Pierre Poilievre says Alberta is better off in Canada than "isolated and alone." David Menzies and Tamara Lich said on Friday's Rebel Roundtable, Albertans have heard that one before.

In a recent speech, the Conservative leader called Confederation a marriage between the resources of the West and the manufacturing might of the East. 

Menzies said he respects Poilievre, but the motive is obvious.

"Alberta out of Confederation would make it a pipe dream for the Conservatives to form a majority government in the future," he said. And an independent Alberta wouldn't be isolated at all, he added, bordering U.S. states and free to strike its own energy deals without Ottawa's interference.

Lich took aim at the marriage analogy.

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"If Canada was an abusive partner and Alberta was just told to take it and take it and take it," she said. She's tired of the slogans, too. "Lead, not leave. What does that even mean?" 

If Alberta were already independent and Canada offered it the deal the province has had since 1905, she asked, would anyone accept? "They'd have to be crazy to take that deal."

With a Liberal majority in Ottawa, Lich added, Conservative MPs can do little more than post their outrage online. "Tweeting is not fighting."

She urged undecided Albertans to vote Option 2 in the October 19 referendum, since it doesn't trigger separation but buys time to learn more before any binding vote.

Menzies, meanwhile, suspects Premier Danielle Smith, despite publicly supporting unity, may feel differently in the privacy of the ballot box.

"I think in her heart she's going to put a check mark next to Option 2," he said.