Alberta premier Danielle Smith faces backlash after voters chose to remain in Canada during the October referendum. While 75 per cent of voters opted to stay, the leader now deals with party fractures. "It's over from my perspective," said Smith, who believes the costly vote allowed for necessary public grievances.
Danielle Smith accused of 'betrayal' by rightwing separatists and of immigration fear-mongering by leftwing opposition
Alberta's premier said she had no regrets about holding a referendum on leaving Canada and declared the separatist threat "over", even as she faces a backlash from within her party.
The oil-rich western Canadian province in October voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the country after months of bitter debate and efforts by separatists to win support from US President Donald Trump.
But Danielle Smith, the United Conservative Party leader who supported the remain vote, said the debate had been positive for the province's often febrile politics -- despite fractures emerging in her party in the aftermath.
"I don't think citizen initiatives are a waste of time. No, I believe in democracy," she told the FT in an interview in Edmonton, the provincial capital.
The vote -- which had cost $84mn to stage, more than double the $37mn spent on the last provincial election -- had been a "good conversation for us to have because it allows for a lot of grievances to be aired", Smith said.
The referendum came during a trade war between the US and Canada and followed almost two years of goading by Trump, who has mocked the northern ally as a "51st state" and referred to the country's Prime Minister Mark Carney as a "governor".
The FT revealed earlier this year that Alberta independence advocates, including Jeff Rath, a leader of the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project, had met with Trump administration officials seeking a credit facility to bankroll the province if it broke away.
While campaigning that Alberta should stay within Canada, Smith also lowered the bar for holding the vote and criticised a court ruling that found an independence referendum was unconstitutional as it violated indigenous treaty rights.
Carney and Smith have collaborated on a plan to build a new oil pipeline from the province to the west coast -- a significant policy shift to please Albertans who claim Ottawa blocks it from exporting more energy.
About 75 per cent of the referendum voters in Alberta, the largest source of foreign oil in the US, opted to remain in Canada.
"It's over from my perspective," said Smith.
But the United Conservative leader now faces turmoil in her own party, as a separatist rump pushes to replace her and moderate members bristle at her Maga-style politics. The province will hold an election in October 2027 and polls now put the opposition New Democratic Party level with Smith's UCP.
"There's a lot of people really angry with her on all sides of the conservative spectrum," Rath said. Smith had cancelled his UCP membership shortly after the vote, and he accused her of splitting the party. "It's betrayal," he added.
Tuesday's drubbing for Trump's Republican Party in the US midterms also poses a challenge for Smith, whose populist politics have echoed some of the Maga agenda.
Smith, who met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in January last year, has capitalised on culture wars in Alberta, taking controversial stances on vaccine mandates and transgender issues and banning school library books deemed explicit.
Asked by the FT if she was a Trump supporter, Smith said: "I'm a Canadian. I don't vote for the Americans." She added that she was "not supportive of tariffs" and rejected notions that the country could join the US.
"I've never heard anybody in Alberta say that that's what they wanted," she said.
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, a research foundation that conducts surveys, said that Smith "remains under pressure" despite holding the vote to placate her separatist-minded party members.
"Our polling found 61 per cent of Albertans say she's handled the referendum situation poorly," Kurl said.
Smith faces a "crucial test" at the upcoming UCP annual general meeting despite motions from a majority of party associations supporting her leadership.
She also faces allegations of "attempts to redraw Alberta electoral boundaries to benefit her own party while promising to bring in a Trump-style Doge review", Kurl said, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency run by Elon Musk, which slashed funding for federal programmes.
Residents in Redwater, north of Edmonton, are protesting Smith's plan to build a $13bn Meta data centre in Sturgeon County while medical and education associations have raised concerns over overburdened infrastructure and staff.
Naheed Nenshi, the leader of the left-leaning New Democratic Party, has accused Smith of ratcheting up fear about immigration and trying to gerrymander seats ahead of next year's election.
Nenshi said Smith was targeting immigration because "that's worked for rightwing politicians around the world". He vowed to launch a court challenge to stop changes to Alberta's electoral map.
"Smith's party has shown very little interest in governing but a lot of interest in ideology and taking its cues from Trump and the Maga movement," he said.