
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Alberta’s anger at Ottawa is real, but independence is not the answer.
Speaking to supporters, Poilievre told a woman who asked about breaking away that he “understands the frustration” many Westerners feel after years of federal policies they see as hostile to oil, gas, and agriculture.
“The Liberals told the West to pay up and shut up,” said Poilievre, pointing out that billions of dollars have been taken out of Alberta through equalization and environmental rules.
Instead of leaving Confederation, Poilievre urged prairie provinces to build “alliances” with like-minded regions.
Poilievre pointed to Newfoundland and Labrador, which wants to repeal Bill C-69 so it can double offshore oil output, and to First Nations on the British Columbia’s coast that back liquefied natural gas terminals aimed at Asian markets.
Poilievre said such projects could bring “tens of billions of dollars” to resource communities.
Poilievre also reached out to voters in the Greater Toronto Area who want tougher bail and sentencing laws, and to Quebecers who prefer a “smaller, weaker federal government.”
“Every province, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, should have more autonomy by having less power concentrated in Ottawa,” said Poilievre.
Poilievre compared the current feelings in the West to the early 1980s, when Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program fuelled regional alienation.
Poilievre argued that the arrival of Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government in 1984, along with free trade and privatization, turned the Prairies into “one of the richest places in the world” by the late 1990s.
Canada’s history of “fighting and winning wars, building prosperity, and settling the West” shows provinces can achieve their goals inside Confederation, said Poilievre.
Poilievre did not mention Premier Danielle Smith’s sovereignty legislation, but insisted a Conservative win in next year’s federal election would give Al