My Alberta

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith

For me, Alberta is not all about oil. And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith should not be the architect or the one fanning the flames of separatism in her province. Smith has seriously damaged her reputation among Canadians and Albertans, and even among hard core separatists in that province.

Jeffrey Rath, the leader of the Alberta separatists, said of Smith last weekend: “She’s got to go.”

The Premier succeeded in muddying the waters with her 37-word question: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

The Angus Reid Institute finds in its polling that most Albertans would vote against proceeding with the separation process — 60% would vote “No” to the official October question, compared to 35% who would vote “Yes”. When asked a simpler hypothetical — leave or stay question— the federalist position strengthens, with 67% opting to stay and 30% choosing to leave. Half (51%) find the official question confusing, and 56% say Premier Smith has handled the issue poorly.

As described in an earlier Against the Flow blog column, Smith’s cozying up to her United Conservative Party base, including the separatists among them, has been the Premier’s primary way of building her political strength in close to four years as Premier. Now this coy tactic has caught up to her.

I should point out how it was that this writer fell in love with Alberta, but not I hasten to add, with the Premier Danielle Smith and her political tactics.

When I was 16 years old, I met up with a pal and crossed the country by rail, sitting up in the rail cars and picnicking most of the way on a good- sized barbecue chicken. When we reached Calgary, we experienced the Calgary Stampede, including the magnificent and very dangerous chuck-wagon races. 

---

We camped near the fast-flowing Bow River and then travelled by rail again north to Edmonton and over to Jasper National Park, where we set up our small pup tent and tied our toothpaste in a tree as we were warned black bears like to eat Crest toothpaste. Sure enough, a large one soon strolled through our campsite.

From there we began our trip south on our bikes, just three-speed in that era. For the most part, we stayed in youth hostels, climbing up to the Columbia Icefields, and touring the glacier (much larger than today, with the march of climate change) on a bombardier snow cat. From there we made a miraculous 40-mile downhill coast which threatened to wear out our bike brakes. But we were enriched by Peyto Lake, one of the most beautiful glacier-fed bodies of water anywhere in the world.

Along with way, our fears of Grizzly bears were confirmed when a bike panier with our food was ripped open by a Grizzly outside a youth hostel. Along the way, when we walked off the beaten track we would beat on pots and pans to warn the bears that we were in their vicinity. Eventually, we left the rigours of the road to luxuriate in the thermally heated pools of Banff proper.

Eventually, we turned our bikes toward the foothills and continued our downward slope to Calgary for our return rail trip home.

Why am I dwelling on a youthful trip through two of Canada’s amazing National Parks? Perhaps, I simply want to emphasize that Alberta is a very important part of Canada, and separatism hurts us all just as it did when the Quebec independence movement was strong. The May 1980 referendum was 60 to 40 per cent against separation. But the second referendum was extremely close, just 50.6 against separation to 49.4 per cent in favour. Premier Smith take note: Referenda are not a trifle, they can rip a people, and even families apart.

Prime Minister Mark Carney also lost political feathers while signing an MOU for a southern route for the proposed oil pipeline across British Columbia to tidewater. Now he has attempted to recover somewhat by calling Premier Smith’s wordy question a “dangerous bluff” which could backfire as in Great Britain with the Brexit campaign. In Britain’s case, there was bitter division with the 2016 referendum which saw 52 per cent of those voting in favour of breaking with the European Union and 48 per cent for staying in the Union.

Carney’s reputation with environmentalists has also been hurt by Stephen Guilbeault’s announcement two days ago of his intention to resign as a Liberal MP. Guilbeault expressed it plainly, saying there is “no way Canada will meet its climate goals now.” The whole dedication to pipelines has also hurt both Carney and Smith as they overlook the duty-to-consult with Indigenous peoples of the country.

Our provincial and national leaders need to smarten up to the fact that referenda are not a casual matter.

​On Tuesday at the close of the Western Premier’s Conference when the premiers donned Team Canada soccer jerseys in honour of the fast- approaching World Cup, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew quipped: “I just want to tell Premier Smith that she looked great in a Team jersey!”