Is Danielle Smith a Separatist?

Maybe not but the Separatists think she is

She says she isn't. But the Separatists think she is. And if she falters and fails to follow through to push for Alberta to leave Canada, they will turn on her.

She runs the range of personal reactions to Separation. She goes from coy, to cocky, to cunning, to crisis. She sits on one fence with her position of not necessarily separation but separation if necessary. At the same time she is building a political fence around Alberta and isolating us from Canada

COY

Her coyness shows up in her support for the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project. She has passed the infamous Bill 54 that makes a successful Referendum Petition so much easier for the Separatists to achieve.

She coyly shows her feigned commitment to Canada as she repeats her oxymoronic personal position. She wants a sovereign Alberta within a strong Canada. A “sovereign” Alberta is a framing statement about an independent Alberta. An “independent” Alberta is a euphamism for separation and a dog whistle to appease her Base.

COCKY

She is cocky about Separatiin in how she relates to the rest of Canada, especially with the Carney government. She laid out a menu of demands on Canada, with an unreasonable deadline. She raised the political stakes with a threat to create a “national unity crisis” if she isn't satisfied with the federal response to her devious demands.

She is not oblivious to the reality that much of what she is demanding are not within the capacity of the Federal to deliver. She also ignores the implications of her demands on other provinces and First Nations. She is tepid about Team Canada but tenatious about Alberta First.

CUNNING

She is in a delicate and dangerous dance as she manipulates her way through her separatists sympathies and her policy sophistry. She knows her party-based political power is in in serious jeopardy. She has overtly stated her separatist strategy is politically driven by her fear of the fragmentation of her party base and a backlash against her.

The reality is she has already lost that internal UCP solidarity battle. She has had a Cabinet Minister and a Caucus member due to alleged corruption. The Republican Party of Alberta is now an alternative for her base, and running candidates in all three pending by-elections. The new far-right party is attracting radical Christian zealots in Take Back Alberta and the hardcore separatists from the Alberta Prosperity Project.

The United Conservative Party is becoming the Unraveling Contemptuous Party

CRISIS

The reality of a separation referendum in Alberta is mostly of Smith's making. If the Alberta Prosperity Project becomes successful with its proposed seperation petition, that would trigger a Referendum about Alberta leaving Canada.

That referendum would be a catalyst for a national unity crisis, thanks to Smith's self-centered striving to stay in power. And it would devastated the Alberta economy in the process.

NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS

There is an Anti-separatist sentiment rising up and asserting itself in Alberta. It's gathering around a movement called FOREVER CANADIAN. It was started by Thomas Lukaszuk, a former Alberta Progressive Conservative Deputy Premier, who is aided and abetted by two seasoned lawyers, and myself, a retired lawyer.

The first thing Thomas did was file an application for a Separatist opposing Citizen Initiative Referendum Petition. In contrast to the Separatists, his question is, “Do you agree that Alberta must remain within Canada and any form of Separation be rejected?”

He was strategic enough to file first and that puts the entire Alberta Separatist movement in jeopardy. The

The Chief Electoral Officer must deal with the certification of the FOREVER ALBERTA application first. If accepted then an application for will not even be considered for approval.

The leadership group of the forefront of FOREVER CANADIAN movement, are not naive. We fully expect a fight from the Separatist. We are prepared for whatever legal efforts, and court of public opinion battles that the Separatists may try to pursue.

In the meantime we are organising to meet the enormous challenge of getting in-person signatures from many thousands of Proud Albertans who are Loyal Canadians.