Canada’s Carney says Alberta is ‘essential’ as province mulls separation

The conservative-dominated province of five million people has long viewed the Liberal federal governments of Carney and his predecessor Justin Trudeau with scepticism, namely over environmental regulations.

Carney has appeared to be willing to ease environmental policies amid tensions with the administration of President Donald Trump in the United States and a global energy crisis due to the war with Iran.

Simultaneously his government has also touted a carbon capture project that aims to offset greenhouse gas emissions from the oil industry.

Radio-Canada reported on Friday that 14 Liberal members of Parliament had penned a letter to Carney warning him against making major environmental concessions to Alberta, emphasising that “climate change remains the greatest threat of our time”.

‘National crisis’

On Thursday, Smith, a member of the United Conservative Party, which is aligned with the federal Conservative Party, decried Trudeau’s policies and stressed the importance of decentralised governance in Canada.

But she credited Carney with doing away with some of his Liberal predecessor’s policies, especially around energy production.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney, adopted most of Alberta’s positions on energy and resource development. In fact, the current prime minister has worked very constructively with our government to craft an Alberta-Ottawa energy agreement,” Smith said.

She paid a nod people in the province who she said feel like the federal government has “taken advantage” of Alberta, but she said the situation is a “world of difference” better under Carney than Trudeau.

“Do we in Alberta still have our differences with the federal Liberal government? Obviously, and make no mistake, we will relentlessly challenge them to respect our provincial rights and jurisdiction every time they step over the line,” she said.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who holds a parliament seat in Alberta, said he would push against separation.

“I will be campaigning across the province, encouraging Albertans to stay as part of the Canadian family,” Poilievre told reporters on Thursday.

But some Liberals have blamed conservatives for stoking Alberta separatist sentiment for political gains.

Corey Hogan, one of two Liberal MPs from Alberta, blasted Smith for going forward with the referendum, accusing her of appeasing separatists who “threatened to bring her down” and turning her political problems into a “national crisis”.

“This baffling, referendum-on-a-referendum question will do nothing to settle anything,” Hogan said.

“It adds another layer of confusion. It will divide. It will distract. It will damage. I hope her government will consider how to step back from this madness before the damage to our province’s social fabric and economy is too great.”