canada,” he said.
Moe said while his party’s position is clear, he will follow provincial law, which mandates a non-binding plebiscite on a topic if at least 15 per cent of electors sign up to ask for one.
Similar to the situation unfolding in Alberta, a group called the Saskatchewan Prosperity Project is also making a bid to push for separation. Its website says its vision of independence is rooted in unity for every family, farmer, business and First Nations community.
Last weekend, the group had scheduled town halls in Saskatchewan’s two largest cities, Regina and Saskatoon, followed by another in Swift Current on Monday.
