Don Braid: Smith's warnings about Alberta separatism is really about keeping UCP in power
([url]https://nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/braid-focus-on-separatism-is-all-about-keeping-ucp-in-power/wcm/022371dc-5eda-450a-92d2-1c17470eab4f#comments-area[/url])
There’s little chance of separatists winning ridings in the next provincial election, but a modest gain by them could sap UCP votes and bring the NDP back to power
By Don Braid ([url]https://calgaryherald.com/author/donbraid/[/url]) • Calgary Herald
Published Jun 27, 2025
A province wide vote of, say five per cent, would bleed support from the UCP and bring the NDP back to power.
The UCP often governs 4.9 million Albertans for the benefit of a faction within the party.
At an event with federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday, Smith said Prime Minister Mark Carney should take separatism seriously. It’s the fed’s fault, after all.
“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,” she said.
“If they make the changes that we’re requesting, then I suspect they can take the air out of that movement.”
Knocking a few points off a tiny separatist party’s support is a weak rationale for moving the feds to action.
There isn’t much of a market in Ottawa, or anywhere else, for the plaintive cries from Alberta the Oppressed.
On Friday, the government closed the books on fiscal 2024-25 with an astonishing surplus of $8.2 billion
Originally, the finance department had forecast a surplus of “only” $355 million (one that every other province would love to have.
That surplus grew madly because of lush revenue in major categories, especially oil and gas.
In 2023-24, the Alberta surplus was $4.3 billion; the year before that, it hit $11.6 billion. The only other province to book a surplus in 2024-25 was New Brunswick, with $41 million. The claims of victimization to the point of poverty are ridiculous.
No, equalization isn’t fair to Alberta. Yes, the province would have done even better without a decade of ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s hostility to development.
The upshot today is that many Albertans still hate the Liberals, despite Carney’s dramatic policy reversals.
Smith amplifies separatist claims to avoid outright hostility from the hornet’s nest.
She eases referendum rules. She says the movement has more support than ever.
That claim is false.
As I’ve noted before the separatist candidate in this week’s Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills byelection got 17 per cent of the vote, far behind the UCP and even less than the NDP. Cameron Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, came in third in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills byelection. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
In 1982, a separatist won that riding with nearly 40 per cent support. Only months later the movement faded away.
There’s little chance of separatists winning provincial ridings in the next election, and no hope whatsoever of taking over the government.
But that’s not the problem for today’s UCP. It’s the dread that any percentage of the popular vote might slip away to another party on the right.
Separatist angst propels Smith’s new Alberta Next drive, a transparent “push poll” masquerading as consultation.
The online survey ([url]https://www.albertanextpanel.ca/[/url]) is laughable. Anybody who disagrees with UCP policy must vote for choices they dislike in order to write a comment.
Don’t want Alberta to collect income tax? To object, you must first agree with one of the following: a tax regime would be one way for Alberta to assert sovereignty; it would help Alberta’s policy goals; a lot of Albertans would get jobs running the system.
Hit one of those choices or leave the survey. Simple as that.
Many people who disagree will drop out, leaving participation to loyalists.
Who knows why? Maybe he was upset not to be the most important story in the world for a day or two. The Bezos wedding was getting so much air.
But Trump is the real menace to Alberta and Canada. Separatism is a distraction, manipulated to preserve UCP power.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.
?
([url]https://nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/braid-focus-on-separatism-is-all-about-keeping-ucp-in-power/wcm/022371dc-5eda-450a-92d2-1c17470eab4f#comments-area[/url])
There’s little chance of separatists winning ridings in the next provincial election, but a modest gain by them could sap UCP votes and bring the NDP back to power
By Don Braid ([url]https://calgaryherald.com/author/donbraid/[/url]) • Calgary Herald
Published Jun 27, 2025
A province wide vote of, say five per cent, would bleed support from the UCP and bring the NDP back to power.
The UCP often governs 4.9 million Albertans for the benefit of a faction within the party.
At an event with federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday, Smith said Prime Minister Mark Carney should take separatism seriously. It’s the fed’s fault, after all.
“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,” she said.
“If they make the changes that we’re requesting, then I suspect they can take the air out of that movement.”
Knocking a few points off a tiny separatist party’s support is a weak rationale for moving the feds to action.
There isn’t much of a market in Ottawa, or anywhere else, for the plaintive cries from Alberta the Oppressed.
On Friday, the government closed the books on fiscal 2024-25 with an astonishing surplus of $8.2 billion
Originally, the finance department had forecast a surplus of “only” $355 million (one that every other province would love to have.
That surplus grew madly because of lush revenue in major categories, especially oil and gas.
In 2023-24, the Alberta surplus was $4.3 billion; the year before that, it hit $11.6 billion. The only other province to book a surplus in 2024-25 was New Brunswick, with $41 million. The claims of victimization to the point of poverty are ridiculous.
No, equalization isn’t fair to Alberta. Yes, the province would have done even better without a decade of ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s hostility to development.
The upshot today is that many Albertans still hate the Liberals, despite Carney’s dramatic policy reversals.
Smith amplifies separatist claims to avoid outright hostility from the hornet’s nest.
She eases referendum rules. She says the movement has more support than ever.
That claim is false.
As I’ve noted before the separatist candidate in this week’s Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills byelection got 17 per cent of the vote, far behind the UCP and even less than the NDP. Cameron Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, came in third in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills byelection. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
In 1982, a separatist won that riding with nearly 40 per cent support. Only months later the movement faded away.
There’s little chance of separatists winning provincial ridings in the next election, and no hope whatsoever of taking over the government.
But that’s not the problem for today’s UCP. It’s the dread that any percentage of the popular vote might slip away to another party on the right.
Separatist angst propels Smith’s new Alberta Next drive, a transparent “push poll” masquerading as consultation.
The online survey ([url]https://www.albertanextpanel.ca/[/url]) is laughable. Anybody who disagrees with UCP policy must vote for choices they dislike in order to write a comment.
Don’t want Alberta to collect income tax? To object, you must first agree with one of the following: a tax regime would be one way for Alberta to assert sovereignty; it would help Alberta’s policy goals; a lot of Albertans would get jobs running the system.
Hit one of those choices or leave the survey. Simple as that.
Many people who disagree will drop out, leaving participation to loyalists.
Who knows why? Maybe he was upset not to be the most important story in the world for a day or two. The Bezos wedding was getting so much air.
But Trump is the real menace to Alberta and Canada. Separatism is a distraction, manipulated to preserve UCP power.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.
?
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