Smith wants to negotiate 'Alberta Accord' guaranteeing pipelines, more federal cash

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith thrown down the gauntlet to newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney in a livestreamed address Monday, inviting him to the table to negotiate a new deal between Ottawa and Alberta. “We hope this will result in a binding agreement that Albertans can have confidence in. Call it an ‘Alberta Accord,'” said Smith, seated in front of a backdrop of Albertan and Canadian flags. Smith said she would soon appoint a special team to represent Alberta in these negotiations. She set down multiple demands the province intends to make, including guaranteed access to tidewater for its energy exports on all three coasts, the elimination of federal net-zero policies, and the same per-capita federal transfers and equalization payments as Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. “We have no issue with Alberta continuing to subsidize smaller provinces … but there is no excuse for such large and powerful economies … to be subsidizing one another,” said Smith. “That was never the intent of equalization and it needs to end.” Smith said it was imperative for Carney to act quickly to “eliminate the doubts a growing number of Albertans feel” about the province’s future in Canada. The premier held a special meeting with her caucus Friday to discuss how the government should respond to the return of another Liberal government to power, with very little representation in Alberta. One member of Smith’s caucus, Jason Stephan, told reporters at the province’s legislature shortly before the premier’s address he wants to see a referendum on Alberta separation . Smith didn’t go so far, but did touch on separation in her Monday address, calling it “the elephant in the room.” She said she believes Alberta has a future in Canada, but understands the frustrations of those fed up with the status quo. “The vast majority of (separatists) are not fringe voices… They are loyal Albertans,” said Smith. “They’re … our friends and neighbours who’ve just had enough of having their livelihoods and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government.” Smith said if there were a successful, citizen-led push for a referendum question on separation, which hit the requisite threshold of signatures, she’ll include that question on the 2026 provincial referendum ballot. Last week, she announced she was dramatically lowering the bar for citizens to initiate referendums. Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, says that Smith likely slotted the address at 3 p.m. local time to make a bigger splash in Central Canada, which runs two hours ahead of Alberta. “Usually, premiers’ addresses air during the evening to capture a primetime television audience,” Bratt said. “However, in this case it is being broadcast in the middle of the afternoon. That says to me the message might actually be directed at an audience outside of Alberta.” Smith had her first post-election meeting with Carney on Friday, calling the talk “ a positive first step ” toward undoing a decade of acrimony between Alberta and the Justin Trudeau-led Liberal government in Ottawa. In a separate announcement last week from the one about referendum rules, Smith pledged to launch a legal challenge against the Liberals’ clean electricity regulations. The premier has repeatedly called on Carney to scrap those federal regulations and other Trudeau-era climate policies, such as the national cap on oil and gas emissions. The Carney-led Liberals were nearly shut out of Alberta in last Monday’s federal election, winning just two of the province’s 37 seats . Smith said the next morning “a large majority of Albertans” were “deeply frustrated” by the Liberals hold on power. She warned Carney that Albertans would “no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa.” Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi blasted Smith’s anti-Ottawa posturing at his party’s convention in Edmonton over the weekend, accusing her of “dragging Alberta away from the rest of the country to feed extremist fringe agendas.” Nenshi’s office didn’t immediately issue a response to the premier’s Monday address. National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

• Alberta premier rekindles fight against Liberal 'clean electricity' regulations
• Smith lowers bar for Alberta referendum with separatism sentiment emerging

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