Premiers from Western Canada and the northern territories are set to gather in Alberta to discuss business, trade and their neighbouring relationships, all while the host province stews over a monumental question of quitting Confederation.
The annual western premiers conference runs Monday and Tuesday in Kananaskis, west of Calgary.
Sam Blackett, a spokesperson for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office, says the conference is to focus on trade, the economy, energy security, defence and nation-building projects.
“The premier looks forward to deepening these western partnerships and will share her plans to unleash the West’s true economic potential,” Blackett said in an emailed statement.
Other leaders said they expect to discuss the province’s ongoing dance with separatism.
Smith announced Thursday she’s putting a question about the province’s future in Confederation on an Oct. 19 referendum. Albertans will be asked if they want the province to remain in Canada or if they want a future binding referendum on separation.
B.C. Premier David Eby has remarked about the irony of a meeting with Canadian leadership in a province where the premier “appears to be setting the table to leave the country.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said his number 1 agenda item at the conference will be expressing his love for Canada and hoping other premiers show the same.
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“When we build our nation-building project in Churchill, I hope it’s a big old hug to our friends in Alberta and that they realize there’s no point in having a referendum and that Canada is the best country in the world,” Kinew said Thursday in Winnipeg.
Smith has had a watchful eye on Ottawa’s nation-building projects, with Prime Minister Mark Carney committing to declaring earlier this month a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast is of national importance. It’s part of an agreement Ottawa has with Alberta that also includes more relaxed carbon pricing for the province.
The agreement hasn’t sat well with Eby, who has opposed a pipeline crossing the westernmost province on its way to the coast — pitched as the door to Asian oil markets, as Canada looks to diversify its trade relationships.
When asked about his conversations with Carney about the pipeline, and whether or not he’s fought for a specific route, Eby said he’s “not fighting for Premier Smith’s projects.”
“My goal was to convince the prime minister to give the same level of attention and investment to B.C. projects as he’s giving to Alberta,” Eby said Thursday in Victoria.
He said he also spoke to Carney about the exclusive change to national carbon pricing rules in Alberta, as part of an individual negotiation with the province that left other regions out.
Smith, speaking Thursday to business leaders in Calgary, said she hopes Carney can sway Eby on the pipeline, given the B.C. premier’s pursuit of nation-building projects in his province.
“I think the prime minister has a lot of persuasion skills and he also has a lot of dollars that he can assist in moving some of these projects along in British Columbia,” she said.
Despite their differences, Smith is expected to gift Eby a pair of cowboy boots that he can step into at the conference.
The premiers of the Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon said they plan to be there.
Nunavut Premier John Main said the territory’s legislature convened last week and he won’t attend the conference. A media release from the Alberta government says he will participate virtually.
Main wished the premiers a productive meeting, noting Nunavut is interested in discussions about Arctic security and defence as Ottawa spends more on security.
Carney has committed to reaching NATO’s target of 3.5 per cent on defence spending and another 1.5 per cent on defence-related areas, by 2035.
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