Alberta has a new prime minister whose program makes Francois Legault’s nationalism look like a declawed kitten.
A delegation of powers to Quebec in certain areas of immigration? Small beer compared to Danielle Smith’s autonomist project.
It must be said that Quebec is “not at its first rodeo” when it comes to naturalizing federal powers. This is what inspires Danielle Smith, who dreams of an Alberta that would govern itself as a “nation within a nation.”
But since Ms. Smith isn’t clad in lace, she suggests going faster and further than anything the Quebec premier could do.
Its famous Sovereignty Act aims to give the province the power to ignore laws, regulations and decisions of federal courts if they are deemed against the interests of the province.
A radical idea debunked by legal scholars and denigrated by many conservatives.
But obviously some Albertans want more.
In large part, Danielle Smith made a spectacular return to politics.
This staunch and visibly convincing libertarian undeclared has come a long way in this race, she who disgraced politics in 2015.
Winding career
Little review. Ms Smith became leader of the Wildrose Party in 2009. This party wanted to be a right-wing alternative to the Progressive Conservatives.
Power was within reach in the 2012 election, but she defended one of her candidates in the name of freedom of expression, who claimed gays were going to rot in hell.
The wild rose had to be content with the role of the official opposition. In 2014, in a dramatic turn of events, she left her position as leader of the official opposition to join the progressive Conservative government.
Rachel Notley’s NDP took advantage of the ensuing turf war among Conservatives to take power in 2015.
Danielle Smith has since been a radio host. The pandemic will have been a stepping stone to his return.
She hasn’t just flirted with conspiracy theories. She actively promoted it, including questioning the effectiveness of vaccines.
The sovereignty law, meanwhile, was his lifeline.
Against Trudeau
If you think François Legault likes to stir Ottawa soup, Danielle Smith sees Justin Trudeau and all things NDP as “a hostile regime that wants to control every aspect of our lives.”
“Alberta will no longer ask Ottawa for permission to be free and prosper,” she said in her victory speech. We do not accept censorship. »
His speech was largely inspired by that of Pierre Poilievre.
To speak about the ravages of inflation, she sometimes took her federal cousin’s examples literally, like that of this thirty-year-old who lives in his parents’ basement because he has no access to property. .
Apparently Justin Trudeau is solely responsible for this misfortune.
Just like Poilievre, we already notice a pivot point.
After stoking separatist sentiment, the new leader felt the need to plead for the country’s unity in front of a giant Canadian flag on Thursday night.
“Albertans love Canada, it’s our country, our home. All we want is to live and thrive how we want. »
allies ?
Quebec and Alberta are hard to ignore when speaking with one voice.
Together, these two provinces are in a sense the guarantors of a certain autonomist tradition against Ottawa’s centralizing aspirations.
Francois Legault and former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney disagreed on everything, including pipelines.
But they shared a decentralized vision of the Federation.
Smith must first establish his own credibility in Alberta before speaking anything in Ottawa.
His party remains deeply divided. It took Ms Smith six ballots to win the Conservative leadership race in Alberta by 54 percent.
We are a long way from the Poilievre referendum that carried everything from one end of the country to the other.
Danielle Smith’s support is mostly rural, and a certain radicalism emanates from this character.
Is being a useful ally of François Legault too much? It’s easy to imagine him breaking sugar on the back of Quebec to serve his interests.
Will the Autonomous Winds from the West and the East Meet in Ottawa?
Danielle Smith must first defeat Rachel Notley’s NDP in next May’s general election.
If you hear from her for the first time, it certainly won’t be the last.
