Next prime minister needs to repair damage in Alberta: Danielle Smith

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responds to a question following a speech at the Canada Strong and Free Network national conference, Thursday, April 10, 2025 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says if the Liberals win the federal election, Mark Carney will need to repair some of the damage in his party’s relationship with her province.

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But she didn’t outright say that a Liberal win will cause a national unity crisis.

Smith says the last 10 years have “soured Albertans on the idea of a Liberal government,” and the next prime minister will have to navigate that.

The premier met with Carney before the campaign started, and said she gave him a list of demands that must be addressed within the first six months “to avoid an unprecedented national unity crisis.”

Smith spoke Thursday at the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa, where she endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and talked about the importance of premiers working together for Team Canada.

The network was founded by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, who recently wrote an op-ed in the Globe and Mail saying that a vote for the Liberals is akin to a vote for Western secession.

Poilievre rejected Manning’s concerns last week, though, telling reporters that “we need to unite the country.”

Smith spoke to a packed room in downtown Ottawa on Thursday afternoon, telling members of the country’s conservative movement that the unjustified and unacceptable tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump is imposing on Canada have led to “unprecedented consensus” that this country needs to build.

She said it’s important to seize the moment and build a west-to-east pipeline, along with port infrastructure, rail lines and the Ring of Fire.

As she sat down for her fireside chat, Smith slipped off her shoe and wiggled her toes, which were painted red, saying, “I’m Team Canada right down to my toes.”

“There has been a change among the premiers, in realizing we have to support one another. I think the threat from the United States is one that is existential for some provinces, and maybe existential for the country,” she said.

After the appearance, Smith was asked if a Liberal win would threaten national unity.

“We’re going to have to see what the reaction of Albertans (is),” she told reporters.

Referring to the letter she released before the campaign, Smith said it was a statement “that’s intended for whoever becomes the next prime minister about the things that would need to happen to reset the relationship with Alberta.”

The demands include ensuring cross-country access to build pipelines and an end to the proposed greenhouse gas emissions cap, which the Liberals have said they will keep in place. Smith also called for a repeal of Bill C-69, which Poilievre has dubbed the “no new pipelines law” and promised to scrap. Carney has said it will stay in place if the Liberals are in power.

She said polling has shown there is frustration in her province over the way they’ve been treated by the Liberal government in the last decade.

A poll from Angus Reid this week suggested that one in three Albertans would vote to become an independent country if the Liberals form the next government. A quarter of poll respondents from the province said they didn’t feel Alberta was respected by the rest of the country.

Carney’s Liberals have pledged to make Canada an energy superpower by speeding up resource project approvals.

He said Wednesday that a Liberal government would sign deals with provinces and Indigenous governments to recognize energy project assessments from their jurisdictions, and to speed up approvals by establishing a single office for federal assessments.

Smith said she doesn’t yet know if she trusts Carney.

“What I’ve observed so far with the current prime minister is he says one thing in French, one thing in English, one thing in private, one thing in public, and then another thing in Eastern Canada and a different thing in Western Canada,” she said.

“So, I have no idea what kind of prime minister he will be post-election, if he should win.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press