Alberta premier blames Ottawa for Imperial

Oil job cuts, but experts say it's a global trend

Story by Rukhsar Ali

 • CBC   

SEPTEMBER 30, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Imperial Oil's plan to lay off roughly 20 per cent of its workforce by 2027 is "very disappointing," laying the blame on Ottawa and reinforcing the need to build pipelines.

"The industry for the last 10 years has been hampered and hobbled by federal government decisions," Smith said Tuesday.

"If we can realise the aspiration of building our pipelines north, south, east and west, doubling our production, then there's a lot of opportunity for people to be able to get reemployed in this sector."

Calgary-based Imperial said Monday the cuts are part of a broader restructuring plan and would save the company about $150 million annually.

Approximately 900 jobs, most of which are in Calgary, will be lost.

"This is what happens when you have uncertainty," Smith said. "And this is part of the reason why we have to work very quickly to get to a resolution with Ottawa so that we can start building [pipelines] again."

Imperial Oil chairman John Whelan said in a statement the restructuring and layoffs will ensure the company continues to deliver returns and value for shareholders.

"We recognize the considerable impact this restructuring will have on our employees and their families," Whelan said. "We are deeply committed to supporting our employees through this transition."

In a news release, Imperial said it is leveraging technology and its relationship with its major shareholder, Exxon Mobil, to continue to meet or exceed production targets.

The company also said part of the restructuring will see Imperial relocate most of the remaining Calgary positions to the Strathcona Refinery in Edmonton in late 2028.

While Smith points the finger at Ottawa, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi lays the blame on the UCP government.

"We've got a government that is pandering to separatists, that is scaring away domestic and foreign investment," he told CBC News.

"We now have the second… highest unemployment rate after Newfoundland in the country at a time where the energy sector is not really under threat from tariffs," Nenshi said.

"What we're really seeing here is a change and shift in the work and Alberta being left on the outside, and that is directly due to Danielle Smith and the UCP's policies, I believe."

Canada's energy minister, Tim Hodgson, also said he's "deeply disappointed" with Imperial Oil's planned job cuts.

He said he's working to understand what went into the company's decision and that the government will explore ways to support the workers losing their jobs.

"These are skilled, dedicated people who have greatly contributed to Alberta's energy sector and Canada's economy, and my thoughts are with them and their families as they receive this difficult news," he said on social media Tuesday.

In August, Imperial reported $11.23 billion in total revenue and other income during the second quarter, down from $13.38 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Hodgson said it's his mission to make sure energy companies like Imperial stay prosperous as the government works to make Canada an "energy superpower."
Oil company layoffs a global trend: experts

Top U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil announced broader cuts on Tuesday, with plans to lay off 2,000 workers globally — about half of which are accounted for in the Imperial Oil layoffs.

Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, says this latest announcement is part of a global trend.

"This is obviously extremely painful for Calgary and extremely painful for Canada, but this is part of a much broader… series of layoffs," she said.


Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, says the Imperial Oil layoffs are part of a broader global trend for the oil and gas sector. (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)

Several major energy companies, including Chevron and ConocoPhillips, have announced thousands of job cuts in the past year to rein in costs while they contend with lower profits in the face of a worldwide slump in crude oil prices and strong competition from the OPEC+ group of oil producers.

Another Calgary-based company, Cenovus Energy Inc., confirmed layoffs in May, while Suncor Energy Inc. cut about 1,500 staff in a streamlining push in 2023.

"What Exxon and Imperial are doing is trying to be the lowest cost barrel in the oilsands and also globally competitive, and so they aren't shutting in production. They have no intention of producing less oil," Exner-Pirot explained, calling the layoffs a "normal restructuring" from the corporation's perspective.

"That means the royalties keep coming in. It means the sector is healthy. It means Imperial stays healthy."

Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, FORMERLY ATB, says the oil and gas industry is no longer what it was in 2014, pre-boom, and so the number of people employed in the sector has also been impacted.

"The Canadian oil and gas sector doesn't live in [a] vacuum... without being influenced by what's happening around the world. It's not just in Canada that investment in the industry is weak. We're seeing that around the world," he said.

"The name of the game for the past decade has been how to drive efficiency out of current operations, and that's what we've seen. [Companies have] been cutting costs and those job losses go into that vein.

"It's really that drive to efficiency that is reducing the head count. How can you extract the same barrel at a lower cost?"


Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, says the oil and gas sector is maturing and decisions are being driven by efficiency. 

(Justin Pennell/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

St-Arnaud says there's a need to start looking at the oil and gas sector with "a different mindset," understanding that it's a mature industry now.

"It's no longer what I would call the startup phase of the late 2000s, early 2010s, where companies were building massive operations, thinking huge amounts of money and they were not necessarily driven by how much it's gonna cost," he said.

"But now [in the] mature phase, you need to start thinking about the cost. How do you improve your profitability when you're at that kind of mature phase of your development? And that's really where I see the Canadian oil industry being at the moment."

Canadian energy minister, Alberta premier disappointed with Imperial Oil job cuts

Story by Jack Farrell and Fakiha Baig
• SEPTEMBER 3O, 2O25

Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, provides an update on the forecast for the 2025 wildfires season at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick© The Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Imperial Oil's "very disappointing" plan to lay off roughly 20 per cent of its workforce by 2027 reinforces the need to build more pipelines.

Smith is blaming Ottawa for the layoffs at the Calgary-based company.

"The industry for the last 10 years has been hampered and hobbled by federal government decisions," she told an unrelated news conference in Calgary on Tuesday.

"This is what happens when you have uncertainty, and this is part of the reason why we have to work very quickly to get to a resolution with Ottawa so that we can start building again ... no one likes to see these kinds of consolidations.

"If we can realize the aspiration of building our pipelines north, south, east and west, doubling our production, then there's a lot of opportunity for people to get re-employed in this sector."

Imperial said Monday the cuts are part of a broader restructuring plan and would save the company about $150 million annually.

Company chairman John Whelan said in a statement the restructuring and layoffs will ensure Imperial continues to deliver returns and value for shareholders.

“We recognize the considerable impact this restructuring will have on our employees and their families," Whelan said.

"We are deeply committed to supporting our employees through this transition."

Related video: B.C. Premier tells Alberta not to 'mistake politeness for weakness' over pipeline plans (The Canadian Press)

The company also said part of the restructuring will see Imperial "further consolidate activities to its operating sites" in Alberta.

A spokesperson for the company, Lisa Schmidt, said in an email Tuesday that the company has reached a tentative agreement to sell its multi-building Calgary office complex and lease back the space it will still need.

"We plan to maintain a presence in Calgary," said Schmidt.

Data from LSEG Data and Analytics shows the layoffs would impact about 1,000 jobs, based on an employee count of 5,100 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson also said Tuesday he's disappointed with the cuts.

He said he's working to understand what went into Imperial's decision and that the government will explore ways to support the workers losing their jobs.

"These are skilled, dedicated people who have greatly contributed to Alberta's energy sector and Canada's economy, and my thoughts are with them and their families as they receive this difficult news," Hodgson said on social media.


In August, Imperial reported $11.23 billion in total revenue and other income during the second quarter, down from $13.38 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Hodgson said it's his mission to make sure energy companies like Imperial stay prosperous as the government works to make Canada an "energy superpower."

"We are taking steps today to ensure the Canadian energy sector will continue to provide careers and prosperity for generations to come," he said.

Alberta Opposition NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said Monday the company's plan represents "a significant blow to Calgary and Alberta’s economy."

Nenshi called on Smith and her United Conservative Party government to develop a plan to keep good paying jobs in Alberta, especially with its unemployment rate being one of the highest in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.

Jack Farrell and Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press

Modi’s Relationship With G7 Had Soured, But Efforts Are Underway To Mend Fences – Analysis

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo Credit: Narendra Modi, X

 June 8, 2025  

By P. K. Balachandran

Canada, the current chair of G7, had inordinately delayed an invitation to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the group’s summit to be held from June 15 to 17 in Alberta. 

The inordinate delay gave rise to public outrage in India, which fancies itself as an emerging power almost on par with the advanced nations of the West. Political analysts wondered if the rich and the powerful of the world had lost interest in India. 

Modi’s relationship with the G7 had clearly soured. Counties which were showering praise on him till recently, and vigorously motivating him to be their face to counter China in South Asia, now appeared to doubt his credentials. They wondered if he had become too big for his boots and if they had put their eggs in the right basket. 

Although India had been a regular invitee to the G7 summits for years, and its Prime Ministers had attended most of them, this year, it looked as if the G7 had decided not to invite India. Till June 5, the Indian Prime Minister had not received an invite for a summit that was to be held only ten days.   

There was speculation that the G7 had fallen out with India, or rather with Prime Minister Modi, over a number of issues. Despite being a strategic ally of the US, India under Modi was trading with Russia and Iran challenging US sanctions. It allegedly had a hand in a cross border assassination in Canada and an attempted assassination in the US. The Australians had accused India of trying to influence the voting behaviour of the members of the Indian Diaspora. Indian diplomats and mission-staff had been expelled from Western countries.   

There is a case in Canada about an Indian involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, on Canadian soil. An Indian hand was seen in a bid to assassinate US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in the US. 

Both Nijjar and Pannu were dubbed in India as separatists fighting for an independent Sikh Sate of Khalistan. For most Indians the alleged Indian bid to kill them was perfectly kosher as they were trying to destroy the territorial integrity of India. But for the West, these were cases of cross border terrorism, and a violation of their citizen’s rights. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police accused Modi’s government of “acts of murder, extortion and coercion.” Canada’s federal police said that the murder of a prominent Sikh activist in British Columbia was orchestrated by the “highest levels” of the Indian government.

The West was also not happy with Modi for escalating the India-Pakistan armed conflict early in May to the point of creating a fear of a nuclear clash. This fear resulted in a swift and effective American intervention, which resulted in a ceasefire. Key elements in the West were of the view that India had blamed Pakistan for the terror strike on April 22 without presenting cast iron evidence to the international community. It had also immediately precipitated a major military clash, that saw China quickly throwing its weight behind Pakistan that added a new and dangerous dimension to the security environment in South Asia.

It was only on June 6, that Canada relented and sent an invitation to Modi for the G7.  According to a readout from the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Office, the two leaders spoke on the phone and Carney extended an invitation to the gathering in Alberta.

The readout said that the two leaders discussed the “longstanding relationship between Canada and India, including deep people-to-people ties and significant commercial links. Importantly, there was agreement to continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns.”

Thus, Carney did get Modi’s word about cooperation in the criminal investigations now on in the Nijjar assassination case. 

But Carney’s decision prompted an outraged response from the World Sikh Organization. “For Sikhs in Canada, this is a betrayal, not just of our community, but of core Canadian values. Prime Minister Carney’s decision to invite Narendra Modi, while India continues to deny any role in the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar and refuses to cooperate with Canadian authorities, is both shameful and dangerous,” its president, Danish Singh, said in a statement.

“We would never welcome leaders from Russia, China, or Iran under such circumstances. Yet India has done far more on Canadian soil in terms of foreign interference and transnational repression, including orchestrating murders, and is being rewarded with a red carpet welcome.”

On Friday, Carney declined to answer reporters’ questions over whether he believed that India’s establishment had a role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He said- “There is a legal process that is literally under way and quite advanced in Canada, and it’s never appropriate to make comments with respect to those legal processes.” 

Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Nijjar’s murder.

Carney justified his step to make up with India saying- “India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains.  It is important to invite the country’s leader despite the continuing investigation to discuss energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,” Carney said.

Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated the Liberal leader on his recent electoral victory.

“As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the summit,” Modi said in a statement from New Delhi.

Canada and India had expelled each other’s top diplomats in 2024 over Nijjar’s politically motivated murder in the British Columbia city of Surrey.

P. K. Balachandran

P. K. Balachandran is a senior Indian journalist working in Sri Lanka for local and international media and has been writing on South Asian issues for the past 21 years.

Jamie Sarkonak: Alberta's separation threats weaken hand against Liberals

Opinion by Jamie Sarkonak
• 1d •
National Post


A rally and counterprotest for the Alberta separatist movement drew hundreds of people to the Alberta Legislature on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

In a livestreamed address Monday, Premier Danielle Smith indicated that, though she doesn’t support Alberta’s separatist movement, she will certainly use it as leverage in negotiating a new deal for the province. It’s a bold strategy, but it’s hard to see it playing out.

What the premier wants is not independence, but a new “binding agreement” between the feds and the province that makes a number of guarantees — land corridor and seaport access for energy exports, an end to net-zero constraints (including plastics regulations, EV mandates and corporate climate disclosure requirements), the repeal of the Impact Assessment Act, and boosted per-capita equalization payments equivalent to those received by B.C, Ontario and Quebec.

She also demanded that the feds promise to never place export taxes on Alberta resources without the province’s consent — a demand no doubt in response to the trade war. In January, polling showed that 82 per cent of Canadians supported slapping export taxes onto oil exports to the U.S., and 72 per cent support in the Prairies; Smith has strongly opposed export taxes on oil throughout the trade war.

That’s all fine and good; provinces demand things all the time. But in Alberta’s case, the premier is inflating the expectations of her followers by making a few unmeetable demands, and preparing to channel the resulting anger and disappointment into doomed dealmaking efforts that, at worst, will harm the country’s conservative movement overall.

Take the first insurmountable obstacle: equalization reform. Since 1957 , the federal government has used the taxes it’s constitutionally empowered to collect to support the budgets of less-prosperous provinces. Currently, the formula is designed to excuse Quebec’s refusal to be a team player in Canada’s broader energy economy (Quebec’s hydro revenues don’t count towards the province’s revenues, which results in the province receiving far more federal welfare than it should). With a federal Liberal minority government, we shouldn’t expect that to change.


Related video: Doug Ford dispels talk of feud with Danielle Smith, maintains he's against Alberta separation (Global News)
Duration 2:37

Albertans make more money, pay more in federal taxes and thus contribute more per head to the federal pool of funds than the rest of the country. The provincial government can’t do anything about it any more than the feds can direct the province’s funding of individual school boards within its borders. That’s why Alberta’s first run at changing equalization by former Alberta premier Jason Kenney didn’t go anywhere, and why subsequent province-level chest-thumping won’t help; for reform to work, it will take a reform-friendly government in Ottawa — say, a Conservative majority willing to wean anti-energy Quebec from the federal welfare teat.

Smith runs into similar jurisdictional hiccups in demanding port access and cross-country corridors. These are ultimately matters of federal jurisdiction. Now, if this country had competent people running it, it would be aggressively working to get more interior products out to the coast, ideally opening new ports in the process. But alas, that’s not what Canadians voted for. Asking for it is one thing, but Canada’s highest “binding agreement,” the Constitution, says that ports and interjurisdictional transport are the federal government’s business.


It’s not all bad — the premier is absolutely right to fight potentially unconstitutional laws, which she has done vigorously. The challenges to the Impact Assessment Act and Clean Electricity Regulations are underway, and the fight on federal plastics regulation has already been won. Threatening more challenges and then backing those words up with court filings is what should be done. But there are other fronts on which she has no chance in winning — and that’s where separatist flirtation comes in.

It was an obvious tactic by Smith to advance legislation that eases the way of citizen-driven referendums onto the ballot. Doing so transfers the thorny decision of whether to put independence on the ballot from the premier to a political process over which she has no direct control but which she designed knowing full well that a certain group would be using it. Responsibility is diffused, and “democracy” can always be invoked to defend it.

The best a referendum can do is start up the Alberta independence process, which, if successful — and that’s unlikely — would be a disaster for the ensuing nation. Any qualms about tidewater access would be dwarfed in the post-separation scenario (separatists would point to a United Nations treaty that in theory opens the way to port access for landlocked states, but that’s no guarantee for favourable port access). Threatening to secede when independence gets you even farther from your current demands is simply unserious.

The same goes for arguments for U.S. statehood, by the way. Alberta’s frustrations with its confederation deal — too few MPs in the House of Commons; too few senators — trace back to its late addition to the federation and the lesser leverage that came with. It’s delusional to expect that the U.S. in 2025 would offer a better entrance bonus to this majority-Democrat-leaning province.

Alberta should be treated better, but Quebec-style fight-picking with Ottawa isn’t a winning route. Yes, Quebec throws separatist-tinged tantrums to get what it wants, but it comes across as bratty and spoiled. Yes, the federal government, in turn, comes across as a bad parent, giving the province the equivalent of candy for its bad behaviour. But the separatist movement doesn’t offer a fix; that’s going to take electing a federal Conservative government with the guts to put Quebec in its place.

Alberta’s tantrums, led by its minority of secessionists, will only cultivate an eyeroll-inducing victim complex that sours the entire country towards our province. Taken further, it will potentially threaten both the United Conservative Party’s unity in Alberta and the prospects of a Tory victory in a future federal election.

MAKE ALBERTA GREAT AGAIN

Tasha Kheiriddin: Carney has no choice but to listen to Danielle Smith

Opinion by Tasha Kheiriddin


Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Monday May 5, 2025. Gavin Young/Postmedia

On the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s critical trip to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stole the spotlight and turned it firmly on herself. In a twenty-minute “address to Albertans,” she aired grievances against the federal Liberal government, from carbon taxes to Justin Trudeau’s infamous “no more pipelines bill,” C-69. Smith also presented a list of demands, from resource corridor development to greater provincial control over energy and immigration. And she pledged to hold a referendum on Alberta independence should “enough” citizens demand one — while insisting multiple times that she doesn’t support secession herself

The timing was no accident. Smith wanted to be a topic of conversation in the White House. Perhaps she’s angling for another interview on Fox News. Or perhaps she is trying to stay in power, pacifying the same angry base that ousted her predecessor, Jason Kenney, in 2022 after he won only 51.4 per cent in a leadership review.

Whatever the reason, Smith is seizing the moment to make Alberta’s case, to the detriment of Canada’s. If Carney has trouble at home, it will be harder for him to stand strong abroad. And it’s hard to see how that helps Alberta — unless Smith has another agenda in mind. And for that, she has a model: Quebec.

Albertans often point to the success of Quebec in dominating the national conversation — and extracting concessions from Ottawa — by threatening separation. But Quebec’s grievance is cultural, not economic — rooted in preserving a French-speaking enclave in an English continent. Alberta’s complaint by contrast, is financial. The province sees itself as the country’s cash cow, milked for equalization payments and dismissed by Laurentian elites for decades — and on this, Smith is not wrong.


Related video: Graham Thomson joins CBC to unpack the strategy behind Danielle Smith’s sovereignty talk (cbc.ca)


Alberta was created as a province in 1905, but the federal government retained Crown lands until the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement and directly controlled its resources until 1930. The province has a particularly bitter history with Liberal governments: Pierre Elliott Trudeau enacted the National Energy Policy in the 1980’s, while son Justin brought in carbon taxes, emissions caps, and the aforementioned Bill C-69 in the 2010’s.

So what could satisfy Alberta? Smith has a list: an LNG corridor, approval of new oil pipelines, and repeal or serious amendment of C-69, also known as the Impact Assessment Act. Carney has already said he would amend — but not repeal — the law, and during the campaign , he promised to cut wait times for the approval of major resource projects from five years to two. He also pledged to create trade and energy corridors for transport, energy, critical minerals and digital connectivity.

But will that be enough in the current climate? Protesters who took to the legislature on the weekend are disappointed in the election result – and don’t trust Liberals to have their back. Polls show that 15 per cent of the province would vote to join the US, while 29 per cent would vote for independence.

Smith may indeed be playing with fire. While Trump denies interest in a military invasion of Canada, Trump’s interest in making us the “51 st State” is not idle conversation. He has mused about annexing the west first: could he twist history to make it Canada’s “Donbas”? Americans played a key role in Alberta’s early development: by 1916, nearly 19 per cent of its population hailed from the US, though it has been diluted by waves of immigration since then.

Carney must tread carefully — and act quickly. A referendum in 2026, as Smith threatens to hold, would weaken Canada’s position during crucial negotiations with the United States. To stave this off, Carney will have to shed some of his green mantle and expedite resource development projects that benefit the west — projects that will also benefit the rest of the country through job creation and economic activity. A fair deal for Alberta is now essential for Canada, in more ways than one.

Postmedia News IS A CONSERVATIVE NEWS PAPER

Tasha Kheiriddin is Postmedia’s national politics columnist.

Parti Québécois leader stands with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her ‘strong hand’

LES SEPERATISTE; BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Story by Antoine Trépanier


Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon during question period Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City.

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has an ally in Quebec and his name is Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the Parti Québécois leader.

A day after Smith threatened the federal government of including a referendum question on separation in 2026 if her province didn’t have the Accord, she thinks it deserves with Ottawa, St-Pierre Plamondon said Smith made a “striking gesture” for the “autonomy and defence of her own province.”

“It doesn’t matter what referendum they hold, because obviously it’s under construction. But I totally agree with provinces that stand up, that are loyal to their own Parliament, that are capable of showing a strong hand. And that’s the key word, strong hand,” said St-Pierre Plamondon, who is often called PSPP in Quebec.

In a in a livestreamed address Monday , Premier Smith called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to negotiate a new deal between Ottawa and Alberta guaranteeing more pipelines and changes to equalization.

“We hope this will result in a binding agreement that Albertans can have confidence in. Call it an ‘Alberta accord’,” said Smith who then called Alberta’s separation “the elephant in the room.”

“The vast majority of (separatists) are not fringe voices… They are loyal Albertans,” she said. “They’re … our friends and neighbours who’ve just had enough of having their livelihoods and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government.”

Related video: Alta. premier says she'll work with Carney 'in good faith' to repair relations (Global News)  Duration 1:53

At a press conference at Quebec’s National Assembly, St-Pierre Plamondon said it was a “good thing” if other provinces are able to “stand up to the federal government”.

He added that “other provinces are showing” that Canada has issues that affect all provinces in terms of “abuse of power”.

St-Pierre Plamondon then went on the offensive against the province’s journalists for not covering the rebound in support of Quebec secession .

A recent Postmedia-Leger poll revealed that support for Quebec independence, which had fallen below 30 per cent in recent month, sits back at nearly 40 per cent.

Even though Canada is engaged in a tariff war with its closest ally, support for Quebec independence has reached 36 per cent according to new data.

“The most recent and most precise information is the independence of Quebec at 40 per cent, it is the increase in independence in Alberta,” he said.

Léger also polled Canadians from all provinces about their opinion about their province’s independence. The result was that 29 per cent of Albertans supported Alberta sovereignty while an overwhelming majority of the 2,309 respondents (71 per cent) were opposed.


National Post

atrepanier@postmedia.com

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ALBERTA 51ST STATE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for FIREWALL ALBERTA 

THE PHANTASM OF ALBERTA SEPARATISM RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD WITH UCP 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SOCRED 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Rebel Yell

'Hockey and nostalgia' won't keep us together: SOME Albertans say they're serious about separation after Liberal win

THE MAJORITY OF ALBERTANS OPPOSE THE SMITH/MANNING SEPARATISTS

Polls show as many as three in 10 Albertans would vote to leave the federation if the Liberals continue to hold power in Ottawa.


Alberta Premier Danielle Smith takes part in a panel on Canada-U.S. relations at a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday April 3, 2025.

'BETTER TOETHER' IS NOT NATIONAL UNITY 

BUT AS THE 51ST STATE, SMITHS WET DREAM

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith didn’t immediately issue a statement when the networks called the federal election for Mark Carney’s Liberals at 10:15 PM EST, but it’s safe to say that not all is calm on the western front.

The Liberals’ fourth straight federal election win keeps Alberta and Ottawa on a collision course, raising the once unthinkable prospect of a referendum on the Prairie province’s separation from Canada

At the time of the election call, the Liberals were leading in just two of Alberta’s 37 ridings .

Cameron Davies, an ex-UCP organizer who supports Alberta independence, said he was disgusted by the Liberal campaign’s use of tired national cliches, which he said made light of the serious issues facing the federation.

“Hockey and nostalgia doesn’t pay the bills… that hockey and nostalgia, it’s not going to keep Canada together,” said Davies.

“Without a reimagined confederation, there will be a strong separatist movement in Alberta,” said Davies.

Davies, who tendered his resignation to the UCP on Thursday, says he plans to spend the next few weeks having “honest, difficult conversations” with likeminded Albertans.


Related video: Premier Danielle Smith reacts to federal election results (cbc.ca)


Smith had warned heading into the election that a Liberal win could lead to an “unprecedented national unity crisis,” if Carney didn’t, within his first six months, undo a handful of Liberal policies that she said unfairly hampered Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

“ Albertans will no longer tolerate the way we’ve been treated by the federal Liberals over the past 10 years,” Smith said in a social media post.

Reform Party founder Preston Manning soon upped the ante, calling Carney himself a “ threat to national unity ” in a widely circulated op-ed.

Manning wrote that “large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it.”

He predicted that, if Carney were to emerge victorious from Monday’s election, he “would then be identified in the history books, tragically and needlessly, as the last prime minister of a united Canada.”

Smith has already announced she’ll launch a post-mortem election panel to give Albertans the chance to weigh in on issues they might want put to a referendum.

Polls show as many as three in 10 Albertans would vote to leave the federation if the Liberals continue to hold power in Ottawa.

Carney needs to seize the chance to reset relations with Alberta, said Martha Hall Findlay, the director of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

“I think the opportunity to move forward is absolutely there… I have every confidence that the prime minister of Canada and premier of Alberta will realize they can accomplish a lot more working together than by being at each other’s throats,” said Findlay.

Hall Findlay said that Carney could build immediate goodwill by dropping the existing targets for the federal emissions cap, set by Trudeau-era environment minister Steven Guilbeault.

“My hope is that (Carney) shows a pragmatism with respect to the West. Perfect example: he stops being coy about an emissions cap, even if he says we still believe in a cap on emissions but the time frames need to be revisited,” said Hall Findlay.

Hall Findlay was a Liberal MP from 2008 to 2011, holding a Toronto-area seat, before moving to Alberta to work in the oil and gas sector.

Rachel Parker, an independent journalist who travels in independentist circles, said she wasn’t as sanguine about the election’s outcome.

“You know, frustrations in Western Canada have grown quite high. They’ve always sort of been there bubbling underneath the surface, this put things into overdrive,” said Parker.


Parker said that Alberta’s independence movement had been organizing in the weeks leading up to Monday’s federal election and she expected to see this activity pick up in the weeks to come.

She added she doesn’t think much will come out of Smith’s post-election panel.

“Panels are really a government’s way of saying ‘we’re doing something, we’re doing something,’ when it’s really just kicking an issue down the road.”

Smith’s predecessor Jason Kenney launched the Alberta Fair Deal Panel shortly after becoming premier in 2019, citing the province’s growing frustration with Ottawa.

The panel generated 25 recommendations, paving the way for a fall 2021 referendum on Alberta’s participation in the federal equalization program .

Kenney’s panel came with a steep price tag of $650,000

Jack Jedwab, the head of the Association for Canadian Studies, says that Alberta sovereigntism differs from the more well-known Quebec variant in several important ways.

“I’d describe it as a form of economic nationalism which is driven by a sense of grievance wherein many Albertans feel they give more than they receive from the federal government,” said Jedwab.

“Albertans strongly identify as Canadian and do not feel emotionally detached from Canada which is something that more likely characterizes Quebec’s expression of nationalism,” he said.

With files from the Canadian Press

National Post
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 LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SOCIAL CREDIT 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: A History of Canadian Wealth, 1914. 

WCC REDUX

WESTERN SEPARATISTS

Alberta to defy Canada power rules in face-off with Trudeau

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith invoked a measure to defy federal regulations that aim for a net zero electrical grid by 2035, setting up a confrontation between the Canadian province and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

The resolution proposed under the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act orders provincial government agencies to not enforce or aid in enforcing Canada’s clean electricity regulations, arguing that power generation is the jurisdiction of the provinces under the constitution, not the federal government’s. 

The move is likely to set up a major court battle and standoff between Trudeau and Smith, a conservative premier who has vowed to thwart federal regulations that would undermine the province’s energy sector.

Smith’s government said in a statement that Alberta, which relies on natural gas for the bulk of its power generation, is able to achieve a net-zero power grid by 2050 but the 2035 target would be “unaffordable, unreliable and unconstitutional” and puts people at risk of “freezing in the dark” when temperatures drop as low as minus-23F. 

The federal rules are flexible enough to be “realistic and accommodate Alberta’s needs,” Steven Guilbeault, Trudeau’s environment minister, said in a statement. “We have been collaborating in good faith on clean electricity investments and regulations as part of our Canada-Alberta working group, which we created at the request of Alberta with the express intent to work through these issues collaboratively. The government of Alberta has never brought up a constitutional veto at the negotiating table.

Smith has railed against the federal clean power rules for months, even launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign against the measures. But Wednesday’s move marks the first time she has invoked her signature sovereignty law, which her government argues allows her province to override federal laws or regulations, but which has yet to be tested in court.

The step comes a month after the Supreme Court of Canada largely struck down a separate federal law on the review major resource and infrastructure projects, legislation that was opposed by Canada’s oil industry. 

The province doesn’t have time to wait years for the courts to rule on the constitutionality of the clean electricity regulations and must act now, Smith said at a news conference on Monday.  

The federal clean electricity regulations are discouraging private investors from submitting applications for needed natural gas power plants in Alberta, Smith’s government said in its release. While the resolution to defy the feds wouldn’t apply to private individuals or corporations, the legislation instructs the province to study the feasibility of setting up a provincially owned corporation that could bring on and maintain “more reliable and affordable electricity” at a later date, regardless of federal net-zero government’s rules.

Saskatchewan starts tribunal to review

Ottawa's clean electricity regulations

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press

Bronwyn Eyre was announced as Saskatchewan’s minister of justice and attorney general at a press conference  at Government House in Regina THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell

The Saskatchewan government is using its autonomy legislation for the first time to review the federal government's proposed clean-electricity regulations.

Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre told reporters Tuesday she's implementing the Saskatchewan First Act to establish a tribunal to study the economic effects of the rules.

The regulations would require provinces to work toward an emissions-free electricity grid by 2035, which Eyre said is creating investor uncertainty. 

"(The regulations) are about emission reduction, but what does it mean? How will it impact our companies in anticipation of these policies? Not exploring as much, not doing as much? Absolutely," Eyre said. 

"We need to get a nuanced, detailed sense of what these policies mean for the economy of Saskatchewan and the people of Saskatchewan."

The act, passed in the spring, is meant to reassert Saskatchewan having jurisdiction over natural resources and electricity generation. It also allows Saskatchewan to set up a tribunal. 

Eyre said the tribunal's members are to submit a report outlining costs of the federal regulations.  

She said they are to work over the next few months, speaking with researchers and those in industry to help inform their report.

The minister said there are no plans to speak with environmental groups, as the tribunal is to only focus on economic costs. 

Its members also have the power to compel witnesses to speak with them.

Michael Milani, a Regina lawyer who will chair the tribunal, said it's unlikely members would use that power.

He added he will ask Ottawa to make a submission.

"If the goal is to obtain the best and most complete information possible, I would think, as chair, we'd want that from all places and all quarters," Milani said. 

"It may well be that the federal government will provide us with additional information and details so that the report will be the most complete and accurate that we're able to create."

A spokesperson for the office of federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault did not immediately provide a comment on whether Ottawa will participate in the tribunal. 

Both Saskatchewan and Alberta have long been at odds with Ottawa over the regulations.

On Monday, Alberta used its sovereignty act for the first time, tabling a motion to empower provincial officials and regulators to not co-operate with the clean-electricity rules.

Alberta and Saskatchewan say Ottawa's 2035 timeline is not doable and would cause higher electricity bills and reliability issues. Instead, they are targeting 2050 for emissions-free electricity. 

Guilbeault has disputed claims the regulations would impose unfair costs and reliability problems, saying Ottawa plans to cover up to half of the cost through tax credits, low-cost financing and other funds. 

His office said Ottawa has spent $40 billion to help provinces build emissions-free electricity infrastructure, which supports jobs while reducing emissions. 

Earlier this month, Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for Saskatchewan's electricity utility, said the regulations would cost the province $40 billion. 

Saskatchewan finance officials have also estimated a slew of federal environmental policies — the price on carbon, clean fuel regulations, emissions caps and methane initiatives — would cost the province $111 billion by 2035. 

Eyre said even though officials have already outlined these costs, the tribunal is needed to "look at all angles."

"There are a lot of trickle-down impacts from these federal policies that have not been economically canvassed or plumbed or completely analyzed or quantified."

She added the tribunal's report could also be used as evidence in court, should the province file an injunction application in the future.

The province is to spend $150,000 this year on the tribunal, Eyre said. It would then cost $250,000 per year.

The tribunal's members have been appointed for three years and are expected to undertake additional studies after they review the regulations. 

The tribunal also includes former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon, former SaskEnergy CEO Kenneth From, agriculture researcher Stuart Smyth and oilsands worker Estella Peterson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2023.

Alberta NDP says premier's rejection of federal authority lays separation groundwork

Yesterday 5:00 p.m.

EDMONTON — Alberta’s NDP Opposition leader says Premier Danielle Smith's comments rejecting the legitimacy of the federal government betray her unspoken plan to lay the groundwork for eventual separation.


Alberta NDP says premier's rejection of federal authority lays separation groundwork© Provided by The Canadian Press

Rachel Notley cited Smith’s comments to the house just before members passed her sovereignty bill earlier Thursday, in which Smith rejected the federal government’s overarching authority.

“It's not like Ottawa is a national government,'' Smith told the house at 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

UH YES IT IS

"The way our country works is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent jurisdictions.  WRONG THIS IS THE AMERICAN STATES CONFEDERACY IDEOLOGY

ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN WERE GRANTED PROVINCIAL POWERS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

They are one of those signatories to the Constitution and the rest of us, as signatories to the Constitution, have a right to exercise our sovereign powers in our own areas of jurisdiction.”

Notley, speaking to reporters, said, “At 12:30 last night when she thought nobody was listening, the veil was lifted and Danielle Smith’s interest in genuinely pursuing initial steps toward separation were revealed.

“(They) demonstrate that her view is actually that which is aligned with these fringe separatist wannabes like folks who drafted the Free Alberta Strategy.

“Those comments are utterly chaos-inducing.”

Free Alberta Strategy was a 2021 policy paper drafted in part by Smith’s current top adviser Rob Anderson.

The authors of the paper argue that federal laws, policies and overreach are mortally wounding Alberta's development.

They urge a two-track strategy to assert greater autonomy for Alberta within Confederation, while simultaneously laying the policy and administrative groundwork to transition Alberta to separation and sovereignty should negotiations fail. 

AND OF COURSE WITH MANY AMERICANS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA WE KNOW WHERE A SEPERATE ALBERTA WILL GO

The strategy was the genesis for Smith’s controversial sovereignty bill that stipulates the Alberta legislature, rather than the courts, can pass judgment on what is constitutional when it comes to provincial jurisdiction.

The bill also grants cabinet the power to direct municipalities, city police forces, health regions and schools to resist implementing federal laws.

During question period, Smith rejected accusations the bill is a separatist Trojan Horse, noting its intent is contained in the title.

“The name of the bill is Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act,” said Smith.

“The (act) has nothing to do with leaving the country. It has everything to do with resetting the relationship (with the federal government).”

Related video: Alberta passes Sovereignty Act, strips out sweeping powers for cabinet (cbc.ca)

Duration 3:54 View on Watch

Political scientist Jared Wesley said it appears constitutional chaos and baiting the federal government are the actual aims.

“When you start to deny the legitimacy of the federal government, that is part of the worrying trend that ties all of this to the convoy movement and the separatists,” said Wesley, with the University of Alberta.

“Albertans need to know those comments are inappropriate and misleading at best and sparking a national unity crisis at worst. Sooner or later, someone’s going to believe her.”

Wesley added that there is a sentiment among a small group of people in Alberta, including the premier, who "are just tired of losing and don’t want to play the game anymore," he said.

“The sad thing is that that game is democracy and the rule book is the Constitution, and they’re just ignoring all of it now."

Political scientist Duane Bratt said Smith was not describing Canadian federalism.

“She is confusing the European Union with Canada,” said Bratt, with Mount Royal University in Calgary. “Canada is not made up of sovereign provinces. We share sovereignty between orders of government.”

Political scientist Lori William, also with Mount Royal University, said the comment “betrays a profound lack of understanding of Canada, of federalism, of what powers belong to the federal and provincial governments.”

During question period, Smith waved away Opposition demands that she refer the bill to Alberta’s Court of Appeal to determine if it is onside with the Constitution.

Smith told the house that Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, a lawyer, wrote the bill and that the government received independent advice from constitutional lawyers to ensure it was not offside.

“The constitutionality of this bill is not in question,” Smith said.

The bill was introduced by Smith a week ago as centrepiece legislation to pursue a more confrontational approach with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government on a range of issues deemed to be overreach in provincial areas of responsibility.

It was a short, brutish ride for the bill.

Smith’s government, due to a public outcry, had to bring in an amendment just days after introducing the bill to reverse a provision that gave it ongoing emergency-type powers to unilaterally rewrite laws while bypassing the legislature.

Alberta’s First Nations chiefs have condemned the bill as trampling their treaty rights and Smith’s Indigenous relations minister has said more consultation should have been done.

Smith told the house she met with Indigenous leaders just hours earlier to discuss concerns and shared goals. She rejected the assertion the bill doesn’t respect treaty rights.

“There is no impact on treaty and First Nations’ rights. That’s the truth,” she said.

Law professor Martin Olszynski said the bill remains problematic because it must be clear the courts have the final say on interpreting the Constitution in order to stabilize the checks and balances of a democratic system.

He said Smith’s bill threatens that, perhaps putting judges in the awkward position of having to decide whether they are the ones to make those decisions.

“Can that judge exercise their judicial function without being affected by that very politicized context?” said Olszynski, with the University of Calgary.

“It essentially politicizes the judicial process.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press