Danielle Smith is hosting the western premiers conference Alberta on Monday and Tuesday in Kananaskis, west of Calgary, as her government faces an Oct. 19 referendum question about the province’s future in Confederation. Albertans will be asked whether they want Alberta to remain in Canada or move toward a future binding referendum on separation.
The annual meeting brings together premiers from Western Canada and the northern territories at the same time Smith has put the separatism question before voters. That combination puts a provincial dispute over Alberta’s future beside a conference built around interprovincial coordination.
Smith and Blackett
Sam Blackett, speaking for Smith’s office, said the conference will focus on trade, the economy, energy security, defence and nation-building projects. He said, “The premier looks forward to deepening these western partnerships and will share her plans to unleash the West’s true economic potential”.
Smith’s referendum question is not framed as a vote on separation itself. Instead, it asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or move toward a future binding referendum on separation, a step that would keep the decision one level removed from an immediate break.
Eby and Kinew
British Columbia Premier David Eby said there was irony in holding a meeting with Canadian leadership in a province where the premier appears to be setting the table to leave the country. He also said he was “not fighting for Premier Smith’s projects.”
Eby said, “My goal was to convince the prime minister to give the same level of attention and investment to B.C. projects as he’s giving to Alberta”. Prime Minister Mark Carney committed earlier this month to declaring a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast is of national importance, and Ottawa has an agreement with Alberta that includes more relaxed carbon pricing for the province.
Western leaders in Kananaskis
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said his number 1 agenda item at the conference will be expressing his love for Canada. He said, “When we build our nation-building project in Churchill, I hope it’s a big old hug to our friends in Alberta and that they realize there’s no point in having a referendum and that Canada is the best country in the world.”
R.J. Simpson of the Northwest Territories, Scott Moe of Saskatchewan, Ranj Pillai of Yukon and P.J. Akeeagok of Nunavut are also among the leaders set to gather in Alberta. The conference places western and northern leaders in the same room while Alberta’s separatism debate is active, and the political divide is already visible in the statements from Eby and Kinew.
For readers watching the meeting from Alberta, the immediate issue is whether the conference produces a common western agenda or simply exposes how far apart the premiers are on Smith’s referendum question. The first test comes in the meetings themselves, where trade, energy and nation-building projects will be discussed alongside a province-wide debate over Confederation.
