Prime Minister Poilievre and Premier Smith?.For very many Albertans, that’s the dream they’ve been paying big money to make happen. But there's one thing could ruin it all..If Smith becomes premier, she must get the Sovereignty Act off the table before Poilievre becomes (possibly) prime minister. If she does not, these long-time thought-allies would be condemned by their new-found roles, to fight. Indeed, left unresolved the issue could cost Poilievre votes..Nobody wants that who put their money, their enthusiasm and their votes behind either of them..This fight needs to be settled while Prime Minister Trudeau is in power..Certainly, there’s no doubting Alberta’s enthusiasm for Poilievre, and Smith..During the campaign that led to his rollover national leadership victory Saturday, Poilievre’s Alberta rallies were the country’s biggest. It’s popular knowledge that in April he spoke to 6,000 howling, cheering supporters gathered at Calgary’s Spruce Meadows. Less well known is that another 3,000 who had pre-signed to attend, orbited the place looking for parking.. PoilievrePoilievre .And while Poilievre’s fundraising pretty much cleaned the tables everywhere but Quebec, nearly a quarter of the $4.6 million he raised altogether came from Alberta. As for Smith, The Western Standard reports that she too raised more than a million leadership dollars in Alberta. To be fair, so did rival Travis Toews. However, in a poll of 1,247 Albertans conducted for The Western Standard, Smith was the favoured choice of 44% of respondents. .Toews and Jean received 19% and 20% support respectively..There’s no doubt either, that there’s bedrock goodwill between them. Smith and Poilievre have known each other for more than 20 years. Back then, she was a columnist on the Editorial Board of the Calgary Herald and he — then a conservative student activist at the University of Calgary — was a contributor to the Herald’s Op-Ed pages.. Danielle SmithUCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith .As columnists, there was little ideological space between them. As rhetoricians two decades later, both have evolved beyond recognition: However, nothing this writer heard during their campaigns suggests this ideological concord has eroded. Indeed, among Canada’s politicians, faithful pursuit of their respective pole stars sets these two apart and is largely responsible for the loyalty they clearly inspire..The problem comes in an imagined future where both have won positions that assign them conflicting roles..As prime minister of Canada, half the country depends on the money Alberta delivers — more than $635 billion over the past 60 years. Quebec does so especially, receiving nearly two thirds of the $21 billion paid out in equalization last year. But so do Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Not that long ago, so did B.C. and Ontario..As premier of Alberta, expectations are the exact opposite. Alberta’s last several premiers have known this: They have just had no effective response..However, having campaigned on her Sovereignty Act, Smith now has no choice but to deliver..Let her deliver though, and quickly, against the malicious government now in place..It is Prime Minister Trudeau’s policies that over seven years have chased hundreds of billions of dollars of investment out of Alberta and cost tens of thousands of energy workers their jobs. And it is Trudeau’s words that have left Albertans in no doubt that in his sunny and entitled vision of Canada, their aspirations are unworthy and even bad for the planet..It is a hopeful thing that we need have no fear of such divisive trash-talking from Poilievre. In that respect should be become prime minister in 2025, he would start with a clean slate..But, it would be good for not just Alberta but all of Canada if the first thing he had to deal with was not a constitutional impasse with the province of his birth, led by somebody with whom he has been from time to time, in violent agreement..Should Smith become premier, the first move is hers.
