Danielle Smith’s alternative universe
Or, imagined script v. real
Here is the transcript of a public address the Alberta Premier, Danielle Smith, did not deliver on Thursday evening, May 21:
My fellow Albertans. Alberta is at a cross-roads. For too long we have coddled separatists within our ranks. For too long we have played on the well-worn keyboard of political grievances with Ottawa.
I want to speak to you tonight about a new path for Alberta and a redress of the mistakes of the past.
Alberta has a brilliant future within Canadian confederation. We have great economic opportunities ahead for our province as the core of Canada’s energy superpower status and a reliable and stable source for the global economy.
We have forged a new partnership with Ottawa to achieve our goals and those of the nation. We must seize the opportunities presented to us and stop looking in a rear-view mirror. We must end investor uncertainty about the political future of our great province.
I hereby announce that Alberta will not proceed with a separatist referendum while my party is in power. Too much damage has been done to Alberta’s reputation. We must mend relations with our cherished First Nations, the original inhabitants of this land. We must set aside battles with the courts. We must heal the polarization that besets us. We must guard against those who would, for malign purposes, political and commercial, meddle in our affairs and seek to bend our minds to their desires. We must strengthen our defences against any such interference.
We will work as a proud province within the great confederation that is Canada. There will be battles ahead. But we will fight them, and win them, not by brandishing the threat of separation but by arguing for what is best for our province and for Canada.
I look forward to convincing all Albertans of the rightness of this new course for our province. I look forward to campaigning on this platform and winning our next provincial election. To those who feel left out by our new course, I urge you to think about the future that awaits, rather than dwell on the past. We are the United Conservative Party. You will all be welcome to join us as we head into a future of greater prosperity and promise for our glorious province, for our children, and for our nation.
Thank you.
Good night, and good luck.
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For what she did say:
In short, the Premier doubled-down on her attack on a judicial ruling that put a stop to the separatist petition on the grounds that the government had failed (utterly) to consult with First Nations and respect their treaty rights.
She found a way around the stop order and the need to consider indigenous rights, by saying that a multiple choice question would be added to the referendum ballot on October 19. It would be a two-parter:
One, asking whether Alberta should remain a province within Canada
Or
Whether there should be a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada
The Premier went on to make clear that her position and that of her caucus is that Alberta should remain within Canada and said she would vote in that way.
But she also spent air time criticizing federal over-reach, amounting to interference and dictation to the province, all at the hands of the “Trudeau-Singh” government. The Premier’s vision of confederation is one of radical autonomy for the provinces, leaving the federal government responsible only for defence and international affairs.
The Premier couldn’t help herself in expressing her empathy with separatist sentiment, and called the separatist faction “loyal Albertans.” She urged against any demonization of them and suggested that her vision of Canada was winning. There was, she said, a “Chinook wind at our backs, rather than a frozen blast in our face.” I don’t think that was a reference to climate change.
What is in store for Alberta over the next five months? A bruising political battle that will only add uncertainty to the future of Alberta and its economy. Alberta is deeply vulnerable to tides of misinformation and disinformation, already at play, and fundamentally lacks defences against foreign interference in the referendum process, unless it is prepared to reach out to the federal government and the security and intelligence community for assistance in monitoring and responding to foreign interference threats. But to do that the Smith government would first have to take the threat seriously.
The lesson learned the hard way from foreign interference in electoral processes over the past decade—starting with Russian interference in the US presidential election in 2016—is that the best defence is an ability to issue non-partisan, objective and authoritative warnings to citizens about foreign interference threats. Those warnings can be danger signals or “all clear.” That’s the way to build either reassurance and confidence, or resilience to attacks on what has been called “cognitive sovereignty.” [1]
Alberta has no such capacity and shows no signs of understanding the need for one. Of course, any such foreign interference will be directed at trying to tip referendum voters towards the separatist agenda, not in favour of remaining within Canada. Nothing to gain there.
If Premier Smith is true to her word about wishing for Alberta to remain in Confederation, she will need to start building defences against foreign interference, and ensuring an open and respectful debate in which Albertans can have confidence in the integrity of their choices, against or for separation, now.
[1] B.E. Rybak, The Walrus, “Alberta Separatism Fueled by Russian Network and US Influencers,” May 13, 2026, https://thewalrus.ca/alberta-separatism-fuelled-by-russian-networks-and-us-influencers/
RE foreign interference, how do you assess the threat of the AB separatists using the MAGA election app donated by uber-wealthy Republican supporters, connected to US Ambassador Hoekstra?
A separatist leader, David Parker (friend of Premier Smith, a key activist who helped her win the leadership, and a leading antivaxxer) not only used this app (he admitted openly to working with the Americans), but stole the AB list of electors (he is refusing to cooperate with Elections Alberta and is facing multiple fines and charges).
This AB saga reminds me of Cambridge Analytica and Brexit. Before its spectacular success in helping the Leave side win, the firm employed its app in an African election as a trial run (I think Nigeria?)
So far, the American app has been used to boost turnout in Michigan, helping Trump win in 2024.
Is MAGA setting up Alberta as a guinea pig to conduct further research?
Turnout is everything is elections, and Republicans rely on getting out the vote of low-motivation voters.
I understand that political parties across jurisdictions share tools and methods. US Democrats and Canadian Liberals and UK Labour also share best practices.
But this substantial MAGA involvement in Canada's oil-rich province that is deeply integrated in the US energy supply chain seems to be over the line, no?
Is Alberta becoming a Donbas, with the US ripening it for annexation?
As someone who grew up in AB and worked in a non-partisan role in the Legislature, I have always known people who are pro-American and anti-Ottawa.
But what is happening now is radically different: the separatists' level of organization and resources is totally new.
The real power operating behind the scenes must be investigated and exposed, before it is too late.
As usual very acute and to the point Wes. Albertas desire to be a victim is sooo sad to witness. It's very hard to not see the foreign interference in breeding this self harming behaviour. Lack of education and critical thinking is evident. And the love for $$$.