Smith, Pee Pee and Harper are all IDU.
They are not popular.
The path for a referendum on Alberta separation has been laid out
- Thread starter Phil C. McNasty
- Start date
They are not popular.
A broken clock is right twice a day... you can only dream of being half that correct.
The federal government invested billions into the tar sands, invested billions into a LNG terminal in BC, invested billions into an oil terminal in BC, invested billions into the pipelines to bring nat gas and oil to the terminals in BC, in 2018 when oil prices hit $40 the federal government gave handouts to Alberta.
Alberta is such an ungrateful province.
Alberta is such an ungrateful province.
The answer is tat the majority in Alberta still want to be a Province within Canada. So the answer is No.
While Kenney has had his differences with Smith, it may be worth recalling that he was first elected to the House of Commons as a Reform MP.
‘Playing with fire’: Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney weighs in on separation talk
Emma GraneyEnergy reporter
Calgary
Published May 14, 2025Updated Yesterday
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Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says the question of the province's separation 'is kryptonite for investor confidence.'CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
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The Alberta government will be “playing with fire” if it continues to fan the flames of a referendum on separation, says former premier Jason Kenney.
Separation talk has grown louder in the wake of the federal Liberal Party’s recent election victory. Tens of thousands of Western Canadians have registered with the Alberta Prosperity Project, which supports a sovereignty referendum. And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would support any citizen-led petition that gets the number of signatures required to trigger a plebiscite on the issue.
“This kind of stuff is kryptonite for investor confidence,” Mr. Kenney told media at the ATCO Ltd. annual meeting Wednesday.
Mr. Kenney, now a board member of the Calgary-based energy and utilities giant, said he was asked this week at an investor conference on Wall Street just how serious Alberta is about a separation referendum.
“People who follow Alberta closely in investment circles are paying attention,” he said, and what they are seeing is “a blinking light of uncertainty, which they hate.”
Ms. Smith has said she does not personally support Alberta separating from Canada. But the day after the federal election, her government introduced a bill that would make it easier for residents to force a provincial referendum.
Mr. Kenney acknowledged that such a vote may not happen at all, but said even the prospect of it should not be trifled with.
“This is playing with fire. And if Albertans doubt that, look at a real historical example of what happened in Quebec’s economy as a result of merely the election of a PQ government,” he said, including the billions of investment dollars that fled the province in the face of instability.
“Quebec has paid the price for the uncertainty created by separation for going on 50 years now. I don’t want Alberta to be in the same situation.”
While Mr. Kenney doesn’t think a vote on sovereignty would spell the end of investment altogether, the discussion alone has dangled an unwelcome question mark over the province.
“The Alberta economy is doing pretty well thanks to large-scale investment. My view is, let’s keep that going, let’s not jeopardize it, let’s not put it at risk,” he said.
And while he believes Albertans would overwhelmingly vote against secession, he is concerned that even 200,000 or 300,000 people voting “yes” would provide political and organizational capital for a relatively small group of people to continue undermining Alberta’s place in the federation, much like Quebec separatists have done.
“There’s no happy ending to that for Alberta’s economy,” he said.
ATCO chief executive Nancy Southern said Wednesday that she doesn’t think talk of separation should receive any oxygen. She added that the discussion alone is already shaking the confidence of foreign companies looking to invest in large-scale ATCO projects.
“Are our Japanese partners or our South Korean partners wanting to invest in a multibillion-dollar plant in the heart of Alberta and say, ‘Well, what are the rules going to be? What’s the currency going to be? Is there security around this? Who’s going to trade with this? How do we get to tidewater? How do we get our product to our country?’ They are very concerned,” she said.
A fourth-generation Albertan, Ms. Southern said she understands and shares the vexation about what she sees as years of anti-energy policies coming out of Ottawa.
“We have had the short end of the stick for quite a while, but this is our opportunity to now work together with a new Prime Minister, a new cabinet, and see if we can’t get ourselves out of the way and actually deliver on this energy superpower that we all want to see,” she said.
“I feel, myself personally, the frustration around that. But to talk about separatism is, in my mind, anathema to what Canada should be standing for.”
‘Playing with fire’: Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney weighs in on separation talk
Emma GraneyEnergy reporter
Calgary
Published May 14, 2025Updated Yesterday
Open this photo in gallery:
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says the question of the province's separation 'is kryptonite for investor confidence.'CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
203 Comments
Share
Save for later
Give this article
Listen to this article
The Alberta government will be “playing with fire” if it continues to fan the flames of a referendum on separation, says former premier Jason Kenney.
Separation talk has grown louder in the wake of the federal Liberal Party’s recent election victory. Tens of thousands of Western Canadians have registered with the Alberta Prosperity Project, which supports a sovereignty referendum. And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would support any citizen-led petition that gets the number of signatures required to trigger a plebiscite on the issue.
“This kind of stuff is kryptonite for investor confidence,” Mr. Kenney told media at the ATCO Ltd. annual meeting Wednesday.
Mr. Kenney, now a board member of the Calgary-based energy and utilities giant, said he was asked this week at an investor conference on Wall Street just how serious Alberta is about a separation referendum.
“People who follow Alberta closely in investment circles are paying attention,” he said, and what they are seeing is “a blinking light of uncertainty, which they hate.”
Ms. Smith has said she does not personally support Alberta separating from Canada. But the day after the federal election, her government introduced a bill that would make it easier for residents to force a provincial referendum.
Mr. Kenney acknowledged that such a vote may not happen at all, but said even the prospect of it should not be trifled with.
“This is playing with fire. And if Albertans doubt that, look at a real historical example of what happened in Quebec’s economy as a result of merely the election of a PQ government,” he said, including the billions of investment dollars that fled the province in the face of instability.
“Quebec has paid the price for the uncertainty created by separation for going on 50 years now. I don’t want Alberta to be in the same situation.”
While Mr. Kenney doesn’t think a vote on sovereignty would spell the end of investment altogether, the discussion alone has dangled an unwelcome question mark over the province.
“The Alberta economy is doing pretty well thanks to large-scale investment. My view is, let’s keep that going, let’s not jeopardize it, let’s not put it at risk,” he said.
And while he believes Albertans would overwhelmingly vote against secession, he is concerned that even 200,000 or 300,000 people voting “yes” would provide political and organizational capital for a relatively small group of people to continue undermining Alberta’s place in the federation, much like Quebec separatists have done.
“There’s no happy ending to that for Alberta’s economy,” he said.
ATCO chief executive Nancy Southern said Wednesday that she doesn’t think talk of separation should receive any oxygen. She added that the discussion alone is already shaking the confidence of foreign companies looking to invest in large-scale ATCO projects.
“Are our Japanese partners or our South Korean partners wanting to invest in a multibillion-dollar plant in the heart of Alberta and say, ‘Well, what are the rules going to be? What’s the currency going to be? Is there security around this? Who’s going to trade with this? How do we get to tidewater? How do we get our product to our country?’ They are very concerned,” she said.
A fourth-generation Albertan, Ms. Southern said she understands and shares the vexation about what she sees as years of anti-energy policies coming out of Ottawa.
“We have had the short end of the stick for quite a while, but this is our opportunity to now work together with a new Prime Minister, a new cabinet, and see if we can’t get ourselves out of the way and actually deliver on this energy superpower that we all want to see,” she said.
“I feel, myself personally, the frustration around that. But to talk about separatism is, in my mind, anathema to what Canada should be standing for.”
