Gillian Steward: Danielle Smith finds out that playing both sides of the fence is a losing strategy - Toronto Star

It’s about time Smith got caught in her own trap. Pushing separation while at the same time pretending to be a federalist was never going to work. 

“It’s about time (Alberta Premier Danielle) Smith got caught in her own trap,” writes Gillian Steward. “Pushing separation while at the same time pretending to be a federalist was never going to work.”

Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Bluesky at @gillian2.bsky.social

The Alberta referendum on separation is less than two weeks away and it appears most Albertans have decided they want to remain in Canada; not just by a simple majority but overwhelmingly. That’s a relief. Now those voters just have to turn out to cast a ballot.

In a recent poll, 72 per cent of Albertans said they wanted to stay in Canada, while only 23 per cent would choose the option to hold a second vote on a binding referendum on separating the province from the rest of the country. The poll was carried out by the queen of pollsters in Alberta, Janet Brown Opinion Research, for the CBC.

That’s a definite softening of the separatist vote — about a 6 per cent drop in support from April when the last poll was taken.

Brown also discovered that Prime Minister Mark Carney is more popular in Alberta than Premier Danielle Smith. Fifty-two per cent of Albertans said they were very impressed with Carney while only 30 per cent said the same about Smith; 51 per cent were not at all impressed.

Carney’s favourable standing in the province is no doubt due to his promises about the west coast oil pipeline — Pacific Link. In Fort McMurray, Thursday he announced that it had been approved as a project of national interest, another step forward to getting shovels in the ground by the fall of 2027. The timing — just before the referendum — will undoubtedly convince some undecided voters to choose to remain in Canada.

From left, Scott Burrows, CEO of the Pembina Pipeline Corp, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney shake hands after speaking in Fort McMurray on Thursday. Prime Minister Mark Carney declared the Pacific Link pipeline project to be in the national interest.

The poll also suggested that Smith is losing support to the NDP, the official opposition. Three weeks ago Smith’s United Conservative Party lost a byelection to the NDP in a heavily conservative Calgary constituency. The results of the Brown poll found that Smith’s overall support had dropped by 10 per cent, which left her in a tie with NDP leader Naheed Nenshi.

Brown says it appears the party is shedding support on both sides of the independence debate: from separatists who wish Smith had taken their side, and federalists frustrated by the question in the first place. 

True to form, Smith is not actually campaigning for a “yes” vote. The provincial government’s $4 million advertising campaign about the separation