EDMONTON — Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan claims Premier Danielle Smith and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are not extinguishing the independence movement; they are fueling the fires that they created. "These are the arsonists who created the fire, and now they're trying to convince us that we should believe that they're the ones who are arriving to put it out," said McGowan on Wednesday's episode of The OShow with Laura Babcock. "Nothing could be further from the truth. This was just adding more fuel to the fire.".Poilievre spoke in Calgary on Monday and acknowledged the frustrations many Albertans have raised regarding Alberta's relationship with Ottawa, while also saying that the solution is to solve the problems in Canada. Smith often uses a similar tactic, saying that Alberta has long been beaten down and taken advantage of, before claiming that she is working to solve the issues and prove to Albertans that Alberta can work in Canada. McGowan claims Smith and Poilievre are doing the opposite of what they say they are doing."If I were a separatist or a separatist leaning Alberta, which I’m not, listening to that speech, I would not have come away saying, 'Oh, I've changed my mind, I'm going to support a United Canada now,'" McGowan said. "Instead, I'd say he just repeated all the reasons why I support separatism.".Alberta and Ottawa have long had a semi-adversarial relationship, with Premiers and other prominent figures often resorting to the blame game, but McGowan claims that strategy has been weaponized in the last 10-15 years."Daniel Smith, Pierre Poilievre, they get up in front of a microphone, and they just repeat the litany of grievances that got us into this dilemma," McGowan said."They blame the federal government for suppressing Alberta's oil and gas industry, which is so far from the truth that it's almost comical, but it's been repeated over and over again to the point that many of my fellow Albertans just believe it."According to McGowan, the grievances about Ottawa suppressing the oil industry, or Alberta being taken advantage of through Canada's equalization, or poor federal immigration policies causing economic problems are all "horses***." "There are real grievances with the working-class Albertans, but those grievances have to do with something else entirely, about wages, and jobs, and security, and the future of the economy and housing, all these things."
