The Current - Premier Danielle Smith’s vision for Alberta

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

We talk to the Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, about the separatist movement to take Alberta out of Canada, and the major push for a nation-building pipeline, happening at the same time. 

All right, I got a big question. How do you feel about aging? Maybe you've got a fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of change. Because certainly how we look starts to change. The actor Amanda Pete has given it a lot of thought over the years. She's been in the public eyes since the 90s. She'll tell you why her new film Fantasy Life has her thinking about validation,

about vanity, and what she thinks about cosmetic surgery and whether or not to get it. You'll hear that conversation now. Just search for Q with Tom Power, wherever you get your podcast. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. We are here in Calgary at a dramatic political moment. There is a major push for a new pipeline,

and at the same time, a movement to take Alberta out of Canada. It is a city and a province at a crossroads. And this morning, we are starting with the Premier of Alberta herself. I met Danielle Smith yesterday just before her State of the Province address. Premier Daniel Smith, good to have you here. Thank you very much. My pleasure. One of the reasons why we came to Alberta is because there are people who are across the country,

and they're kind of asking, like, what's going on in Alberta right now? Do you think the rest of the country understands, Alberta? Better now than I think previously. I have a staff member who moved here from Ontario, and he said, the first thing he noticed when he arrived here is that in Alberta, everyone talks about what's going on in Ontario. But in Ontario, no one ever asks what's going on in Alberta. That was his perspective from a few years ago when he arrived.

here. And I think that it's, you know, benign neglect is fine. We're fine to just go ahead, make money, get our products to market. But what happened in the last 10 years is we had a federal government that was actively trying to destroy our main industry and also past policies that went against our values. And so I think that's part of what has happened is it's built up over 10 years to a lot of frustration. And it's part of what I'm trying to resolve now in changing our relationship with the federal government. But that might be what you're seeing now is now that Albertans are getting a little bit more vocal, saying we can't continue being treated for the next 10 years,

the way we were for the last 10 years. That's part of the reason why I think there's more of a national conversation. And so that frustration has led to the point of the possibility of a referendum this fall that could take this province out of the country. You have said that you support, in your words, a sovereign Alberta in a united Canada. What is your best argument for Alberta remaining part of Canada? Well, the way I have argued it is, you know,

I want to get a pipeline to the West Coast, and that's going to be a whole lot easier, a part of Canada working collaboratively with the federal government and our provincial counterparts. That's why you believe Alberta should state. I'm just saying that's one example, right? I mean, I think there's so many things that are so much easier to do when you're working collaboratively together. We've got wonderful Council of the Federation tables with great collaboration with the provinces. In fact, I feel like our Council of the Federation tables have been the ones that have elevated things like meeting our NATO commitment, having strategic investment

in economic boosting activity, supporting each other on economic quarters. All of those ideas came from the premier's table, and I think it's had an influence on the national stage. But we have to also recognize that the Constitution does give exclusive jurisdiction to the provinces over a large number of matters that the federal government has been interfering in. And that's the rebalancing we're trying to get. Do you believe in Canada, not just as a transactional kind of idea, but the idea of Canada itself? Well, I think very clearly, I mean, when I've talked to Americans, I've said, well, Canadians are the North Americans who didn't want to be part of America that wanted to

maintain their ties to Britain. I swear an oath to the king when I get elected. We have an obligation and powers that are given to us by His Majesty. And I take that seriously. That's why I believe in the Constitution. I don't report to the Prime Minister. I think that that's one of the misunderstanding about how our country operates is that we genuinely have a decentralized federation that is very unique from the American system. And it's one I value. I love to of our monarchy history and our parliamentary traditions. So then why haven't you been front and center in the fight to keep Alberta in Canada? I have been.

I think there are a lot of people who would be surprised to hear that we did an event last night, 700 people, and we talked about who's Captain Canada. And when your name was suggested, many people in the audience, if not the majority of the audience, that were surprised to hear that. Well, your audience might be a little bit different than my audience. I think our audience is pretty broad. But continue, you believe that you are leading this charge to keep the province in Canada. Completely. I mean, I've taken the lead on working with the federal government to establish a memorandum of understanding,

on how we can restore what the Constitution has given to us, which is our right to develop our resources, get our products to market, manage our own electricity system, come to some terms on how we reduce emissions in a way that is achievable. But what about speaking to the people who could vote in this referendum, saying that this province, to your point, needs to be in Canada, that this needs to be part of the larger national project. Have you been out there doing that, leading that conversation? We're in the middle of, I mean, what I have said is that we have a number of things that I have heard about. I went all through the province on the Alberta next panel discussion, and we heard from tens of thousands of Albertans about the things that are frustrating them about Ottawa.

And I heard overwhelmingly that people want to fix the relationship with Ottawa, and that's what I'm working on. That's why I think that we've put forward various motions in the legislative, legislature to restore our powers. It's why we're working with Quebec to try to get a recognition that we should have some more meaningful role in appointing judges, that why I'm working with our other counterparts to try to stop the gun grab, which is one of the other points of frustration, not just in Alberta, but across the entire country. I think the only province that wants it is Quebec. So I'm addressing and hearing the issues that I've been told are problematic from

Albertans, and my role is to work with the federal government to try to resolve them. And so that's how I have demonstrated that you can be a sovereign, independent province within a United Canada. And that's what we've been advocating. It's been my first bill. It's our position of government. It's the position of our caucus. One of your MLAs, the Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, wrote an op-ed

in the Western Standard urging Albertans to sign the separatist petition. If you're a federalist, why is he still in your caucus? Well, that's not my view. But why is he still in your caucus? Well, we do have private members do have a lot more latitude to express their views. And I have said that the position of government and the position of our caucus is that we support a sovereign Alberta within a United Canada. But you have thrown expelled MLAs in past for other issues. Why is separation not a red line to you?

What I have said is that I would hope that most of our MLAs would take this to be a citizen-initiated process. Because that's what I support is that I came. into the office and we already had citizen-initiated referenda legislation, but no one was using it. So I looked around the world and said, well, what are the rules in other places that use them? And so we adjusted those bars, and we now have number that have gone forward. The Forever Canada petition went forward. There was one on independent schools funding. There's another one on coal development. But you understand with this. I'm just letting you know that my view is that these citizen-initiated processes should be led by citizens. My private member took a bit of a different

view, but I would say that the vast majority of our caucus agrees. to let the private citizen processes play out. I guess the petition signature campaign is over sometime in the beginning of May. And then we'll see whether or not they were able to get the number of signatures and deal with it at that time. But you understand that when a member of your caucus writes that saying that people should sign this petition and you let him stay within your caucus, that that could raise concerns that you don't believe that Alberta should be part of Canada. Well, I think Eastern commentators and Eastern voters need to understand that in the most recent Palera poll, 42% said that they were prepared to potentially vote, to go independent.

That is 2 million or more people in our province that feel that way. That's something that has to be considered and respected, and you have to get to the bottom of why that is. That's my job. It's not to demonize anybody. It's not to say your concerns are invalid. It's to say your conservatives are valid, but there's a different way of solving this problem.

I recognize that we have a big problem here. And I've told the Prime Minister that he should take it seriously. It's why we're working feverishly to get to the finish line on an MOU, and we're going to work through some of the other issues. And you don't believe that you've made it easier for people to take the province out, in lowering the threshold, for example, for a referendum to happen. I made it easier for Corb Blunt to also get a petition going on whether or not we should have coal development and the eastern slopes.

It is neutral from an ideological point of view. In fact, the first petition campaign was one that was an expression of support to remain in Canada. You mentioned that Polaripole, when it was a political, one of the other points of data that came out of it was that 55% of UCP voters support independence. What kind of bind does that leave you in? I would say that as long as we can demonstrate that Canada can work and then we can address some of these historical grievances,

I think that number will go down. It has spiked and it has abated and it's come up a little bit again, maybe because the deadline unfortunately was missed and people are having some skepticism about whether we're going to be able to get a deal with Ottawa. up and it's just my job to work even harder on that. And I'm going to keep on working hard. But that's a number that has to stick in your mind in part because of things that have happened in past. Jason Kenney, your predecessor, thrown out of the party because people believed he wasn't tacking far enough to the right. Do you worry about being the next Jason Kenney? You always have to

worry about what citizens think and be responsive to it. And that's what I am being. I know citizens are frustrated by the way Ottawa has treated us. They're frustrated not being able to develop resources. They're frustrated that there's a large amount of money that gets transferred to the center and spent in Quebec in Manitoba. And while we're running deficits, they're frustrated that we had an out-of-control immigration policy that's put pressure on all of our social programs. They're frustrated that there's a large number of our citizens are going to be made criminal because of arbitrary gun confiscation schemes. These are frustrations and they're real. And that is my job, as a politician, is to validate them, give them voice and to try to work through them. And

that's what I'm going to keep doing. I haven't convinced everyone yet, but I'm going to keep on working at it. All right, I got a big question. How do you feel about aging? Maybe you've got a fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of change. Because certainly how we look starts to change. The actor Amanda Pete has given it a lot of thought over the years. She's been in the public eye since the 90s. She'll tell you why her new film Fantasy Life has her thinking about validation, about vanity, and what she thinks about cosmetic surgery and whether or not to get it. You'll hear that conversation. now. Just search for Q with Tom Power, wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a real sense of uncertainty. We heard this again at our event when speaking with Debris Edlin, who's the head of the Calgary Chainer of Commerce. And one of the things she said is that that uncertainty, when you have a debate around possible separation, is bad for investment. She said it is not helpful for Alberta to have this conversation going on. Are you worried about that? That the projects that you want, particularly a pipeline, people will be reluctant to invest in because they don't know whether the province is going to be part of the country. Well, there's lots of things that are unhelpful to invest. But particularly this issue of separation. Well, I can tell you, BC's having a difficult time. They have some court decisions that have been

unhelpful to investment to a point where the premiers had to suspend some of his own legislation. Which would be good to talk to the premier of British Columbia about, but we're speaking with the premier of Albert. Well, I can tell you, we've had a year-over-year increase of jobs of 85,000, whereas everyone else in the country has seen a 33,000 person drop. Businesses wouldn't invest and create those jobs if they had uncertain. I think what they like about Alberta is other aspects, the fact that we've got the lowest corporate income tax rate, we've got low personal income taxes,

we don't have sales tax, a healthcare premium, we don't have payroll taxes, we've got a well-educated population, we've got good relationships and trade ties with the United States, we've got access to markets, rail lines, port. So those are the reasons why I think businesses invests, and that's part of the reason why I continue to go internationally and talking about all of the different opportunities that we have.

But I've not seen the evidence that we're, we're seeing a decline in investment that is related to this. I think there's broader factors. There's the relationship with the United States that's in turmoil. There's the constant threat of tariffs. And there's the fact that the federal government continue to depress investment in energy infrastructure for the past 10 years. Those are things that are far more impactful on the investment climate in Alberta. Just the last point on this issue, and that is that, you know, there are a number of first nations that are in court this week,

trying to stop this petition from moving forward around separation. And the chiefs say that this violates treaty arguments. It violates the Constitution as well. What do you say to those chiefs? I mean, I'll watch the arguments and see what the court says, but we'll say the same thing that we've been saying publicly. We want the citizen-initiated process to be permissive. And we want people to be able to express a view on a variety of issues.

And then it's up to us as a government, once we've received the direction from our people through a referendum, if it's successful, to implement policies in a way that is in alignment with the Constitution. There are a number of other questions that will be put to Albertans this fall, including five on immigration. This province has, for a long time, been encouraging people to move here. I live in the city of Toronto.

I take the subway, and there were signs on the city of Toronto subway saying, Alberta is calling. We want you to come here. What changed? Well, I can tell you, when we crafted that ad campaign, it was just before I came in, we had a 4.9. percent unemployment rate. And we had had out migration, I think 13 quarters of out migration. We were coming off of COVID. We needed to have a number of electricians and welders and plumbers. We were going

to give $5,000 to the first 2,000 people who came here. That gives you some idea of what we were anticipating. What we didn't expect is that the federal government was going to allow two million people per year in for three years in swamp, not only our social programs, but every other provinces as well. And so I'm glad to see that they've come back to the kind of historic immigration policy that we had national consensus on. They've curtailed the temporary foreign worker program. They've curtailed the international students program. So why are you putting it on the ballot then? To your point, the numbers of those who are arriving here internationally, but also from across the country, have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. It's because they blew it

and they continue to blow it. Because what we know is that our businesses are better able to identify the needs that they have and whether or not a person should go on a pathway to permanent citizenship than the federal government. I've been asking from the very beginning for us to have more autonomy to recommend people for permanent residents. But the problem seems to be solved in somebody. So why does it need to go in front of the people? I'm telling you. It's not solved. We need to have the same kind of agreement that Canada and Quebec have, which give us the autonomy over economic migrants. Because it's not fair to somebody who comes into the country on a point system. They show up here and then we're told, we have no job for you,

and by the way, we don't recognize your credentials. It's far better for us to recruit somebody who's appropriate to the job, and then have the provinces have the authority to that. That's Section 95 of the Constitution. The provinces do have the ability to set up their own policies around immigration, and Quebec's the only one who's taking advantage of it, and we intend to now,

because the federal government is not bringing in the economic migrants that we need in our economy, and that's why we need to have a better match, and I think we'll do a better job of it. In February, the executive, director of your office, Bruce McAllister, posted on social media, why import from nations with failed systems when our Judeo-Christian heritage and principles have worked so well here? Do you agree with them? Well, I would say that we are a place that welcomes people from all over the world, and we do want people who come from conflict zones to leave those conflicts behind. Do you

agree that we're importing people from failed nations when we have a Judeo-Christian system that works here? Well, I can tell you that there's a reason people come here from war-torn nations around the world is because they want what we have. And that is, and that's what we want them to embrace is be Albertan first, be Canadian first, and put your historic hatreds behind and be able to thrive here on the values that we've built here. I don't think that that's a controversial thing. I think that that's something that's the reason why so many people have come here. You don't think a statement was a controversial thing? Well, I guess I, I mean, Judeo-Christian values are based in respected. and human dignity and treating your neighbor as yourself,

and opportunity and freedom and freedom of religion. And those are not things that are common around the world. Those are things that are common in a Western-based society, whether it's our British European system or whether it's the Canadian system. So, yeah, I think those are the reasons people come here. I think we should celebrate our values, and we should celebrate the fact that we're welcoming. It works for us.

Let me just ask you, we're almost at a time. Let me ask you a little bit about, there's this MOU that was supposed to be signed on the 1st of April with the federal government. that date is past, you're confident that something will come out of that? I am. Our teams are feverishly meeting, as I mentioned. We had a lot of back and forth. We got very close on a number of issues.

We've already agreed on a few. We are working on pricing on CO2, which is more complicated in this world right now with the Americans not doing it and the Europeans suspending it. And so we want to make sure that it's calibrated right so that it doesn't hurt industry and doesn't hurt people. And it'll take us a little bit more time, But meetings on Friday, meetings on Monday, and I hope we'll be able to announce something soon.

How would you describe your relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney? It's collegial. I think because he spent a lot of time in Europe, he understands what a decentralized federation should look like. I think he shows respect for the premiers. Do you think he understands this province? Well, he grew up here. He's an Oilers fan. So, I mean, and he's maintained that. So that's stuck with him. I think he takes it seriously as I do, how important it is to make the country work. he focuses on the things that I believe are in federal jurisdiction,

and I think he is demonstrating respect for provincial jurisdiction. We've got work to do, no doubt. But I would say that that's a pretty big change from the previous prime minister. And do you think the people of Alberta respect him? I mean, again, being from Alberta and Edmonton and being an oiler's fan is one thing. But do you think the people here in the province respecting? I think Albertans, by and large, know that we'd have a different approach if there was a different government led by Pierre Paulyath.

And that's part of the reason why I think you see that they can, continue to support and elect conservatives in this province. There's a compromise, of course, that we have to make with the liberals, and we're prepared to do that compromise. But I don't think there's any question that we wouldn't have to jump through as many hoops if it was a different government. I think that we've demonstrated that we're responsible in emissions reduction. We don't need to be micromanaged by the feds.

We, I think, have made an international case about why pipelines need to be built. And Albertans are saying, let's get going with it already. And so I hope that the prime minister can move with that urgency. remains to be seen. Mr. Polly, finds himself on a spot of bother these days with MPs crossing the floor and concerns around his leadership.

Do you have a word of advice for him as a fellow Albertan? All I would say is floor crossing doesn't always turn out as one would expect, having had some personal experience on that. So any MLA or MP who makes that decision

has to face their constituents and I'll wait and see how that unfolds. What is your message just finally to the rest of Canada? That's why we're here in part. And it goes back to what I say, said earlier, about whether Canadians understand this province. What would you say to people who are watching what's going on with certainly interest, but also perhaps some concern about where the province might be going in the fabric of Canada? Well, I think that they should be paying a good deal of

attention to what the premiers are doing, because there's a lot of collegiality and collaboration happening between the provinces. That has been my most positive experience that I've seen in the last year and a half, is that level of collaboration. And for ordinary, Canadians? What should they make of what's going on here? I would say that, you know, if there are issues that are being raised by your fellow citizens, find out why. I mean, people don't talk about these kinds of things idly. They talk about them because there's serious issues that we've got to get to the bottom of. You can have national unity, but you don't have to have consensus on every issue. And if you try to force it, that's just going

to create division. So just let's respect our differences. We've been able to do that with Quebec. We just maybe want to be treated a little bit more like Quebec. Alberta is a bit of a unique place. And I think that people are beginning to see that. And if we just have that attitude of our federal government wanting to work with us rather than work against us, then I think that Canada is going to be very strong indeed. We're really glad to be here and really glad to have the chance to talk to you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Daniel Smith is the Premier of Alberta. I spoke with her yesterday. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon.

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