Premier Danielle Smith backed calls Monday to reset Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa, but fell short of endorsing secession.

“You’ve said that you won’t lead a referendum, but where do you stand on this? Do you want Alberta to leave Canada?” asked a reporter.  

“Well, I want Canada to work,” Smith replied. “I want Canada to be able to meet its potential.”

Smith was commenting on Preston Manning’s column, warning the rest of Canada that another Liberal vote is a vote for Western secession.

“Large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it,” Manning wrote in the column.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney called the former politician’s remarks “dramatic” and “unhelpful.”

“The support for Western secession is therefore growing, unabated and even fuelled by Liberal promises to reverse many of their previous positions,” argued Manning, a former federal opposition leader. 

Smith previously warned of a potential “national unity crisis” if the next prime minister doesn’t address Alberta’s demands, including the removal of the Impact Assessment Act and the oil and gas production cap.

Carney has stated that his government would not revoke either policy.

Freedom Convoy lawyer Keith Wilson told Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant that support for Alberta separatism was “off the scales” of late. “I’ve never seen it higher,” he said. “I mean, we have a history in Alberta of being frustrated and feeling ... taken advantage of.”

A recent Leger poll for Rebel News found that 25% of Albertans would support ditching Canada for the U.S., with another 5% unsure.

That follows a Research Co. poll that found roughly one in five Canadians would prefer their residing province join the United States and become an American state.

“Do you see it that way?” asked a reporter. “I think that there is a lot of frustration on the part of Albertans, and I think you see it … on social media,” Smith said.

The premier reverberated frustrations on resetting Alberta’s relationship within the confederation.

“I’m going to have a six-month period after the election where I table [a number of items] that I think need to be done to address the 10 years of economic devastation that the federal government has caused to our province,” she said.

“I want to be able to see what happens after the next election, and then I’ll gauge where Albertans are at, at that point.”

Manning notes that unlike the 1980s, there is currently no party to redirect populist energy.

Manning founded and led the Reform Party, which became the Canadian Alliance, then merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has not commented on the possibility of Western separation if the Liberals win, instead focusing on his vision for Canada.

“Let’s unite our nation because after the lost Liberal decade of blocking resource jobs, driving half a trillion dollars out of our economy to the U.S., taxing away our workers, and selling out our country, we can’t give the Liberals a fourth term in power,” he said. 

Smith also stressed the importance of building economic corridors in place of “terrible” Liberal policies.

“I really hope that we can get Canada on ‘Team Alberta’ because ‘Team Alberta’ has always been on Team Canada.”

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