Ottawa reporter says Smith is 'not smart enough' to tell independence advocates to form their own party

EDMONTON — A senior Ottawa reporter participating in a roundtable discussion on Wednesday said Premier Danielle Smith should stand up to the Alberta independence advocates trying to to form their own political party, but he does not believe she is "smart enough" to do it. "Look, it's never going to be enough with these separatists, and unfortunately, Premier Smith lit the match, and it's burning everywhere around her, and it might engulf her as well," said The Globe and Mail's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife."And if she was smart, and I don't think she's smart enough to do this, she should simply say, 'if you want to separate, form a political party, run an election, just like the Party Quebecious does, and run on a platform of separating Alberta from the rest of the country, and if you get it, then you can do your referendum.'" .Fife's comments came during a discussion about Alberta independence between himself, Canadian Press deputy parliamentary bureau chief Mia Rabson and La Presse parliamentary bureau chief Joël-Denis Bellavance on the Wednesday episode of CBC's Power and Politics, hosted by David Cochrane.He went on to point out that the independence parties have previously run in Alberta elections but failed to generate significant support. Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney offered similar remarks in an X post on Thursday, saying they will not form an Alberta independence party because they know they can not win. "The answer is: because they can’t get elected to dog catcher in Alberta," wrote Kenney. "They’ve been trying for 45 years." .Stay Free Alberta, one of Alberta’s primary independence groups, submitted a petition on May 4 with over 301,000 signatures calling for an Alberta independence referendum to be held. Moments after submitting the petition, Stay Free Alberta CEO Mitch Sylvestre began pushing for independence to purchase UCP party memberships. Though the UCP's leader, Smith, openly opposes Alberta independence, independence advocates have begun purchasing UCP memberships to build on their already strong presence within the party's base, in an effort to officially turn the UCP into a pro-independence party."The premier may or may not represent the base, and if I tell people to join the UCP, if, in fact, there's as many, or more, UCP people that are freedom people than are not, then I think that you should be able to give leaders instruction," said Sylvestre on May 4. "And I think that that's the purpose of it, to be able to tell our governors, or people that govern us, that the people want this, and they can choose to do it or not."Polling consistently suggests that upwards of 50% of UCP members support Alberta independence, and the movement's leaders claim it could be over 65%..Pressure on Smith intensified on Wednesday after Justice Shaina Leonard shutdown Stay Free Alberta's petition and effectively took away any option for Alberta independence supporters to get their question on the October referendum on their own. Smith following the will of her supporters and putting an independence question on the ballot herself, may be the only way Albertans get to vote on the issue in October. Many believe that if she does not get put an independence question on the referendum, Alberta independence supporters in the UCP will revolt and remove her as their leader. .Fife does not buy that theory, though. "These guys talk a good game," Fife said. "There may be 25% or 20% of that UPC party. They can't take over the UPC party. They can cause her a lot of problems, for sure, and they are causing a lot of problems."Instead, he believes it is time for Smith to follow the example of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a women that Smith said she admires. "Well, the Iron Lady would have just told these people, 'Get lost,’” Fife said.

Ottawa reporter says Smith is 'not smart enough' to tell independence advocates to form their own party

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