Rath says Smith's 'billionaire' backers live in 'castles in England' eating pastries

Alberta independence leader Jeff Rath fired a shot at Premier Smith in a recent podcast clip posted on X, saying she is favouring her "billionaire backers" in her Alberta independence stance and ignoring the majority of the people who elected her. "So, you know, the people that elected Danielle Smith premier were probably, you know, 85 90% pro-independents, you know, and she doesn't care," said Rath in a clip he posted Tuesday on X. "She doesn't care about the people that elected her leader. She doesn't care that 70% of the base of the party, you know, supports independence, right?"Instead, Rath said she is adhering to the people who support her financially. "You know, she's doing her own thing, because all of the billionaires that support her, there's quite a few of them that, you know, favour the status quo."Smith has regularly stated that she is in favour of a "sovereign Alberta within a united Canada," a sentiment that Rath often criticizes. "She ran on Sovereignty Act. What has she delivered?" Rath wrote in the caption of his post. "At some point you do what's best for Albertans = Alberta Independence".Rath then suggested that money is one reason her "billionaire" backers favour remaining in Canada. "They've all made their billions of dollars, you know, operating within the Canadian tax system," Rath said. "They've all got their tax shelters built. They've all got their castles in England and Italy, and wherever else they want to, you know, sit down and gorge on cremon glaze or whatever the hell it is that they do.""You know, all of those people are not in favour of independence because they don't want any disruption, you know, to the Toronto Stock Exchange, their offshore bank accounts, any of those things."According to Rath, these are the individuals that Smith is listening to."And those are the people that have Danielle on speed dial.".Although the exact number of UCP members who favour Alberta independence is unknown, their recent annual general meeting showed that there is a significant number of members on both sides of the debate.When Rath stood at a microphone at the AGM and asked the audience who was in favour of an independent Alberta, the majority stood and cheered. Conversely, many individuals cheered when Smith stated that she favours a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada..Rath began the week on Monday when he announced via X that he was traveling to Washington D.C. for meetings with "the US administration.".He then made further headlines on Tuesday when he posted and said that an Alberta pipeline to the west coast travelling through Montana, Idaho, and Washington was discussed at the meeting. If such pipeline were to happen, it would address questions about how a land-locked independent Alberta would be able to export oil and gas to markets overseas. .Tuesday's posts come after a week of tension that swirled following Rath's reporting that some UCP constituency associations are "hoping mad" with an amendment in Bill 14.The amendment at issue requires party leaders to sign off on a candidate's election endorsement, and not the constituency associations.According to Rath, some of those association presidents would even consider calling for a leadership review of Smith if she didn't correct those amendments.Bill 14 passed on Nov. 9 with the above-mentioned amendments unchanged.Following the storm, a number of people in favour of Alberta independence have put out calls for Rath to step back from his critiques of Smith and tone down his social media rhetoric. .Rath, however, has maintained that he is going to continue to speak his mind."Good news for me is that my 'give a crap' broke a very long time ago," Rath wrote in a Thursday X post. "I’m not seeking public office and I honestly don’t care what other people think of me. People call me names every time I win a case or upset the status quo.""If you don’t appreciate my point of view please unfollow me or don’t tune in to podcasts that I’m on. I really do not think that because people dislike my personality that it changes the overwhelming need for Alberta to free itself from Canada."

Rath says Smith's 'billionaire' backers live in 'castles in England' eating pastries

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