Nelson: Federal Tories left Danielle Smith no choice but to deal with Carney

It’s the hope that kills you. That’s why the constant failure of the federal Conservative Party is the true driver of separation sentiment here in Alberta.

Let’s face it — we don’t trust the Liberals in this part of the world. We haven’t since they tried to dupe us more than a century ago by pretending to bring telephone service to rural Alberta. In reality, they were just dumping thousands of wooden poles in prominent small-town locations right before a provincial election.

When this hoax was discovered, it was the upstart United Farmers of Alberta party that roared to victory, replacing the ruling Liberals. Following that scandal, the Grits have been shut out in provincial and national elections in Alberta ever since. (Premier Danielle Smith better hope the memorandum of understanding on future energy development she recently signed with Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t a Liberal rerun of that great telephone scandal of 1921.)

If the desire to go it alone were due simply to the mistrust the Liberals engender in Albertans, this province would have separated long ago. But what really spurs feelings of alienation and humiliation is waiting patiently for the Liberals’ political demise, repeatedly turning out in droves to back the opposition Tories, only to find we’ve staked our futures yet again on a bunch of losers.

We did our bit, returning all those Conservative MPs, but the national party still messed up.

Do that long enough, and frustration turns to desperation, and desperation can make people do risky things, such as imagining a landlocked province in the middle of a huge continent can push the various surrounding powers to do its bidding by helping us sell our plentiful resources without taking a massive haircut.

Twelve months ago, separation chatter was somewhat muted. Albertans believed the Justin Trudeau regime in Ottawa was finally and mercifully coming to its end.

The federal Conservatives looked certain to finally form a majority government in 2025 and bring relief from the barrage of laws, regulations and Central Canada sentiment that has handcuffed Alberta from developing its own natural resources — despite the Constitution’s pledge that they belong to us.

But we forgot the Liberal party has always been willing to devour its own to keep power. So, Trudeau was dumped, and former central banker Carney parachuted in as prime minister. The Conservatives soon began falling apart, with the Ontario provincial Tories acting more like opponents than supporters during the election campaign.

When, for the fourth time in a row, they failed — with leader Pierre Poilievre losing his own seat — Albertans were crushed. They’d voted Tory in droves, but it was in vain, and another decade of Grit power loomed. Is it any wonder that separation sentiment soared?

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For Smith and the UCP, the choice became clear — waiting for a federal Conservative government was off the table, so all that remained was wholeheartedly backing separation from Canada or seriously trying to do a deal with this new prime minister. It chose the latter.

Was it wrong to give up on a Conservative government? Well, nothing that has happened since suggests so.

In fact, Poilievre himself is struggling to hold things together, as the party approaches its annual convention in Calgary next month.

Ontario MP Michael Ma announced last week he’s jumping ship and leaving the Conservative fold for the Liberals. This follows an earlier defection by Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont.

There are rumblings that more Tories could follow. With Carney’s government now only one MP short of a majority, it’s no wonder Poilievre’s leadership is in jeopardy, as his party faces another decade in opposition.

It is a shame. But doing the same thing in awaiting a national Tory government and expecting a different outcome would indeed be political insanity.

So, it’s a deal with the Grits or eventual separation for Alberta.

Chris Nelson is a regular columnist.