Fresh from guiding Caroline Elliott to a loss in the Conservative Party of British Columbia’s leadership race, former campaign manager for Doug Ford, Kory Teneycke, has jumped onto the podcast circuit to truly put his ignorance of Western Canadian issues on display. And he did a magnificent job of it.

On the Curse of Politics podcast, Teneycke said, “The overlap between Alberta separatists and Albertans who want to join the U.S. is pretty f***ing high. And that's a problem. And the fact that [Danielle Smith] cares about that to the degree she does is a problem."

The “join the U.S.” idea is a fringe talking point amplified by media, opponents of independence (as a scare tactic), and occasional American politicians. Inside the Alberta independence movement, it is marginal, actively downplayed by the main organizers, and unsupported by the vast majority of Albertans writ large.

Teneycke was inspired to use the tired old canard of the big bad U.S.A. waiting to snap up an independent Alberta by the quick rejection of his former boss’s notion that Alberta and Saskatchewan should sacrifice their oil and potash industries to share the economic pain currently being enjoyed under Doug Ford’s inept economic management.

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Alberta rejects the 'Elbows Up' approach from Eastern leaders that has exacerbated the ongoing trade dispute with the USA, and it gets under Teneycke’s skin.

Smith “cares about that to the degree she does” because she’s the premier of Alberta, not the chief Ottawa-apologist for Rubicon Strategy and Doug Ford’s Ontario machine. Ignoring a million pissed-off citizens with real grievances isn’t statesmanship; it’s the same condescending federalist arrogance that created the mess.

Teneycke and Ford share a common dream of seeing the Ontario premier lounging in the prime minister’s chair. He would be well served to remember that not only is Alberta disproportionately the economic driver of Canada, but it is the prime fundraising region for the Conservative Party of Canada.

His quest to replace Poilievre with Ford won’t be successful without Western support, and insulting a large and growing segment of the Alberta conservative electorate with misinformation about the motivations behind the independence movement isn’t aiding his cause.