REGINA — The Western Premiers’ Conference is due to wrap up later today in Kananaskis, with Alberta separation a topic that has hung over the two days of meetings.
A news conference is expected this afternoon and it is expected the Western premiers will issue a communique on items agreed to during the meeting.
But the announcement late last week by Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta that her province would hold a referendum this fall on whether her province would hold a binding referendum on independence, was clearly an item that was a focus of attention from reporters in Kananaskis.
News of the vote drew a reaction Monday from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called a “dangerous bluff.” In a scrum with reporters, Smith was asked about Carney’s comments.
“Once again, I'd remind the prime minister we have laws in our province around citizen-initiated referendums, just as British Columbia does and just as Saskatchewan does,” Smith said.
“And we had 400,000 people sign a petition saying they wanted to vote to remain and 300,000 sign a petition saying they wanted to vote to leave. So that's 700,000 people who have asked for this to be publicly debated and put on the ballot. That's what our law says. And I'm complying with our law by giving Albertans that option.”
Smith did say to reporters she thought the Prime Minister and herself had “done a lot to demonstrate how Canada and Alberta can work together on shared interests.”
“But I think it's also incumbent upon everyone not to dismiss Albertans' legitimate grievances,” Smith said. “Let's acknowledge them. Let's acknowledge that Canada maybe went down the wrong path for a long time. And then let's work together to do a reversal. And I think that that will convince more Albertans that remain is the right choice.”
Another issue expected to be a hot topic was pipelines, with concerns about potential differences between Smith and Premier David Eby of British Columbia on getting projects built through that province to the West Coast.
Smith told reporters she was “really hopeful that we continue to work on the things that we agree on,” saying she and Premier Eby had agreed on the expansion of the TMX pipeline for 300,000 additional barrels, and agreed to work together on interties to add additional nuclear to the power grid as well as on issues around LNG expansion.
In speaking to reporters Monday, Premier Scott Moe said that having a “conversation about how we can support and advance one another's economies so that we can, in turn, build a stronger national economy in this nation” was the goal of his province at the meeting.
But Moe also acknowledged there was likely to be “much discussion about current events here in Alberta and in other provinces as well.”
“I think Canadians should know that it is important that we come together as subnational leaders to at least have the conversations on how we are going to move forward, how we're going to find points of agreement and move forward in those spaces sooner rather than later.”
Moe also pointed to the change in tone from the federal government.
“We have a new leadership at the federal level. It most certainly has proven to be much more collaborative than the previous government and is working alongside, I would say, provinces that maybe over the course of the last decade haven't really felt that ability to work in that collaborative way to open up opportunities for their economy, their residents, and for growth.”
Moe called it a “positive from Saskatchewan's perspective, and we very much welcome that cooperative federalism that Prime Minister Carney has brought to the conversation over the course of the last year. I would say that very much is an opportunity for us to build on in our province of Saskatchewan, but I think other provinces as well.”
