Article compiled by Rebel News staff.

Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant sat down with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith this week for a wide-ranging end-of-year interview touching on a number of important topics facing Albertans and Canadians.

The candid conversation began with Smith addressing Skate Canada's decision to stop hosting national and international events in the province, with the figure skating body citing Alberta's new legislation requiring athletes to compete in divisions according to their biological sex as justification.

Girls and women deserve the “opportunity to participate in sport without having to face athletes that were born male,” the premier said.

Skate Canada finds itself on “the wrong side of this issue,” she continued, pointing toward the International Olympic Committee's effort to draft new rules on the matter as more global governing bodies move to prevent men from denying women sporting opportunities.

Alberta's plan to assert control over immigration

Premier Smith also spoke about her plans to assert more provincial control over immigration.

“I think the federal government has destroyed the consensus” on Canada's immigration system, she said. “We received a very large number of temporary workers, refugees, family reunification, international students — pretty much everyone but the economic migrants that had always been the source of its success.”

The influx of newcomers has pushed public services “almost to the brink of collapse,” the Alberta premier added. The federal government's irresponsible management of immigration “has put huge costs onto our taxpayers,” she stated, outlining her plans to adjust immigration to be more focused on specific economic needs.

The concept of “mass deportations” or “remigration” is becoming a prominent talking point, Ezra said, turning to his recent conversation with federal Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner, who backed the idea. Would Premier Smith support similar measures?

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“The first step is making sure that you're not bringing people here who don't have a job to come to,” began Smith. Those who are employed, who do have a pathway to permanent residency, should be shown compassion and allowed to “start on that journey,” she added.

“But anyone who doesn't have a job, doesn't have prospects? Absolutely, why would they stay,” Smith declared. “It's not good for them, it's not good for the taxpayer.” New Canadians who followed the law are similarly frustrated, she said.

Canada needs to return to an immigration system “that works not only for us as the host country but also for the person that's coming here.”

The premier clarified she would present the immigration issue directly to Albertans, potentially through a referendum in 2026.

Options for oil and gas exports

Ezra then shifted the discussion to the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta with regard to a new pipeline.

Concessions on natural gas were a crucial part of the discussion, the premier said.

“All the conversations that I've had with the U.S., they want to see more Canadian oil going down there,” Smith replied when asked about the possibility of reviving the Keystone XL pipeline.

With tensions rising between the U.S. and oil-rich Venezuela, Smith said Canada is “a far more stable partner” to its southern neighbour. “Why not work with the friend that you have, that wants to work with you — that's the argument that we're making.”

However, the American interest in Venezuela also serves as a reminder of the necessity to diversify where Canada's oil and gas is exported, particularly through a pipeline to the northwestern coast of British Columbia, Smith argued.

Despite the groundwork for an agreement with Ottawa, Ezra asked Premier Smith if she would consider shifting exports away from B.C. and through the U.S. instead, as Saskatchewan-based potash producer Nutrien has done.

“There's a lot of enthusiasm to that idea,” she replied, noting “active discussions” between companies were ongoing. It's a possibility the province could explore, she said, suggesting the “longer route” didn't stop the U.S. from exporting its own oil and gas around the world.

Equalization dollars funding new Quebec-Toronto passenger train 

Finally, Ezra asked Premier Smith for her thoughts on the federal government's announcement of an expensive passenger train project running from Quebec City to Toronto, calling it a “free gift” to the Liberals in the Laurentian corridor.

“I think major projects should be revenue generating projects,” Smith responded, skeptical of the project's ability to create income.

From an Albertan point of view, the province still sends $26 billion more in tax to Ottawa than it gets back, Smith explained, lamenting the deficits equalization has caused in her province.

"It's very frustrating" for Western Canadians to see equalization dollars being spent on a government-funded passenger train travelling from Quebec City to Toronto, Premier @ABDanielleSmith tells @EzraLevant. pic.twitter.com/xXuFIqAwqu

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) December 18, 2025

“It's very frustrating for Western Canada, and it's very frustrating for Alberta in particular, which pays that bill,” the premier said. “What we really need in the country is for each level of government to have the tax revenue they need to fund their social services, rather than this tax and transfer game which we always know is going to be used for politics.”

Alberta would be announcing its own passenger train plan in the new year, Smith said, adding the province hoped to “find some private sector proponents who are willing to build big pieces of it, and maybe we'll show the east how it's done.”