David Eby rolled up his sleeves before taking some verbal swings at Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ahead of Monday’s western premiers meeting, which she’s hosting. “(We’re) having a western premiers meeting, and having one of the premiers who appears, bluntly, to be setting the table to leave the country,” Eby told reporters Thursday. The taunts – delivered with smiles – came from both sides. “I bought him a pair of boots – so I think he’s going to show up at least for the boots,” Smith told the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Thursday, when asked whether she thought Eby would show up at the meeting on Monday. “I heard a rumour that she has a pair of cowboy boots for me. I can’t wait to put them on. And so, I look forward to that, and I fundamentally disagree with her approach to Canadian unity,” Eby responded. The tension comes the day after Eby met with Prime Minister Mark Carney, where Carney made clear his desire to get B.C. on board with a pipeline to its coast. “If things get stalled here, we need to move elsewhere in the country,” Carney told the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce before his meeting with Eby on Wednesday. Eby says the meeting kickstarted negotiations for more B.C. projects with federal support. He also maintains Alberta is getting special treatment thanks to Smith’s threats of separatism. “My goal was to convince the prime minister to give the same level of attention and investment to B.C. projects as he’s giving to Alberta,” said Eby. He relayed this message as six staffers held up a Canadian flag as a backdrop, a not-so-subtle dig at Smith. “You know, maybe I could bring it with me to western premiers and gift it to her,” he joked. B.C. Opposition Leader Trevor Halford accused Eby of stoking division. “When the premier gets desperate like he is right now, he will try and wedge. He will try and wedge British Columbians. He’s now trying to wedge Canadians,” said the interim B.C. Conservative leader. Eby says a pipeline route didn’t come up in his meeting with Carney Wednesday, but he hopes to negotiate a formal agreement with Ottawa for more support for B.C. projects. “This is a strategy that every premier takes,” said political scientist Hamish Telford. “They want to be captain of their province. We’ve seen this in B.C. before. It’s what Danielle Smith is doing.”
