Morning Update: Of sovereignty and separatism

Good morning. The prospect of another Liberal government is fuelling Alberta’s separatist angst, and U.S. tariffs aren’t helping. We’ll have more on sovereignty and separatism below, along with news of a pipeline spill and a lookahead to the Masters tournament.

Today’s headlines

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Election 2025

Alberta wants to talk unity

Howdy! Carrie Tait here, from The Globe and Mail’s Calgary bureau. Federal election campaigns are dull affairs around here – Alberta: Still Conservative! – but little is normal under Premier Danielle Smith.

After it appeared Liberal Leader Mark Carney leapfrogged ahead of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in the federal election campaign, owing to U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs, Smith moved the dial on Alberta’s Independence Flux Capacitor from “sovereignty” to “separatism.” That’s a notch or two away from “taking our ball and going … nowhere, really.”

Alberta will not join the United States. It will not become an independent country. Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Interior of British Columbia will not break away from Canada and form a new republic.

But the province will make a lot of noise about these ideas and, more importantly for Alberta and Canada, its definition of national unity after the election. Smith isn’t advocating for separation but she’s not trying to tamp down the chatter.

“I want Canada to work. I want Canada to be able to meet its potential. I want for us to be able to build economic corridors. I want us to be able to develop all of our resources, from oil and gas all the way through to critical minerals and beyond. But I also want Canada to work for Alberta. And it hasn’t for the last 10 years because of terrible policies by the Liberals,” Smith said Monday at a press conference about government funding for surgeries.

“I really hope that we can get Canada on Team Alberta, because Team Alberta has always been on Team Canada.”

Albertans, like most Canadians, are upset with Trump for slapping tariffs on exports from north of the 49th.

While some of the ROC may be willing to forgive the federal Liberals for their real or perceived failures over the past 10 years if it means Carney will be the one negotiating against Trump, Albertans are not there. They still stand with Poilievre.

Indeed, 12,000, maybe 15,000 of them stood in a warehouse in Nisku on Monday evening to hear him speak. Nisku is technically a hamlet abutting south Edmonton, but more accurately recognized as the energy industry’s fabricating yard.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper, revered if elusive in Alberta, introduced the Conservative Leader. He held Poilievre’s left hand in the air, like a boxing ref declaring the champ.

Smith? She wasn’t there. (And if she sneaked in, her office isn’t saying so.)

Smith wants Poilievre to win the election. (Alternatively: She wants Carney to lose and is certainly not cheering for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP, leaving Poilievre as her best option.)

The relationship between Smith and the federal Conservatives is lukewarm. Think about it: At a mega-rally of Conservatives, in a reliably Conservative province, the popular conservative Premier was absent.

Smith has said the next prime minister will face an “unprecedented national unity crisis” if he does not meet her nine demands related to the energy industry. Poilievre has called the list “reasonable” but has not pledged to check off all the items on Alberta’s must-do list.

He also distanced himself from Reform Party founder Preston Manning, who backs Smith and, in The Globe and Mail, wrote that electors in Central and Atlantic Canada need to recognize that a vote for the Liberals is a vote for western secession.

Perhaps that explains the relationship between Smith and Poilievre. Smith ascended to power in Alberta by playing grievance politics, with COVID and former prime minister Justin Trudeau serving as prime targets. But if Poilievre wins, and he fails to quickly satisfy frustrated Albertans, Smith’s relationship with Ottawa could be slow to heal.

Asked whether she agreed a vote for the Liberals is a vote for western secession, Smith said:

“I’d be blind if I didn’t see what is occurring in the media, on social media. I have to acknowledge that there’s a lot of unhappiness on the part of Albertans on the way we’ve been treated by the Liberal government for the past 10 years.”

Smith said that in the six months after the election, she will flag policies she wants executed to alleviate what she considers a decade of “economic devastation” the federal government inflicted on Alberta.

“And I would hope no matter who wins, we would be able to correct those things,” she said.

More from the campaign trail today:

An employment coach in one of Ontario’s poorest ridings braces for a busy season and tariff malaise

The Shot

‘The jacket is emblematic of excellence in golf.’

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The world’s 95 greatest golfers are gathered in Georgia this week to compete at Augusta National. Sunday’s winner will receive US$3.5-million – but, more importantly, will be granted the right to take home and wear one of the Masters’s iconic green blazers in public for a year. Here’s everything you need to know about Masters 2025.

Cathal Kelly: An evergreen rite of spring, the Masters arrives like a soothing balm for the soul

The Wrap

What else we’re following

At home: A report from B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner says legislation intended to protect vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect lacks safeguards.

Abroad: At least 98 people died and 160 others were injured after a Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapsed.

Spill: The Keystone oil pipeline was shut down after it ruptured in North Dakota, with the spill confined to an agricultural field.

Support: A new digital hub launches what it says is the most comprehensive collection of data on youth mental health in Canada.

Still need to file your taxes? Globe reporters respond to your biggest questions ahead of the tax deadline.