Jason Kenney shared his views on Alberta's independence movement last week, sitting down for an interview with David Cochrane on CBC's Power and Politics program.

The former Alberta premier called on federalist parties to make it clear that separatists “don't have a place in a pro-Canada party,” accusing those individuals of trying to “infiltrate” these parties “because they can't get elected on a separatist ticket.”

“Put it on a ballot and test it,” Kenney said, adding independence-minded voters “don't get to take over a party that was elected on a mandate of federalism.”

On Friday's Rebel Roundtable, hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and David Menzies were joined by activist and former Rebel News contributor Kelly Lamb as they waded into discussion about Kenney's comments.

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“I've got news for him: roughly 60% of UCP supporters are ardent separatists and roughly 60% of Conservative Party voters federally in Alberta are separatists,” said Sheila, citing polling data from Act For Alberta.

“He can froth at the mouth all he wants, but nobody's infiltrating the Conservative Party of Canada,” she said, adding independence-minded Albertans see the party as “appropriate caretakers” but noting many are unwilling to risk splitting the vote and allowing the New Democrats to return to power.

“We did that for four years,” Sheila said, describing Rachel Notley's tenure as Alberta premier as “hell” and “nothing but a series of layoffs and oil and gas obstructionist policies and the early phase out of coal.”

Kenney, she added, “is the best advocate for Western separatism.”

The former premier is “hated by all sides,” remarked Kelly Lamb. “He's so condescending,” she said, decrying the infringements on personal liberties that occurred in Alberta under Kenney's watch during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a resident of Saskatchewan who also backs independence, “we're not infiltrating anything,” Kelly said, noting she previously ran as a candidate for the federalist People's Part of Canada because she backed the party's view of provincial autonomy.

“It's not some big conspiracy theory,” she said, adding “normal people” support the movement and “shutting them up and shutting them down and turning your nose up at them is exactly the reason people want to leave in the first place.”

In David's view, the question in Alberta isn't whether or not someone supports separatism — it's how someone can continue to support federalism, given Ottawa's mistreatment of the province.

“I think of Albertans every time, at least in the last decade, there's a federal election,” he said. “All those pipeline dreams and economic development, it's already dead before your votes are even counted. How can you support that?”