Who Needs Canadian Unity? Danielle Smith Plays with Separation

Alberta’s Danielle Smith is Schrödinger's premier.

Like the cat of the famous thought experiment, she exists in two opposing states simultaneously. Or at least she tries to.

Smith has inserted herself into the federal election campaign while also trying to stay out of it.

She has thanked the federal Liberals for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion while also accusing them of landlocking Alberta’s oil.

She has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s incoherent tariff policies while also lauding him as a leader who makes “bold” decisions.

One hypocrisy, though, stands out most starkly: she says she is a proud Canadian while also flirting with separation.

Fuelling separation anxiety

In fact, she and her political mentor, former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, have thrust secession into the federal election campaign.

Manning did it forcefully in a Globe and Mail op-ed last week in which he, in so many words, threatened non-Conservative Canadians.

“Voters, particularly in central and Atlantic Canada, need to recognize that a vote for the Carney Liberals is a vote for Western secession — a vote for the breakup of Canada as we know it,” wrote Manning, who unilaterally lumped B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba into his dystopian prediction.

“Understand that separation of the resources-based economic engine of Western Canada from what’s left of the rest of Canada will have dire economic and social consequences for the latter,” he said.

This is on par for Manning, the “West Wants In” guy who appeared to be positioning himself 30 years ago to become prime minister after Quebec separated. He is not exactly a nation builder.

Smith has been more subtle, saying she would never lead a move to separate Alberta from Canada but adding private citizens are free to lobby for a referendum on that question.

When asked bluntly at a news conference on Monday, “Do you want Alberta to leave Canada?” her answer was fuzzy.

“I want Canada to work,” she said. “I also want Canada to work for Alberta, and it hasn't for the last 10 years because of terrible policies by the Liberals.”

Playing footsie with Trump

At the same press conference Smith said, “I really hope that we can get Canada on Team Alberta, because Team Alberta has always been on Team Canada.”

Except, of course, for that time when, as leader of Team Alberta, she abandoned Team Canada to jet off to the United States to schmooze with Trump and Republicans to get a tariff-free carve-out for Alberta’s oil and gas.

And except, of course, that time she declared “an important win” when Trump didn’t include Canada in a round of universal tariffs — but imposed punishing tariffs on Canada’s auto sector as well as steel and aluminum products. Problems for Central Canada, certainly, but not for Team Alberta.

Oh, and that time just three weeks ago when she threatened Prime Minister Mark Carney with an “unprecedented national unity crisis” unless he agreed to a list of nine demands, including an unfettered ability to build pipelines wherever she wants and an end to a proposed cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the energy industry.

Smith doesn’t expect Carney to cave in, just as Manning doesn’t expect the West to secede.

If, as the polls suggest, Carney wins the election, Alberta’s Conservative cabal is simply warming up for a new round of Alberta-versus-Ottawa fights to come.

Hey, Central Canada, don’t say you weren’t warned.

The persistent stink of ‘in sync’

Not that this is any help to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who responded with a blunt “no” when asked if he agreed with Manning.

And it certainly didn’t help the Conservative leader when Smith told Breitbart News in an interview last month that Poilievre is “very much in sync” with the “new direction” the United States was headed under Trump — a man, by the way, Smith has called “hilarious” and “bold.”

When asked at a Monday news conference what she meant by Poilievre being “in sync,” Smith shot back, “You’d have to ask him,” as if it were he who had made the comment, not her.

Smith really wants to be an influencer in the federal election but at the same time is trying to pretend she’s not.

Even though she has been promoting Poilievre, when he held his mega rally with former prime minister Stephen Harper in Alberta this week, she was notably absent. Her office said a “prior commitment” prevented her from appearing at the event attended by more than 10,000 people.

Smith is more dead weight than helium balloon when it comes to helping the federal Conservatives. In fact, she is proving to be a useful tool for the Liberals, who published an ad with her “very much in sync” comment.

As oil prices plummet

When asked about that during Monday’s news conference, she again tried to distance herself from the campaign: “I’m focused on provincial politics and provincial policy, and I let the two political leaders who are front-runners battle it out with themselves.”

Smith finds herself in a self-imposed awkward spot. Her support for Poilievre has backfired. Her campaign for More Alberta, Less Ottawa has insular and unpatriotic vibes in the time of Trump’s actions against Canada.

And the Trump she was gushing over a few months ago is not only cratering stock markets everywhere but sending the price of oil into a tailspin.

Smith says she’s not panicking yet because the new fiscal year is only a few days old. However, the nasty fact is that if the trend continues, Alberta’s budget deficit, already projected at $5.2 billion this year because of weak oil prices, might be headed over yet another cliff.

Smith has proven herself to be a skilled communicator, but her tendency to talk out both sides of her mouth has made her a liability for federal Conservatives during what is the most important election campaign in a generation.