Jeffrey Rath, the caricature of an Alberta separatist who happens to be Alberta’s best-known separatist at the moment, isn’t right about much, but he was right when he got up at the recent United Conservative Party AGM and told the premier that her party was a separatist party now.
“Their party wants a free and independent Alberta and they better start leading like we’re going to become that country, because that’s what their members demand,” Mr. Rath, who wore a black ball cap to the late November annual general meeting instead of one of his trademark cowboy hats, told a reporter after his convention-floor speechifying.
And, yes, Mr. Rath is right. The UCP really is a separatist party now, however much Danielle Smith tries to play both ends against the middle to her own political advantage.
Look, as Ms. Smith would say when she’s about to tell a lie, it doesn’t really matter if the premier is a foolish ninny channelling David Cameron, the Conservative British prime minister who let the Brexit referendum go ahead on the assumption it was sure to lose and shut up his party’s little-England faction, or a sly separatist actually engaging in sedition bordering on treason.
Beats me which one is the real Danielle Smith, but either way she has done a grave disservice to Alberta and Canada by caving to what is obviously the party’s dominant faction and giving them a way to get their separatist referendum on a ballot notwithstanding the fact a court has just declared it to be unconstitutional.
As the CBC’s Jason Markusoff explained the manoeuvre, were it not for the UCP passing Bill 14 – the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, which came into force on Thursday – “the Alberta Prosperity Project’s citizens’ initiative would have been in peril, thanks to a judge’s ruling that the existing initiative law didn’t permit a referendum on independence. That new bill revives the separatists’ project by removing the ability for Elections Alberta — or anyone — to vet a proposed question’s constitutional validity.”
The APP – the separatist/51-state project’s favourite vehicle at the moment – got right to it and marched back to Elections Alberta with a lightly tweaked version of its old application to get their divisive and destructive question on a ballot as soon as possible due to Premier Smith’s machinations, whatever her political calculation happened to be.
So Albertans who don’t want to see their county destroyed, their pensions looted, their streets flooded with firearms, and their province eventually absorbed by the shitshow to the south had better wake up and smell the coffee. We’re about to be subjected to the biggest disinformation and election interference campaign since Brexit, quite possibly with similar unpredictable results.
And it’ll all be thanks to Ms. Smith and the UCP. About the best thing that we can hope for is that Alberta will soon become an international joke for months or possibly years. That will be sad, but it still beats being an international tragedy.
Can the Alberta Party successfully rebrand as the new PCs?
Meanwhile, social media was abuzz on the weekend with suggestions a reconstituted Alberta Party, now led by former UCP cabinet minister Peter Guthrie, could soon change the province’s electoral math, win moderate conservative votes, and deliver us from separatist evil.
Mr. Guthrie seems like a nice enough guy, and it’s reassuring to see a conservative willing to stand up and admit he’s not a MAGA separatist, but readers will have to forgive me if I’m skeptical about the ability of the Alberta Party to deliver the promised political earthquake.
Alberta readers will recall that the Alberta Party is the stealth bomber of Wild Rose politics – unable ever to get on the radar with voters as, at various times in its history, a right-wing fringe party, a home for disaffected Liberals, and a refuge for Red Tories sent packing from the UCP.
As one wit observed of the party the last time it had a member in the House, when everything was said and done, an awful lot was said, and nothing much was done.
Now that he’s the only Alberta Party MLA in the House, can the former UCP infrastructure minister – not exactly a political dynamo before his split with the UCP over those dodgy health care contracts – now somehow turn the Alberta Party into the new Progressive Conservatives, even if Bill 14 also won’t allow them to call themselves, new, progressive, conservative, or PCs?
Well, hope springs eternal, and a poll supposedly suggests that a lot of small-c conservative Albertans would indeed be relieved to be able to vote PC again and see the last of the MAGA lunatics who elevated Ms. Smith to the Premier’s Office, but achieving that would be an overwhelming task for a party with few members, no bankroll, and a brand new hitherto low-profile leader.
With the UCP likely to call an election in the spring, such a turnaround would seem improbable even for a campaigner with the talents of Thomas Lukaszuk, the former PC deputy premier who led the campaign that got nearly half a million Albertans to sign a pro-Canada petition in just three months, at the helm.
And Mr. Lukaszuk told me yesterday he’ll be spending his efforts in the next few months battling separatism and ensuring that Alberta remains forever Canadian.
Even the manner of Mr. Guthrie’s appointment – by the Alberta Party board, not an election by party members, if any – is not an auspicious beginning to what is supposed to be an earth-shaking political development.
In 2026 and 2027, at least, it seems probable the only credible alternative to the UCP will be the NDP led by Naheed Nenshi.
You suck. Move to Quebec
Ad hominem.
A true sign of an intellectual weakling is attacking someone’s character because you cannot debate the content of what they’ve said.
Having said that, I’ve yet to see any Alberta separatists come up with anything than Ad Hominem attacks on our faithful blogger. It would appear Alberta separatists are a few fries short of a happy meal.
Name calling with nothing to back it up. It’s typical. If met on the street this person would run the other way, but they can yell like a coward online for free. Very sad. I recommend: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/amh/amh.aspx
Either that or an education.
Better still: you move to Idaho.
Yes, it is hard to tell whether Smith is a closet separatist or she just believes continuing to appease them is a good tactic and/or good for her politically. Either way, Smith has a history of being drawn to bad ideas like a bug to light and also develops an overconfidence in them used to sell them to others. Regardless, motivation doesn’t matter much when the driver of the car we are all in seems determined to head to a cliff. Instead we now need to be focused on how to stop this.
Cameron in the UK was naive about Brexit, figuring the referendum was just a way to allow party members to “blow off steam” and he thought they wouldn’t actually win. Of course he is long gone now, the first casualty of his own miscalculation. However, the UK economy is still paying the price for that mistake. For a landlocked Alberta, the price would probably be even higher.
It is possible the Alberta Party might finally take off as a vehicle for the moderate conservatives Smith ignores and dismisses, particularly as the UCP also turns into a clearly separatist party. However, the Alberta Party has failed to take off for over a decade and has no great leader now, so the NDP is the best and really only alternative still.
It is unfortunate people in power here don’t seem to have learned from the past mistakes, economic damage of isolationism and separatism, both in the UK and elsewhere in Canada.
No question Smith is a closet separatist. She wouldn’t have Rob Anderson of the Free Alberta Project as her right hand man if she weren’t. She has been a disruptor since her days on the Calgary School Board. That resulted in a blown up school board and her elevation to Premier puts Alberta in grave danger of being blown up also.
John: My apologies for the long time it has taken for this comment to appear. When I approved it, I accidentally sent it to the trash file. I check that file every so often in just of just such an occurrence, and rescued it. DJC
Hello DJC and fellow commenters,
What a disaster. Staying in Canada is, in my view, the only rational choice. On the economic front. I think that even established businesses may decide to leave Alberta, just as corporations did when Quebec was talking of separatism and about to vote on separation. Business prefers stability to uncertainty.
Staying in Canada is the only rational choice.
Well on the bright side (imo) ,Bonnie Critchley has joined the Alberta party. She was on the Ohshow to make her announcement, and from what I can gather a few other volunteers are getting involved. Since they learned some valuable lessons on working in a short time frame, with the odds stacked against them with the Ottawa team that’s down 3 nothing in the 7th inning stretch, they have home field advantage. Or for a more Alberta analogy, it’s the Oilers vs the Broad St bullies. When you’re protecting home turf ,it’s alot easier to get fans on your side.
Just a thought– since Mr Guthrie is not going to be allowed to use the “Progressive Conservative ” name, why can’t the Alberta Party just use it as their platform reference?
—“the Alberta Party, where progressive ideas aren’t restricted* by conservative values.” ???
*it’s late, hopefully the copy editor will solve my conundrum; pretty please?
Also of note — CBC news, Saskatchewan (5days ago)
Saskatchewan group seeking independence from Canada .
SSP is aligned with the Alberta Prosperity Party *** a group with similar goals for that province .Williams spoke to a crowd of about 200….
*** Since Marlaina is so concerned about party names, one could be made to wonder if she is deliberately avoiding the confusion between the ….
Alberta Prosperity Party & the
Alberta Pension Plan
Has anyone been signing on to one thinking it’s the other?
Stranger things have happened.
“We’re about the be subjected to the biggest”, should possibly be changed to: “We’re about to be subjected to the biggest”
Thanks OA. Fixed. DJC
Albertan separatism brought to you by the same sly hands that brought you Brexit and are busy stoking a regime change war in Venezuela for much the same reason…to control the oil supply and the government with their hands on the oil supply levers.
Conspiracy theories! Obummer, in 2009 admitted that the US had “played a role” in the overthrow of Iran’s democratically-elected government 56 years previously. In 2013 the CIA copped to running the whole show. But except for that event, the US military industrial intelligence and a academic complex has never once interfered in the affairs of an oil-producing country.
@Murphy, I’m still waiting for the deed to that swamp land you promised me…chiseller 😉
When Wikipedia is listing USA regime change projects while being a CIA mouthpiece well…at this point, they’re bragging.
Jeffrey Rath is quite similar to David Parker, who is the leader of Take Back Alberta. Very manipulative and controlling. Wants Danielle Smith and the UCP to do his bidding, and he doesn’t care about the consequences. Many Albertans, such as myself, who signed the Forever Canada petition, now wonder what will become of it. Is Danielle Smith going to dump it in the trash and cater to Jeffrey Rath and the separatists? Corb Lund’s petition on banning open pit coal mining on the Eastern slopes was basically kiboshed by the UCP (via one of their bills, which was Bill 14, I believe), and he must start all over again. This is disappointing for Thomas Lukaszuk, Corb Lund, and all Albertans who care about the well being of Alberta. Essentially, the UCP are extinguishing democracy in Alberta, and they are letting the extremists take over, and Danielle Smith enables it all. Autocracy is what we have in Alberta. Legitimate Conservatives have been taken over by a mixture of extremists, Social Credit Party retreads, Ralph Klein emulators, Reformers, and MAGA fanatics. That is a recipe for disaster. It is going make a very big mess that will take a long time to undo, if that is even possible.
Alberta is a lost cause. The best bet for any Albertan who values sanity is to move back to Canada.
Let the separate shit hole proponents wallow in their muck while sane Canada points and laughs at them.
It certainly seems like a lost cause if you ignore the nearly half a million people who signed their name to an application for a referendum on the question “Do you agree that Alberta should remain Canada?”
I applaud the referendum project and the former Tory minister who championed it, but the current polls still predict a UCP majority were an election held today, and they will pursue their treasonous project until they are removed from government. I’ll entertain the notion that Alberta may possibly not be a lost cause when the UCP lose an election, and not one second sooner.
I would like to point out to Danielle Smith and her APP separatist faction that treason is punishable by death in their beloved USA. The last execution for treason was in 1847, but the U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3 allows Congress to set the punishment, including death. It’s still on the books. If the shoe were on the other foot and they tried dipping their toes in sedition, with a denouement of treason, the consequences from their precious USA would be harsh, if not terminal. It’s one thing to be a turncoat and quite another to be a traitor. Weasels.
Treason is defined in the Criminal Code (Section 46) as using force or violence to overthrow the government of Canada or a province, killing or trying to kill the monarch, levying a war against Canada, or assisting an enemy that is at war with Canada. Trying to break up the country by non-violent means is not treason. Otherwise, there would not have been two Quebec independence referendums.
John: Some elements of the Alberta separatist movement have been quite clear about their willingness (intention?) to use violence if democratic means do not achieve their goals. One only needs a Twitter/X account to see this. Moreover, the legal definition of treason is not the same as the popular, common-sense definition, and, furthermore, the legal definition varies from place to place. Personally, I think some Alberta separatists are sailing close to the wind – conspiring, for example, with unnamed Trump Administration officials to implement a de facto U.S. takeover in circumstances that have not been described. Obviously, in the event of a close loss or even a decisive one by the separatists, they will claim there has been election fraud. Are they negotiating a U.S. takeover and imposition of a Vichy government in such circumstances? We don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t bet free-floating Alberta stable-coin credonias, let alone a currency with real value, on it. Most, meanwhile, are just indulging their democratic right to advocate really stupid ideas. One can only hope Canada’s state security agencies are paying attention. DJC
@DJC
CSIS was asleep at the switch on Zello during the Trucker’s protests as the CIA egged on the protesters hoping to get them to engage in outrageous acts so I’m not counting on them to stop the same bad actors from being the Albertan Fifth Column who are selling us to the USA.
“So Albertans who don’t want to see their county destroyed…” I don’t want to see our country destroyed! (oopsie)
The fuse that Thomas Lucaszuk lit with his citizens’ petition against Alberta separating from Canada hasn’t gone out, and the very normal Albertans who got involved with the campaign and/or signed that petition aren’t going away. All the machinations, cheating, treachery, and propaganda Smith and her UCP are cooking up are only going to fire up Alberta citizens even more. The rest of average Alberta, and Canada is smelling the coffee too, and these separatist hooligans aren’t going to pull off this malarkey. If anything, they should be packed off to the hoosegow for trying to overthrow our democracy and destroy our country. Enough already. We’ve got lots of problems that need our concentrated effort to deal with, instead of wasting time, energy, and money on these misfits and trouble-makers.
None of the conservatives in my world want to see the vote split three ways again allowing these Reformers to remain in power and have no intention of supporting the Alberta Party when they have been in power for 40 years, had 16 different leaders and got less than 1% of the vote in the last election. We know what happened when the Wildrose created the split when we were trying to get rid of this Reform Party insanity, and don’t want to see it happen again, do you?
If it means that the ABNDP, or even a coalition of the ABNDP and the Alberta Party, (aka sane people) end up replacing the UCP (aka insane people) as Alberta’s provincial government, then yes, I very definitely do!
A large chunk of the recall petitions have an end of January to end of February deadline. The seperafools will be starting in January with 4 month timeline. Therefore, a window exists in which the clown party can be turfed from government and a separation drive could be squashed.
If you live in a riding with an active recall petition, and want to remain a Canadian Albertan, sign your recall petition.
And yes, I know Smith could change the recall act – but she is running out of legislative time to do so, and her base likes the recall act. She had the chance this last session to change the recall act goalposts and did not.
So here’s a different perspective on the whole separatism strategy by Ms. Smith. It might be a batshit crazy perspective, but whatever. Let’s assume that the UCP brain trust sees the Alberta Party (or whatever it’s new name will be – Guthrie says they’ve hired experts to come up with a new moniker) as the real threat to the UCP winning the next election. Not Black Hat Guy and his bots. The brain trust decides a pivot is in order. Premier Smith has been careful to paint herself as in favour of a ‘sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.’ In the event that Black Hat Guy manages to collect the required number of signatures, then the referendum is called. Smith declares herself for Canada. That takes away the role of Captain Canada from Nenshi. It also moves the UCP back towards the centre, thus weakening any support that might be generated by the party formerly known as AP. Smith would be double crossing her loyal supporters on the far right. But haven’t we seen that before? She’s an opportunist – not a person of strong personal convictions. It’s whatever gets you elected. Oh, what tangled webs we weave………
Hippie: I think that is indeed a possible strategy. It was essentially prime minister Cameron’s as well. The danger, of course is that like Mr. Cameron, Ms. Smith turns out to be an imbecile and Canada’s enemies in the United States and other countries predisposed to ill-will (one can imagine a few) will exploit the opportunity to engage in some mischief, and their mischief works. DJC
Her demand that Skate Canada apologise to her seems pretty imbecilic to me. I don’t believe the town of Jasper ever agreed to her foolish demand for an apology a while ago.
Indeed Dani does seem to be displaying signs of Rejection sensitive dysphoria, maybe she has undiagnosed ADHD.
Never mind her Dickensian notions of for-profit, non-profit and charitable organizations being in charge of healthcare and education and every other social service inn the province, and government role is to facilitate that…and she sez it out loud in an interview well publicized. Foolish? Not really, I think idiotic covers it. Or, as you say, imbecilic.
Further to DJC’s observations about misinformation, there is this from the UCP (pulled from a CBC article but quoted widely in the media), “A bill passed this week removes a number of requirements that future referendum proposals must meet before petitioners can start collecting signatures, including that the proposal must be constitutional, factually accurate or have clear subject matter statements.”
We also have this from the Premier (once again pulled from CBC but widely quoted), “We can pass a law anytime we like, we can change the law anytime we like, we can revise the law anytime we like because we’re the democratically elected body.” The premier is following the tactic pushed by a certain Mr. Bannon to “Flood the zone with sh*t!”.
Somewhere along the way, the best interests of the majority of the AB population and the whole responsible governance model seem to have fallen by the wayside. More importantly, will anyone notice this when the early election is called?
You are so right about the disinformation campaign. I see it all the time on the social media feeds in my very ‘conservative’ part of Alberta. The latest was a poll that claimed 45% of Albertans want to separate, and 55% are undecided. Even if we have a referendum and choose to stay in Canada, I fear that these separatists are already setting themselves up for a ‘Stop the Steal’ style movement. What will this lead to?
Jane— this is definitely one of those cases where you can’t trust all the information for the polls….
1. canadaletter.ca Oct 17th 2025
“A single poll showed increasing support for….
2.Press reader.com Oct 18th 2025
“Pollster’s findings not it’s only surprise….
3. https://lindawalkerwrites.substack.com
“Hey Alberta! Why isn’t this bigger news?
All three items bring up the fact that Cameron Davies had an ownership stake in the polling company. And going by the fines from the ‘Kamikaze’ affair, impo the Stirling reputation of some people is getting somewhat tarnished…again.
But as I’ve been saying for the last 3yrs, it seems to be a prerequisite for the Con’s, not a deterrent.
Something else that the media should be shouting from the roof top, and that we all need to remember, is that Davies is a former Marine. Semper Fi!
FoF: Semper fi! But not to Canada. DJC
That’s exactly it, DJC. USMC members swear an allegiance to the US constitution and to obey orders of the US president. Not exactly the person we want to see trying to meddle in Canadian politics.
Smith, because of her complete lack of competency, has lost all control of the UPC. It’ll take years to rout the Southern infiltrators and their separatist compadres, back to the Southern quagmire where they came from. It’s unfortunate, that we let it get this far.
450,000 of us applied to have the question “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?” put to the people in a referendum. So, bring it on. Let’s have a vote, and be done with this once and for all.
Foreign interference is defined as “activities perpetrated by a foreign state, or proxy, that are harmful to Canada’s interests and are clandestine or deceptive”; while, “A subset of foreign interference, “malign foreign influence,” refers to covert or non-transparent undertakings carried out “by, at the direction of, on behalf of, or with the substantial support of a foreign principal with the objective of exerting influence and affecting outcomes.””
And where, ” . . . a common tactic used to advance foreign interference is the use of proxies. A proxy is a Canadian or a person residing in Canada with a formalized relationship with the foreign state who wittingly and knowingly conducts activities on behalf of the foreign state’s interests. This tactic distances the threat activity from the foreign actor, giving the latter plausible deniability for their actions.”
See also, “FOREIGN INFLUENCE & DOMESTIC SUBVERSION RISK: ALBERTA SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS”
https://abresistance.substack.com/p/foreign-influence-and-domestic-subversion
Noting that in this case a Steve Allan style investigation is neither needed nor required because the Alberta separatists are essentially a de facto oil and gas lobbying organization and are therefore a critical PR tool for the chief O&G lobbyist that also happens to be the current Premier of Alberta.
Why have the feds remained suspiciously quiet in the midst of this shitshow? Is it because their lawyers are busy putting together an airtight case of sedition against Dani and they’re going to pounce at a precise moment? What was Thomas Lukaszuk doing in Ottawa for a few days last week? Is he in on whatever the feds may be planning? I find it very strange otherwise that Mark Carney has said nothing at all about Dipshit Dani destroying Alberta. I don’t believe he would simply sit back and say nothing if the separatist schmucks tried to make Alberta the 51st state. Carney and several cabinet ministers are being flooded with pleas from Albertans to do something about Smith. Yet he remains quiet. What is going on behind the scenes? If it ever came down to a separatist win, and Dani tried to overrule the Clarity Act, on top of ignoring that all Alberta is treaty land, wouldn’t the feds have reason to arrest her? Also, the Indigenous people of Alberta are not going to stand by while Dani and her dupes carve Alberta out of Confederation. I think something must even now be in the works in Ottawa to stop her on legal grounds and I think Lukaszuk is in on it. What say you, DJC?
Michelle: What say I? I don’t think Mr. Lukaszuk is in on any planning about what to do about Ms. Smith or the admitted separatists. I am skeptical PM Carney is inclined to do anything either. I have no idea what Canadian security agencies are up to – if I were a betting man, though, I’d guess less than I would recommend. DJC
I won’t take that bet.
If it was me, I would be wary of the security agencies, sure they are ostensibly responsible to defend Canadian interests, but “Canadian interests” is incredibly broad, and one must ask, which Canadians are they talking about ? Canadian security agencies are incredibly opaque and they get up to a lot of meddling in the affairs of Canadians, following environmental reporters, showing up for chats with folks not sufficiently negative about Russia, Air India, etc…. And that’s what we know about.
I guess what I’m trying to say is Canadian interests doesn’t necessarily mean in the interest of Canadian CITIZENS, and they’ve worked hand in glove with the Americans for so long I honestly don’t think they see a difference between “their” priorities and “Canadian” priorities.
Bird: It’s quite possible that there are people in Canada’s security state who value their membership in the Five Eyes Club more than they value their country. There are certainly some who are corrupted, co-opted or coerced. But as the late Donald Rumsfeld put it, you go to war with the army you have. DJC
No question Smith is a closet separatist. She wouldn’t have Rob Anderson of the Free Alberta Project as her right hand man if she weren’t. She has been a disruptor since her days on the Calgary School Board. That resulted in a blown up school board and her elevation to Premier puts Alberta in grave danger of being blown up also.
John: I don’t think much of her separatism remains in the closet. What astonishes me is her absolute brass. She is truly two faced: A Canadian patriot while talking to voters, an open separatist while talking to her party base, literally at the same time. DJC
Alberta is already a laughing stock. I read an economic report out of Europe a few months ago that asked how the Alberta separatists can be so stupid as to think that other countries would take them seriously in any trade deals. It said the separatists have no idea how powerless Alberta would be after leaving Canada.
BAC: That’s fair. But remember, Alberta separatists are to a man and occasional woman 51st Staters at base. That might be an even worse fate – especially for those of us who for one reason or another would not be welcome in the crumbling American homeland. But that is the real issue that Canadians living in Alberta face with this crowd. DJC
Even those who claim they aren’t 51st staters are ignoring the obvious fact an independent alberta would be a bobbing cork floating all by itself and quite vulnerable to becoming a vassal of the US, which would be even worse than being a state. That they hold the Americans in such high regard is pathetic, the level of their naïveté is just embarrassing.
Guarantee we lose legal weed if we join up with the Americans. Someone should prolly mention that to the APP crowd
A bit late to this conversation. Lets face it, with everything the UPC has done to help the separatists in this province a referendum on separation is coming. (My feeling is that the Forever-Canadian petition will be completely ignored by D Smith). . that being the case, we Albertans, who are proud Canadians, need to crush this referendum with a very high NO vote to separation. If we get a 80% or higher NO vote, it will put a real dent in the separatist movement. It will also be interesting to see which side Danielle Smith votes for. When asked by the media, how she intends to vote, the Premier of Alberta cannot answer with ‘no comment’ . .she will have tell Albertans what her intentions are.