In his former political life, Jason Kenney was a consistent supporter of sovereignty for nations around the world. As he tries to regain political relevance through becoming a self-styled Captain Canada, he has suddenly become a proponent of centralized, distant power structures. At least when it applies to Alberta.

Kenney was a vocal supporter of Brexit as the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. He lauded the choice of U.K. citizens after they voted for independence saying “Congratulations to the people of the United Kingdom for embracing a confident, sovereign future, open to the world! #Brexit”

Congratulations to the British people on choosing hope over fear by embracing a confident, sovereign future, open to the world! #Brexit

— Jason Kenney 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@jkenney) June 24, 2016

Did he really support the decentralization of the EU or was he already positioning to endear himself with Albertans for his future provincial run?

Domestically, Kenney effusively supported and promoted a federal motion to recognize Quebec’s nationhood within Canada. While that isn’t the same as supporting full independence for Quebec, it certainly comes close.

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And we don’t hear Kenney speaking of Alberta having nationhood within Canada. He has only promoted the continuation of Alberta’s subservient role within the federation.

In the Alberta Independence debate between @ikwilson and @jkenney, Keith nails it!

"Ottawa ignores the court rulings, they don’t care."

"Canada‘s institutions, with all due respect, are corrupt and we’ve all witnessed it."

On October 19, vote for freedom.#AlbertaIndependence pic.twitter.com/YQ6weEnVWf

— John Tomkinson (@johnwtomkinson) May 28, 2026

Internationally, Kenney has been supportive of the independence of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Kosovo, Tibet and Ukraine. He appears to recognize the need for nations to have independent states even when bordered by other, larger states that share similar, but different cultures and values.

We extend sincere thanks to @pmharper, @jkenney, @DavidSweetMP, @btrottier and their team, for years of dedicated support for #Tibet.

— CanadaTibetCommittee (@CanadaTibet) November 4, 2015

Jason Kenney’s support of decentralized power structures is strong when looking at distant states, and invisible when it comes to Alberta.

He was a cabinet minister within a majority federal government and was the premier of Alberta with a majority government yet never achieved any systemic changes to expand Alberta’s sovereignty within the federation.

It’s not as if he didn’t have opportunities to pursue it.

Kenney’s principles regarding independence appear to be more linked to personal political ambitions than personal principles, which explains why they are so fluid.