Unsure whom to blame for Monday’s federal election loss by Pierre Poilievre and his Trumpified Conservative Party of Canada, the online Canadian MAGAsphere seemed headed for a full meltdown, klaxons blaring, for a while yesterday.
A mass psychotic breakdown on the hellsite previously known Twitter saw conservatives not only screeching at their long list of usual suspects like woke liberals, cultural Marxists and the WEF, but turning their fury on any of their own who might have shown signs of willingness to try to work with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Doug Ford, get down here for your beating!
Here in Wild Rose Country, meanwhile, almost everybody seemed to have received a phone call from the mysteriously but apparently generously funded Republican Party of Alberta wondering if any of us would like to sign onto the separation referendum being facilitated by Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party Government.
If they didn’t get one of those calls, presumably they heard from the Alberta Prosperity Project, another merry band of separatist nuts who dream of Alberta becoming a land-locked petrorepublic.
Ms. Smith, of course, pretends this has nothing to do with her, she’s as good a Canadian as you could imagine, and a committed democrat who just wants to make it easier for Albertans to vote on stuff that appeals to them, which is what her Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, also known as Bill 54, is all about.
“I’m not going to prejudge what citizens are going to do for a petition,” she told reporters yesterday. Yeah, right.
“If hockey teams were like Alberta conservatives,” explained Edmonton’s indispensable Mimi Williams on X, “they would threaten to leave the NHL if they didn’t win the Stanley Cup.”
Premier Smith and her loyal cabinet did their bit to keep the mass tantrum roiling by opening the spigots and flooding the zone, as they say down in Trumplandia, as Ms. Smith’s political Valhalla will soon be known.
At one news conference, her voice husky with anger, or a reasonable facsimile, she vowed to go to court to stop Ottawa from implementing its net-zero electricity regulations.
“Our government will not accept unconstitutional net-zero regulations that leave Albertans vulnerable to blackouts in the middle of summer and winter when they need electricity the most,” she barked. And what about the spring and fall?
At another newser, her health minister explained how the destruction of Alberta Health Services is proceeding apace.
“The proposed changes will help us continue to improve the health care system for all Albertans,” said Adrianna LaGrange of Bill 55, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025.
Of course, the chaotic changes that will see AHS broken into five separate bureaucratic silos make little sense and will do nothing to improve the health care system, except perhaps for the operators of private surgical clinics and still-public hospitals – which appear be being set up to be run by private corporations, and maybe sold off to them.
The separate agencies, each with their own expensive management bureaucracies, are called Primary Care Alberta, Acute Care Alberta, Continuing Care Alberta, Recovery Alberta, and Alberta Health Shared Services, the latter being yet another bureaucracy to rule them all, I guess.
The latest announcement describes how all front-line public health services – “communicable disease control, immunizations, newborn screening and health promotion” – will be transferred out of AHS to the new Primary Care Alberta silo. That makes zero sense, as is plain to see.
When the bill is passed, which it will be, all medical officers of health and public health inspectors who now work for AHS will become direct employees of the government – where their work will for all practical purposes be overseen directly by elected politicians.
To say that bodes ill would be an understatement, given the conspiratorial anti-vaccine sentiments rife in Ms. Smith’s cabinet and caucus. Indeed, arguably there is some risk public health as a concept and public good will simply cease to exist in Alberta under the UCP.
Meanwhile, just to keep things interesting, yesterday afternoon The Globe and Mail reported that, to quote the headline on the story, “Alberta Justice Minister has personal relationship with man whose businesses are tied to AHS investigation.”
“Alberta’s Justice Minister is a long-time friend and relative through marriage of a man whose companies’ business dealings with the province’s health authority are now part of multiple investigations,” the newspaper’s Carrie Tait reported. “Mickey Amery, who also serves as the ruling United Conservative Party’s deputy house leader, confirmed his relationship to Sam Mraiche, whose businesses are tied to a lawsuit and multiple investigations, including by the RCMP and the provincial Auditor-General.”
Is that everything? Well, it would be easy to miss something important in this gush of anger, conflict, needless restructuring, and disturbing allegations. But I think that was about it for May 1.
Oh, wait. Speaking of Alberta separatists, only 10 or so showed up for a scheduled demonstration in front of the Legislature yesterday morning. Leastways, I counted 10 protesters, plus two reporters and two camera operators desperately trying to spin a story out of that non-event.
After eight of them wandered off, that left four journos and two protesters to try to figure out what to do with themselves. This, I would suggest, tells more about the real interest in Alberta in such foolishness than all the cloudy emanations of the UCP’s bot-driven separatist smoke machine are intended to make us think.
As none other than Jason Kenney, Alberta’s first UCP premier, sharply observed yesterday, “Memo to all the tough-talking Western/Alberta separatist keyboard warriors: In 2021 you had a real life Western separatist party running against *Justin Trudeau,* and all you could muster was 29 candidates from the absurdly named Maverick (formerly Wexit) Party, who collectively won 35,000 votes. … That’s 0.21% of votes cast.”
A larger separatist demonstration is said to be planned for Saturday at the very moment NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi will be addressing his party’s convention a few blocks away. I wonder which event will attract the larger crowd?
There is no room or place MAGA Canadians. We need to shut this down. They can move across the border and enjoy the hell that Trump has created for his people. Or they can get on board with the united country they live in and in Smith’s case, she’s supposed to serve and support. The rest of us are getting tired of her temper tantrums. She looks like a lunatic.
There is no room or place for MAGA Canadians. We need to shut this down. They can move across the border and enjoy the hell that Trump has created for his people. Don’t toxify our way of life. That or they can get on board with the united country they live in and in Smith’s case, she’s supposed to serve and support. The rest of us are getting tired of her temper tantrums. She looks like an angry, raging sore losing lunatic. She should remember who pays her salary!
Danielle Smith and the UCP continue to make a big mess of everything they touch. I can’t wait for the MHCare scandal to bring them down.
Marlaina is getting desperate and will spend any amount of taxpayer dollars necessary to deflect attention from the ever-growing Corrupt Care scandal.
According to treaties 6, 7 and 8–Alberta cannot hold a referendum, never mind *leave*.
It’s not gonna be just the Cree from Alberta fighting this either–we’ll all swarm that place and there’s 100,000 Native and Metis people in Toronto, alone–and if 10% of just that population shows up and –good luck with containing the rage. We’re a population of a million now and over half are young because our life expectancy is so abysmal and employment rates are egregious there’s some volunteer time available. Add in all the supporters which would double those numbers or more. The highways will be clogged to bursting. It won’t be 10 protesters and a couple of video bloggers.
So, it doesn’t even matter that Dixie Dani got her supporters to do a phone campaign. It doesn’t matter what she, or anyone else in Alberata, says–it’s a foot-stomping tantrum not an actual threat. If it becomes one–the tide will turn very, very quickly and she won’t politically survive the results.
Leaving or threatening to leave is not on the table. Now, even if she continued her tantrum and a public referendum goes through, there’s no Brexit (and economic disaster) to be had, here.
She’s so stupid that she’s alienating everyone who could even give her *some* of what she wants. She could be cajoling for something reasonable and probably get it if for nothing more than the rest of Canada saying, “If we give them this can we shut them the he11 up?”
All of this is Dani’s distraction from the economic disasters she’s shoving down the throats of Albertans.
I’m pretty sure many of them can see through the smoke and mirrors.
As for Saturday’s events, the last Diagolon protest I saw had four guys and a friendly husky. I expect this event to be a bit larger but it will still look embarrassing on video.
Thank you for this, B. For the sentiment and for the term Dixie Dani, which certainly has the ring of truth. That said, as I said in response to Abs earlier, I am increasingly persuaded the UCP strategiy is to stage a coup, or at least an autogolpe, with U.S. assistance. So be prepared to act quickly. DJC
David, I find your speculation about a coup or autogolpe intriguing and would appreciate an elaboration in a future column. (Supposing, of course that the hapless Dixie Dani takes a break from newsworthy disasters.)
This concerns me. A friend sent it to me yesterday:
“The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Indigenous treaties do not impede separation or hinder the ability of a province to pursue independence. While the court has acknowledged the significance and unique nature of treaties between the Crown and First Nations, it has also stated that treaty rights are not absolute and do not prevent provincial separation. The court’s decisions in cases like Ontario (Attorney General) v. Restoule and Shot Both Sides v. Canada demonstrate this.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Treaty Rights and Separation:
The Supreme Court has affirmed that treaty rights, while important, are not a barrier to a province’s decision to pursue separation.
Separation is a matter of constitutional law and the legal framework within which treaty rights are considered.
The court has stated that treaties do not inherently prevent a province from exercising its constitutional rights, including the right to self-determination, within the context of the Canadian constitution.
Treaty Interpretation and the Honour of the Crown:
The Supreme Court has emphasized the importance of interpreting treaties in a manner that reflects the honour of the Crown and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
The court has also stated that the Crown has a duty to act honourably in the implementation of its treaty obligations.
However, the court’s decisions have also clarified that this duty to act honourably does not necessarily translate into a legal obligation to fulfill all treaty promises in a way that prevents separation.
Examples of Supreme Court Decisions:
In Ontario (Attorney General) v. Restoule, the court addressed the issue of the Crown’s obligations under the Robinson Treaties, emphasizing the duty to act honourably.
In Shot Both Sides v. Canada, the court ruled that the Blood Tribe’s Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) claim was statute-barred, meaning it was no longer enforceable due to the passage of time.
Ongoing Dialogue and Reconciliation:
Despite the court’s rulings on separation and the limitations on certain treaty claims, the Supreme Court has also emphasized the importance of ongoing dialogue and reconciliation between the Crown and Indigenous peoples.
The court has acknowledged the need to address historical wrongs and ensure that Indigenous rights are respected.
In the Shot Both Sides case, the court acknowledged the “long history of dishonorable conduct” and issued declaratory relief to clarify the Crown’s obligations and assist future reconciliation efforts.”
A note to Premier Smith…..
I should be in your ‘catchment’ area based on my age, background, and socioeconomic status.
The more you talk about separation, the more fights you pick to distract voters, the more determined I become NOT to vote UPC in the next election.
And the more embarrassed I become about calling myself an Albertan.
On a side note just sayin’–I hate the fact Native folk gonna be stuck on the same side as the Liberal government. It’s embarrasin’ after all they’ve done to us but hey, when yer right…yer right.
B: I am assuming the “they” is this comment refers to the Liberals, not the First Nations. DJC
Of course. And to add to that, David–we won’t be doing it for the government–we’ll be doing it for ourselves and to set precedent going forward so this won’t happen, again.
Ya those darn liberals –
Made historic investments to support Indigenous peoples from coast to coast to coast.
Investments in Indigenous Priorities
Source: Budget 2021, A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience
Worked across the federal government, and with our partners, so that 80% of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action involving the Government of Canada are now completed or well underway.
Working with residential school survivors, Indigenous Peoples, provinces, territories, and educators to incorporate aboriginal and treaty rights, the history of residential schools and Indigenous contributions into the school curricula.
Introduced Bill C-15 to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which received Royal Assent on June 21, 2021, National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Passed the Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families, which affirms the inherent right of First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.
Built and refurbished almost 200 schools so that tens of thousands of Indigenous kids have a better education.
Continued to invest in Child and Family Services including an additional $3 billion to support communities in providing child and family services.
Launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.Released Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People this June, which outlines concrete actions we will take to end systemic racism, sexism, and economic inequality that has perpetuated violence against Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
Invested in Violence Prevention to provide shelter and support for Indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People facing gender-based violence.
Accelerated the government’s 10-year commitment to close the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities.
Invested over $4 billion in 535 water infrastructure projects, including 99 new plants and 436 upgrades.
Lifted 109 long-term water advisories, including reaching the milestone of lifting 105 water advisories this past April, matching the number in place when Liberals committed to eliminating all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves, a testament to five and a half years of real progress.
Prevented 188 short-term drinking water advisories from becoming long-term.
Invested to help Indigenous women and girls participate in sports.
Made sure First Nations, Inuit, and Métis were prioritized for vaccination in all jurisdictions and supported engagement and vaccination campaigns.
Announced $5.4 billion of targeted COVID-19 support for Indigenous and Northern communities and organizations since March 2020.
Committed to making high-quality health care designed to meetthe unique needs of Indigenous communities a reality
I’ve been seeing this phrase constantly since the election, even in the run up to it. “All that they’ve done to us”; but I haven’t seen anyone who is using the phrase elaborate what exactly “it” is that “they’ve” “done to us”.
Bought a failed pipeline no one else was going to put money in to get more of Alberta’s oil across the Rocky Mountains to the coast ? Legalized cannabis, removing the threat of punitive prosecution from millions of Canadians, and bringing billions of dollars of taxable revenue back from organized criminal gangs ? Dental care? A healthcare necessity long denied working class Canadians, leading to poor healthcare outcomes for them and untold billions in costs for the federal health care system we all pay for ? The liberal response to the pandemic was imperfect, surely, but it was not nearly as severe as in other jurisdictions (like America) and CERB kept millions of Canadians safe in their homes. I literally shudder to think what would have happened under a CPC Government.
What else is there ? Successfully avoiding a foreign funded fully insurrectionist project that threatened to overthrow the country, reorganize it as a dictatorship and destroy our way of life?
It’s not that the liberals don’t have sins to answer for, but those are largely a result of being the government of Canada, and those things (treaty disputes, inviting a Nazi to receive a standing ovation in the House of Commons, a shit economy; let’s be honest) would have been the same or WORSE (likely much worse) under a CPC government. For all those people talking about “the affordability crisis” the neoliberal sell off of Canada peaked under the HARPER government; when he sold off the wheat pool to the Saudis (was Epstein involved!?) to the tune of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars lost by Canadian farmers, (and no new pipelines either)
I get that you’re sore losers, but I remember what the Harper government did to us, what the hell are you even talking about guy?
Um, Danielle Smith, kindly look into why electricity generators seem to schedule their regular maintenance shutdowns at multiple locations for peak demand periods. I’m not saying that this is a coordinated effort for no known reason. Maybe that’s the problem. Who at the electricity regulator allows this to happen in such a willy-nilly fashion? Do your jobs and ensure steady supply, people! Thank goodness for solar and wind generators, who have saved us from even more needless blackouts. Clearly, net zero policies are needed, along with incentives for micro generators to install battery storage. Who else is going to save our bacon?
By the way, nice of Mickey Amery to join the news conference for your tirade about net zero, Premier, while simultaneously getting his name in the headlines for the AHS scandal and his personal relationship. If you intended to distract from the AHS scandal with another one of your trademark tantrums, it only made things worse. You’re supposed to distract, not draw attention, got it?
Meanwhile, 10 separatists are enough to take Alberta out of Confederation? Surely that’s enough to justify another illegal holiday trailer encampment along Alberta’s highways for the summer. Where would Alberta be without the annual unfurling of the “F*** (insert surname of latest PM here)” flags? The weather is warming up. Free camping and cameraderie! Rev your engines! Born to be wild!
Am I the only one not to get a separatist phone call? How have I finally managed to escape the scourge of annoying anti-abortion school trustees running in by-elections, etc.?
Abs: I’m sure you’ll get you call today or this weekend. As for your question about 10 separatists, the answer is yes, because (I am persuaded) that the UCP is planning a coup, not a referendum. DJC
@DJC
Wow, you think they’ll go for a full coup? Cuz the end result of that would be going down in flames, for sure. Who does Dani think she is, Louis Riel? (at least he had valid legal points and moral justification on his side)
The rest of Canada will be side-eyeing Alberta for the next five decades going, “Who do you think you are, traitors?”
Never mind the First Nations outrage.
Just remember Alberta, if the weather is warm enough for you to be camping, just imagine how warm it is for all those who can engage in seige warfare by blockading every road and railway.
Good luck with that.
In a game of chicken, the truckers proved, if nothing else–just how vulnerable the west is to blockades.
Abs, in re generator maintenance scheduling, there is no “seem” about it.
Once upon a time, I worked at a mechanical pulp mill in Alberta. Mechanical means wood chips were turned into pulp by giant metal “millstones” driven by electricity. As in > 50 Mw. So power is the majority input cost, and was monitored 24/7 by watching the AESO website.
So yes, generation companies do indeed schedule maintenance to minimize down time and maximize profit. You can actually see it happening online.
If Smith is really so committed to creating the winning conditions for separatists, she should come out of the closet and offer to lead a separatist party. It would be in keeping with her history of party switching, which a decade or so did not go so well.
However, I suspect even Smith learned something from that debacle although she remains better at communication than political tactics or strategy.
So, instead Smith distances herself from separatism while offering some support. It was left mostly to Manning to fly the separatist threat flag during the recent Federal election in an attempt to threaten or scare voters in Eastern Canada to vote for the CPC. While the CPC actually did better in parts of Eastern Canada, I feel that had more to do with the price of houses in Brampton and the frustration of millennials there who want to be home owners. Of course, high housing prices are not only the fault of the Federal government, but there is a strong desire for more to be done to deal with this problem. Also the CPC also has its war on woke, designed in part to attract blue collar workers with more traditional views. Still for their better tactics and strategy than Smith, the CPC fell short, in part because their leader was not likeable and too divisive.
I do feel the separatist threat is being used by the UCP mostly for leverage, to try get something from the Feds, but the problem with that is if others realize you are not serious, it does not work well. Former UCP leader Kenney tried an aggressive approach to Federal relations and when he failed to deliver anything for it, he was booted out. Smith has been even more aggressive and also has nothing to show for it so far.
Although, I suppose talking about separatism could be a useful distraction from her health care scandals. Who knew the Justice Minister was related to one of the main beneficiaries of juicy health contracts to private companies? Somehow, I think despite Smiths best communications efforts to minimize the health care mess or distract from it, this scandal and other health care problems are not going away.
Just a question for the Smert People In Da Room (TM)
If Dani has lowered the referendum numbers threshold, doesn’t that mean that a referendum could be held to chuck her to the curb and there’d be less of a barrier to make that happen?
Askin’ for a friend.
B: Without digging out the statute, I believe it is likely written to exclude candidate recalls as an appropriate topic for a referendum. Regardless of what the statute says, I also believe candidate recalls are unconstitutional. “Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom.” DJC
In other (unrelated) news:
Damien Kurek, who won the Battle River—Crowfoot riding with a whopping 81.8 per cent of votes cast, announced Friday he would be resigning, which would allow Poilievre to run in a byelection.
How is it that CPC does not understand that they will not win an election with Pierre Poilievre as leader?
https://calgaryherald.com/news/alberta-mp-pierre-poilievre-byelection
Well, they very nearly did, and I expect they think: give us 3 years to pour our poisonous propaganda over the land, and the voters will hate Carney just as much as hated Trudeau (and with just as much of a reason).
If we don’t disrupt their dark-money propaganda web, they will win the next election, I believe.
What the liberals “did to us” was use humanizing language about racial minorities, LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, and indigenous people.
What they “Did to us” was “be woke”
It’s pathetic whining from a bunch of grievance based losers who want to go back to the 1950s, or 1850s! If you’re not going to offer anything of substance let the adults talk.
Bird: I’m not sure you’re responding here. Pretty sure it’s not me. DJC
So now you’re chemtrolling us? For shame, David!