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CBC
14 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
How voters in rural conservative heartland wrestle with Alberta separatism
Cam Davies asked the audience in the Three Hills community hall for a show of hands: who believes Alberta should give Prime Minister Mark Carney a chance to provide for their province. Among the approximately 150 people at this pro-independence event, one hand went up. "There's always one," remarked Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, to scattered laughter. The event in this central Alberta town of about 3,000 was pitched as a lecture series on the upsides of Alberta separation, but doubled as a campaign rally for Davies, running in the upcoming provincial byelection in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Electing a separatist here, attendees were told, would send a message to the federal and provincial governments. Gord Kesler was there to testify to that — he'd grabbed headlines 43 years ago for winning a provincial seat for another separatist party, during another stretch of heated anti-Ottawa mood. "I'd love to brand you all freedom warriors," Kesler said, asking how many in the crowd would vote for Davies. Most hands went up, but some noticeably stayed down. Part of that may reflect geographical reality. Some in the hall, including a local separatist and the town mayor, said they only recognized around one-quarter or fewer of the audience as Three Hills residents. Several attendees visited from an hour's drive or more away — places like Calgary, or Ponoka County, or Westlock. Three Hills resident Mike Litke and his partner paid $20 each for Republican ballcaps — his in camouflage, hers in tan — and believe Alberta would be freer and better off if the province became its own republic. They'd travelled elsewhere before for separatist gatherings, but this was their first in their hometown. Almost the first time they've heard the topic come up in Three Hills. "I haven't heard separation mentioned in this town at all," Litke said. But if you talk to people in and around Three Hills, they've thought plenty about Alberta's place within Canada. You will hear how they hold out hope for a better deal (and a pipeline or two) from Carney, and how that big option to leave will wind up being more tempting if nothing changes. CBC Calgary and the Front Burner podcast ventured to Three Hills because it's in Alberta's political crosshairs like no other place. Residents vote not only in next Monday's provincial byelection, but also in the coming weeks in the federal Conservative stronghold of Battle River–Crowfoot, where the MP resigned this week so Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can secure a seat after losing his own riding in Ottawa in the federal election. Alberta independence may become its own ballot question here next year if a looming petition drive is successful in triggering a provincial referendum. With support for separatism running below 30 per cent throughout Alberta and much lower in Calgary and Edmonton, activists will have to run up the numbers in places like Three Hills if they want Alberta out of Canada. Like many other residents in the area, realtor Donald MacDonald uses marital analogies to describe the strained relationship between Alberta and Canada. "In any marriage, there comes points in time where people do not feel respected, where we lose every sense of trust, and where things are dictated to you, where people vote with their feet," said MacDonald, who won a 1992 provincial byelection in Three Hills for a more conservative version of the Alberta Liberals. "So, my hope, my prayer, is that we are able to resolve things. There is a reality that people get pushed too far and they say, 'Enough is enough.'" Personally, MacDonald isn't there, certainly not yet. His dad served Canada in the Second World War, and he considers himself patriotic. But he's convinced the status quo isn't working, and supports Premier Danielle Smith's push to demand Ottawa clear the way for new energy corridors to export more of Alberta's oil and gas. "The separatist parties that are driving a wedge here, trying to drive a wedge right now, that we're gonna change all this overnight, that's naive," MacDonald said. "Any kind of change is a process. It's going to take time." Ray Wildeman, the mayor of Three Hills, said he met Davies at a vintage car show downtown this month. He warned the separatist candidate he doesn't want to throw Canada into the crusher, "in the hopes it's going to be reshaped into some grand new design." The mayor recalled Davies' response: Ottawa built the crusher. Wildeman has perused the rosy financial pictures that separation advocates paint of a standalone Alberta that avoids equalization and federal taxes, and wishes more of them understood like he does how government and bureaucracies really work. "That's what I see for an independent Alberta, a lot of frantic scurrying around trying to recreate what we already have in place," the mayor said. He thinks most people in his town see it the way he does. "They see confusion, they see chaos, are they going to see more dollars in their pocket? Maybe in the short term." Even having a red Republican Party lawn sign for Davies wasn't necessarily a clear indication somebody was separatist. Pat Elliott, who works in the kitchen of the town's century-old bible college, said she agreed to let a polite door-knocker put it in the front yard outside her mobile home. She supported some of the party's ideas, like fighting for a better federal relationship, but insisted: "No, I am definitely not a separatist. "I have a daughter that lives in P.E.I.," Elliott said. "Is she going to be needing a passport to come and see me? Or do I need one to go visit her? I should hope not." Sonja Farrell is ready to take Alberta out of Canada, and sort out the consequences later. She moved from Ontario two decades ago to attend bible college in Three Hills, and found work in the town post office. When Canada Post mandated she wear a medical mask during the COVID pandemic, that was a sign to Farrell that Canada was headed in the wrong direction. She was at the independence event, serving up coffee and cookies from the community hall's kitchen. Her vision of Alberta separatism is less economically centred than others. "To me I see Alberta being a bit of a beachhead, a place where we can keep that last refuge of freedom or at least start it so that there is freedom in Canada because I think that freedom is going to be a thing of the past." Frustrations with the pandemic laws seem to have lit a fire for many independence backers. Litke said he'd been a support driver for the Freedom Convoy activists in Coutts, Alta., and wore a "resistance" sweatshirt with a tattered Canadian flag emblem in memory of the convoy. Jacquie Bargholz said she began attending speaker events during COVID, events that sometimes flouted gathering limits. Some of those same speakers were advocating separatism this month in Three Hills, and she drove from Sundre, more than one hour to the west, to hear them again. She wore a "More Alberta, Less Ottawa" sweatshirt she picked up at a UCP convention in 2023, though her stance has now evolved to "No Ottawa." "We can be an independent province. Back then I didn't think that," Bargholz explained. "I thought we were strong, we're going to stand up for ourselves within Canada. I don't think it can happen any more." Her adult son Ryan Bargholz joined her in Three Hills. "It's time for us to stand up for ourselves and be on our own, make decisions with our own money and not spend it on Ottawa and Quebec and their happiness." The mix of locals and visitors at the independence rally was dwarfed by a crowd that gathered earlier that week for a town hall with Premier Smith and Tara Sawyer, the grain farmer running for the UCP in the riding. In front of more than 300 in the bible college's chapel, Sawyer appeared to warn about Davies's party without naming it. "Some forces are trying to divide us and split the [conservative] vote," she said. "We cannot let that happen." That event's main draw was the premier, and attendees had many questions for Smith, on everything from health policy and education to wind power and Smith's appointment of Sawyer as a candidate. Fourteen questions in all — and none concerned separation. In an interview, Davies called Three Hills his "toughest area in the whole riding," and said separatism gets more support in other towns. While some UCP insiders quietly doubt his assertion, there were noticeably more Republican party signs on lawns in the town of Didsbury, a 45-minute drive to the west, than in Three Hills when the CBC news crews rolled through last week. A Janet Brown Opinion Research survey last month found that 38 per cent of rural Albertans would vote yes to separate in a referendum, compared to 28 per cent in the province overall. MacDonald, when told CBC News hadn't found as many determined separatists as polls suggest exist in small towns, suggested a trip to Three Hills's agricultural outskirts. At Harold Bayes's cattle feedlot, the third-generation farmer offered more marriage analogies. "If we can't get from a contemptuous relationship to a collaborative relationship, at some point and time, the final separation happens, right?" Bayes said at his dining room table. He feels if there isn't change, especially movement on interprovincial pipelines, "I'd be out the door." Bayes said he'd likely sign a petition demanding a secession referendum, to "bring the thing to a head" and make the federal government pay attention. The idea of having Poilievre as his riding's MP after the next byelection doesn't move Bayes much. "It's not like I would think there's a great big perk coming to our constituency just because he's the leader of the Opposition, right?" Keith Doerksen, his grain farmer friend, said he's getting close to the "enough is enough" point as well. "There's lots of us with one foot out the door, but we're just waiting for some leadership, federal leadership, to show which way we're going to go." But Doerksen also believes that Alberta would never separate. Become more autonomous within confederation perhaps, but not leave entirely. "What's to be gained by creating your own landlocked country?" he asks. At the entry gates to his cattle farm, Bayes keeps up a Canadian flag and an ultramarine Alberta flag. He'd just replaced both that day, after the old ones had been tattered in the wind. He's asked if he gives any thought to only keeping the blue one. Not at all, Bayes said. "I still live in Canada."
CBC
11-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Mark Carney has a national unity problem. A Liberal voice in Calgary might help
Viewed from a certain angle, it could be read as good news that only 30 per cent of Albertans believe their province would be better off on its own, a share that has grown only slightly over the last five years. In a hypothetical referendum, just 28 per cent said they would vote to secede. But among those who believe Alberta would be better off outside of Canada, feelings have seemingly hardened. And a referendum is no longer purely hypothetical. "What I always tell [people outside Alberta] is like, hey, Alberta has been a place of western alienation for a long time, and that's been worthy of resolving for a long time. What you're seeing right now is it getting louder and being more legitimized than it's ever been," says Corey Hogan, the newly elected Liberal MP for Calgary Confederation. "I've worked in the public opinion space a long time. And ultimately, public opinion does follow the conversation. That's just a simple reality. And so we're at this moment right now where the conversation has shifted. Public opinion will shift if we don't get on top of this. And we need to take this very seriously." Hogan, a former political consultant who then worked as a deputy minister in both Rachel Notley's Alberta NDP and Jason Kenney's UCP governments, compares the conversation in Alberta about separation now to public opinion a decade ago on a carbon tax in that province. Initially, most Albertans didn't feel strongly one way or the other. But the debate was ultimately driven by the loudest and most polarized voices. When Hogan says the conversation about Alberta has shifted, he says he is "referring to the fact that being a separatist is now a thing people say at cocktail parties in Alberta." WATCH | Can the new natural resources minister reset the conversation?: Reshaping Alberta's energy relationship with the federal government 29 days ago Duration 2:20 At least in Hogan's adult life — he's 44 years old — he had not previously encountered such party chatter. "So you are starting to see a social acceptability to the idea of being an Alberta separatist that honestly, I find a little baffling, but I also find very concerning," he said. Holding the country together has always been one of the primary tasks of a Canadian prime minister. But given the cocktail chatter, it is fair to say that responsibility may weigh heavier on Mark Carney than it has on any prime minister since Jean Chrétien. Can Carney rebuild the relationship? It is too easy to blame Carney's predecessor for separatist sentiments in Alberta. The roots of western alienation are deep — Mary Janigan's 2013 book Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark takes its title from an iconic bumper sticker of the 1970s, but actually focuses on a federal-provincial conference in 1918 — and can't solely be pinned on the federal government. Hogan, for instance, points to the general dominance of voices from Central Canada in the public discussion of politics in this country. It's also not hard to build an argument that the criticism heaped on Justin Trudeau as an alleged opponent of the province's oil and gas industry is undeserved — the purchase and completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) was not cheap, either practically or politically, and oil production reached a record high in 2024. (If Trudeau was anti-oil, he was at least not very good at it.) But in Calgary, Horgan argues, the federal purchase of TMX is not understood as an example of the federal government acting for the benefit of Alberta, but as an example of regulatory failure and capital flight. And while some voices in Alberta might unfairly latch on to federal climate initiatives as grounds for complaint, Hogan says, a policy like the government's clean electricity regulations could be viewed as putting a heavier burden on western provinces. Carney is eventually going to be tested by the same sorts of policy questions that bedevilled the Trudeau government. If it was easy to square the circle on climate and resource policy to the satisfaction of everyone, someone would have done it already. For now, Hogan suggests there needs to be an emphasis on relationship-building. "Alberta and Central Canada — basically, we end up in this loop with each other where we're almost saying to each other, why won't you show some gratitude? And we're not having actual real conversations with individuals," Hogan says. "Alberta [will say] why won't you acknowledge how much money comes from this province.… And then people out here might say, well, we built you a pipeline, why aren't you happy? And the reality is, neither side is going to be happy if they're just [talking about] things that they had to begrudgingly do for each other. That's not how a nation is built." WATCH | Smith encouraged by first ministers' meeting: Hearing PM talk about northwestern pipeline 'very encouraging': Alberta premier | Power & Politics 9 days ago Duration 8:37 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tells Power & Politics she found Prime Minister Mark Carney's comments on a possible northwestern pipeline 'very encouraging' and a 'sea change' from where first ministers' discussions on energy projects were six months ago. Hogan says he was "pretty heartened" by Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson's recent trip to Calgary, not so much for the well-received speech the minister delivered, but for the meetings Hodgson had with executives and industry groups in Alberta. (Hogan has since been named a parliamentary secretary to Hodgson.) "He built those connections and he heard them out. And I think that's got to be done a hundred more times, right? It's not about inviting Albertans into the room. It's about taking the room to Albertans in some cases and saying, 'OK, what are we trying to do here? How are we going to make this nation work for everybody?'" That does not mean, Hogan adds, that the federal government should acquiesce to every concern. But building up trust and goodwill might at least make it easier to live with disagreements. Being a voice for Confederation Trudeau and members of his government would likely protest that they too made good-faith efforts to build trust between themselves and leaders in Alberta. Trudeau himself seemed determined, at least initially, to shake off the ghost of his father's reputation in Alberta (though Hogan argues that after Trudeau's first three years as prime minister, a certain "bunker mentality" set in). Regardless of how or why Trudeau's time in office didn't produce better feelings in Alberta, Carney's arrival is at least an opportunity to reset the relationship and start fresh — and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's positive tone after last week's first ministers' meeting suggests there is at least an opening for progress. In terms of the broader conversation, Hogan could be a potentially valuable voice — for both the Liberals and the broader federalist cause. Though something of an accidental candidate — he only decided to run after the Liberal Party's original candidate in Calgary Confederation was forced to withdraw in late March — he is a former vice-president at the University of Calgary and a prominent political commentator (in addition to his experience in government). His campaign printed up signs that said "Confederation is worth fighting for" and he has used his own newsletter to directly challenge some of the arguments been advanced by would-be separatists. "We can't cede the conversation space. We need to be in the conversation," Hogan says of Albertans who like him oppose separation. "If we love this country, we need to fight for this country. And Albertans love this country, so it's time to stand up." Success, he says, would mean that some of the loudest voices on the other side are "less loud," but also "a broader appreciation that we do have a challenge as a nation and that the idea of sovereignist threats does not end at the Quebec border … that this is a country that needs to make sure it's investing in a sense of nation-ness."
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Poll finds Albertans' attachment to Canada has grown as support for separatism has hardened
Like many Albertans, Michelle Schamehorn was disappointed by the Liberal victory in last month's federal election. But she's not on board with the escalating rhetoric surrounding Alberta separation. "For me, no. I don't want to separate," said the resident of Taber, Alta., who works at a local truck dealership and feels most Canadian when she's snowshoeing in the mountains. "I'm proud to be Canadian. Very, very proud to be Canadian." She remains squarely in the majority in this province, according to new polling commissioned by CBC News, which asked a random sample of 1,200 people across Alberta their views on a variety of topics. When it came to the question of whether Alberta would be better off if it separated from Canada, 67 per cent disagreed while 30 per cent agreed. The result was almost identical to a similar poll that asked the same question five years earlier. One thing that has changed, however, is the strength of support among the Alberta separatists. In May 2020, only 12 per cent "strongly" agreed. By May 2025, that had grown to 17 per cent. The poll also found a shift in public opinion at the other end of the spectrum. Asked whether they feel more attachment to Alberta or to Canada, 34 per cent now picked their country over their province. That's up from just 20 per cent five years ago. There was little change in those who feel more attachment to Alberta over that same time, while the proportion of those who said "both equally" shrunk substantially. "So, I think we're seeing polarization on both ends," said pollster Janet Brown, who conducted the public-opinion research for CBC News. "When it comes to separation, we're seeing that the number of people who strongly agree with separation is increasing," Brown said. "On the other side, we see the people who are attached to Canada, we see that group growing. The more we talk about separation, the more people are saying that they feel attached to Canada." On a straight ballot question, meanwhile, 28 per cent of Albertans said in the latest polling that they'd vote to separate if a referendum were held today, compared to 67 per cent who would vote against separation. Five per cent said they weren't sure. Trump effect CBC News visited Taber recently to ask people in Alberta's Conservative heartland about what Canada means to them after the rhetoric around separation kicked up. Several residents said they weren't ready to give up on Canada yet, despite their disappointment at seeing the Liberals win a fourth consecutive election. Daybreak Alberta 10:00 We head to Taber to talk about separatist sentiment in Alberta Elise Stolte wanted to hear what Taber residents, a real conservative stronghold, think about the suggestion that the province should separate from the rest of Canada. Schamehorn said she's not a very political person, but the combination of the election defeat, talk of independence and the U.S. tariffs shocked her. It's made her pay more attention, she said, and she doesn't believe Alberta should pick up and walk away in frustration. "We're Canada. We're Alberta. And we need to figure this out," she said. "We have countries that are trying to destroy us right now. And we can't let that happen. We have to figure out how to be strong, together." Taber resident Michelle Schamehorn describes herself as 'very, very proud' to be Canadian. (Elise Stolte/CBC) Brown, the pollster, says the recent tariffs and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump have had a distinct effect on how Albertans view their province and their country. "When you look deeper at the data, there definitely is a connection there," she said. "One of the questions we asked was how stressed out people were about U.S.-Canada trade relations. And it seems like society here in Alberta is breaking into two groups: those people who are very preoccupied with tariffs and those people who aren't that preoccupied with tariffs. In fact, they are more preoccupied with Ottawa than they are with Washington." Albertans who feel stressed by the trade war expressed significantly higher attachment to Canada in the recent polling. Those who said they weren't stressed by it, in contrast, expressed significantly higher attachment to Alberta. 'I guess I'm more Canadian' Rick Tams works with Schamehorn at a truck dealership in Taber. He puts himself in the Canadian-first camp, but with a pretty big asterisk attached. "We are a member of a country first and I live in the province of Alberta, so I guess I'm more Canadian," he said. "But that being said, there's a gap within our own country. It's flawed." Rick Tams in Taber, Alta., describes himself as more Canadian than Albertan but says he's been frustrated by the past 10 years of Liberal government in Ottawa. In his circles, he believes a separation referendum would have a chance. (Elise Stolte/CBC) Tams says he's been frustrated by the past 10 years of Liberal government in Ottawa, in particular when it comes to deficit spending, oil-and-gas regulations and the lack of follow-through on once-promised electoral reform. He says he's seen, first hand, how that's hardened some Albertans' attitudes toward separation. "In the circles I travel in, I think a referendum would have a chance," he said. "That doesn't mean we have to leave. But it does mean people have got to start paying attention." As for himself? "I would like to see just a whole lot more information before there was a vote," Tams said. Political implications Brown says the polling results show a "yes" vote in a hypothetical referendum on separation would almost certainly fail, but at the same time reveal a "sizeable minority of people who are serious about this idea." "You just can't call this a fringe idea anymore," she said. "It's a strong sentiment in the population." The political implications are far-reaching, she added, especially for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Brown noted the poll results show Alberta NDP supporters are almost universally opposed to separation, while 54 per cent of UCP supporters said they would vote in favour of it, if a referendum were held today. "Danielle Smith is dealing with a voter base that's split on the issue of separatism, while [NDP Leader] Naheed Nenshi is looking at a voter base who is single-minded on this issue," Brown said. "So that makes it much more challenging for Danielle Smith to manage her way through this." At the same time, Brown said further data from the latest poll suggests Smith is "doing a better job speaking to the middle group — the group who's both attached to Canada and attached to Alberta." "That group maybe wants a new deal from Ottawa but doesn't want to separate," Brown said. "And she is speaking to that group, and I don't think the NDP is yet speaking to that group." The details of that aspect of the poll results — which party is leading in popular support, and why — will be the topic of the next story in this series, which will be published later Wednesday. EDITOR'S NOTE: CBC News commissioned this public opinion research to be conducted immediately following the federal election and leading into the second anniversary of the United Conservative Party's provincial election win in May 2023. As with all polls, this one provides a snapshot in time. This analysis is one in a series of articles from this research. More stories will follow. Methodology: The CBC News random survey of 1,200 Albertans was conducted using a hybrid method from May 7 to 21, 2025, by Edmonton-based Trend Research under the direction of Janet Brown Opinion Research. The sample is representative of regional, age and gender factors. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. For subsets, the margin of error is larger. The survey used a hybrid methodology that involved contacting survey respondents by telephone and giving them the option of completing the survey at that time, at another more convenient time, or receiving an email link and completing the survey online. Trend Research contacted people using a random list of numbers, consisting of 40 per cent landlines and 60 per cent cellphone numbers. Telephone numbers were dialled up to five times at five different times of day before another telephone number was added to the sample. The response rate among valid numbers (i.e., residential and personal) was 12.8 per cent.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Separatists want to 'hold Poilievre's feet to the fire' in Alberta byelection bid
OTTAWA — Currently seatless Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is eyeing an easy win in a not-yet-called byelection in rural Alberta, but locals say he could be caught in the middle of a growing firestorm over Alberta separation. The first hurdle for Poilievre, who represented suburban Ottawa as an MP for two decades before losing his seat last month, will be convincing locals that he's not just another central Canada politician who sees Alberta as a giant ATM machine. 'I'm somewhat suspect that Mr. Poilievre has said publicly that he doesn't feel there should be any big changes to the equalization formula,' said Rick Strankman, referring to the federal wealth redistribution program Alberta hasn't seen a dime from since the mid-1960s. Strankman is a third-generation resident of Poilievre's prospective riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, who represented the area as an Wildrose MLA from 2012 to 2019. He says he's seen an uptick in support for Alberta separatism within the community since last month's federal election, which saw the Liberals win their fourth-straight mandate. 'I think many people are deeply unsatisfied, and many people are frustrated in that they don't know how to achieve a positive change, unless it… evolves from a referendum,' said Strankman. Province-wide polls show up to two-thirds of Albertans who support the governing United Conservative Party would vote 'yes' in a referendum on Alberta independence. Poilievre said last week that he was 'against (Alberta) separation' but sympathized with the 'legitimate grievances' of those who were for it. Strankman, who's involved with the pro-separation Alberta Prosperity Project, noted that the group has several upcoming events in and around the riding, including a forum in the 800-person town of Castor next month. 'I just saw a poster for the Castor event at my local tractor repair shop,' said Strankman. Strankman doesn't think that Poilievre is in danger of losing the byelection but suspects that turnout could suffer if he ignores the rising tide of Alberta separatism. 'You could almost run a straw bale in our riding under the Conservative flag and that would get elected… but there might be an apathy there if (Poilievre) can't shake the label of being a parachute candidate from Ottawa,' said Strankman. Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer with the Alberta Prosperity Project, says he expects the high-profile byelection to attract 'a strong pro-independence candidate or two' with 'good local name recognition.' 'It would be fascinating to see somebody hold Poilievre's feet to the fire and make him explain how it is that federalism still works for Alberta,' said Rath. Rath publicly dared Poilievre last week to run in Battle River—Crowfoot under the slogan 'No more Alberta tax dollars for Quebec, and a dairy cow and micro-dairy in every Alberta barn that wants one.' Prime Minister Mark Carney said shortly after the election that he'd ensure Poilievre's byelection took place 'as soon as possible' if his fellow Conservatives wanted him to stay on as leader. The soonest the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection can take place under federal law is in early August, meaning it will likely follow three provincial byelections expected for earlier in the summer. One of these byelections, coincidentally, will take place in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, where Alberta's first, and thus far only, separatist MLA Gordon Kesler was elected in a 1982 byelection. Kesler was beaten soundly in a general election later that year. Cameron Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, announced on Tuesday that he will be running in the riding, hoping to follow in Kesler's footsteps as a separatist voice in the Alberta Legislature. He says that Kesler, who's still active in the riding, has been an indispensable source of support and wisdom as he embarks on his own political journey. Davies told the National Post he doesn't see Poilievre as an advocate for Alberta, even if he ends up winning a federal seat in the province. '(Poilievre) is a federal politician… he has to be a Team Canada player,' said Davies. 'Alberta no longer wants to be part of team Canada, and so at some point (he'll) have to reconcile with that.' National Post rmohamed@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
National Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Separatists want to 'hold Poilievre's feet to the fire' in Alberta byelection bid
OTTAWA — Currently seatless Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is eyeing an easy win in a not-yet-called byelection in rural Alberta, but locals say he could be caught in the middle of a growing firestorm over Alberta separation. Article content Article content The first hurdle for Poilievre, who represented suburban Ottawa as an MP for two decades before losing his seat last month, will be convincing locals that he's not just another central Canada politician who sees Alberta as a giant ATM machine. Article content 'I'm somewhat suspect that Mr. Poilievre has said publicly that he doesn't feel there should be any big changes to the equalization formula,' said Rick Strankman, referring to the federal wealth redistribution program Alberta hasn't seen a dime from since the mid-1960s. Article content Strankman is a third-generation resident of Poilievre's prospective riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, who represented the area as an Wildrose MLA from 2012 to 2019. Article content He says he's seen an uptick in support for Alberta separatism within the community since last month's federal election, which saw the Liberals win their fourth-straight mandate. Article content 'I think many people are deeply unsatisfied, and many people are frustrated in that they don't know how to achieve a positive change, unless it… evolves from a referendum,' said Strankman. Province-wide polls show up to two-thirds of Albertans who support the governing United Conservative Party would vote 'yes' in a referendum on Alberta independence. Article content Article content Poilievre said last week that he was 'against (Alberta) separation' but sympathized with the 'legitimate grievances' of those who were for it. Article content Strankman, who's involved with the pro-separation Alberta Prosperity Project, noted that the group has several upcoming events in and around the riding, including a forum in the 800-person town of Castor next month. Article content 'I just saw a poster for the Castor event at my local tractor repair shop,' said Strankman. Article content Strankman doesn't think that Poilievre is in danger of losing the byelection but suspects that turnout could suffer if he ignores the rising tide of Alberta separatism. Article content 'You could almost run a straw bale in our riding under the Conservative flag and that would get elected… but there might be an apathy there if (Poilievre) can't shake the label of being a parachute candidate from Ottawa,' said Strankman.
