Alberta’s political leaders have a lengthy history of quarrelling with Ottawa. While the ability of many of Alberta’s Premiers to frustrate and annoy federal political leaders of all stripes has taken a humorous (though somewhat crass) tone at times, the conduct is often tethered to larger political claims of seeking to protect the province’s natural resources and financial security from so-called greedy hands in Eastern Canada. Given this decades-long history, the recent controversy stirred up by Premier Danielle Smith’s comments in early March to right-wing American media outlet, Breitbart News, might be unsurprising to those familiar with this dynamic.

            Having grown up in Alberta and having received much of my schooling there, I was socialized and educated in an environment that largely praised the conduct of its patriotic Premiers in their dealings with both Ottawa and various federal politicians. In the early 1970s, Former Premier Peter Lougheed, for example, waged political war with former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau following the imposition by Trudeau of an export tax on Canadian oil shipped to the United States. Lougheed referred to the tax as “the most discriminatory action taken by a federal government against a particular province in the entire history of Confederation.” The duel between Lougheed and former Prime Minister Trudeau peaked when the federal government introduced the National Energy Program (NEP), a federal initiative that sought to increase Ottawa’s involvement in the oil and gas sector and redistribute its wealth across Canada. In a now legendary televised speech, Lougheed characterized the NEP as an unconstitutional intrusion on Alberta’s right to control its energy sector and the wealth it generated. As he told Trudeau to stay in his constitutional lane, far away from Alberta’s oil and gas, he authorized significant decreases in Alberta’s crude oil production. The announcement was met – largely – with support amongst Albertans. Soon after, as a sign of approval and support for Lougheed’s decision to (partly) turn off the taps, vehicles across the province sported bumper stickers with the inimitable phrase “Let those Eastern Bas*ards Freeze in the Dark.”

            While the saga of the NEP took place more than 40 years ago, it is still difficult to overstate the prominent position it occupies in the political imagination of many Albertans. It was not only the primary driver for the creation of feelings of ‘Western alienation’ but firmly cemented the need for an antagonistic relationship between Alberta and Ottawa. Former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein – arguably – built his political career on a foundation of populist, Alberta-first style politics. In the early 1980s, while he was serving as the Mayor of Calgary, he referred to Eastern Canadians who had recently moved to the city as “bums” and “creeps”, blaming them for the city’s rising crime rates. Later, as Premier, he made sexually charged comments about former Liberal Member of Parliament Belinda Stronach and her romantic relationship with former Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay. While he had a penchant for controversial and crass remarks, it was during his tenure as Premier that Alberta’s economy boomed, largely owing to surging oil prices in the late 90s and early 2000s. With the provincial purse bursting at its seams, Klein also threatened Ottawa to keep its hands off the funds as the federal government considered reworking transfer payments to detrimentally effect Alberta. Klein’s government was also highly critical of the Kyoto Protocol, a climate change initiative seeking to control greenhouse emissions. Claiming that its ratification would constitute a ‘dagger through the heart of Alberta’s economy,’ Klein told former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that Alberta would do whatever it took to continue fighting, including launching a constitutional challenge.

            While no recent Alberta Premier has enjoyed the level of popularity and electoral success of either Lougheed or Klein, Premier Danielle Smith’s pro-Alberta activism might be her (half-baked) attempt to borrow pages from the two men’s political playbook. Smith was the first Canadian Premier to meet with Trump following his administration’s idea of imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. She went to Washington seeking an exemption for Alberta’s precious oil and gas exports. Her very clear ‘Alberta-first’ strategy also likely explains why she has agreed to speak with right-wing pundits and media outlets in the United States, including Breitbart News. During the interview, Smith was asked whether she believed Canada would elect a Conservative government following the 2025 federal election. She replied:

            Before the tariff war, I would say yes…but because of… what we see as unjust and unfair tariffs, it’s actually caused an increase in the support for the Liberals. And so, that’s what I fear…is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefitting the Liberals right now. So, I would hope that we could put things on pause, is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so we can get through an election. Let’s have the best person at the table make the argument for how they would deal with it… and I think that’s Pierre Poilievre.

            While Smith’s comments were made prior to the selection of Mark Carney as Liberal leader and (ultimately) Prime Minister and prior to last week’s announcement of an upcoming federal election, they have – nonetheless – been controversial in Canada. They have been interpreted as soliciting American interference in a Canadian election, though Smith adamantly denies these claims, characterizing them as “offensive and false.”

            Smith’s political strategy is, indeed, a familiar one: militant protection of Alberta’s interests, even at the expense of Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa and its political leaders. While Lougheed and Klein fought primarily on the national stage, Smith’s battle is qualitatively different, demanding that she also contend with the Trump administration’s increasing unpopularity in Canada. A pro-Alberta strategy that has her government cozying up to the Trump administration seems to be blind to what is becoming increasing clear to all Canadians: in the upcoming federal election, we will be casting ballots for the party that appears to condemn Trump’s administration (and its dealings with Canada) the most. And right now, it is unclear that the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre actually holds that title – especially as Smith’s conduct works to highlight the similarities between Trump and Poilievre.

            This political blindness is counterproductive to achieving Alberta’s dual political goals: protecting (and promoting) its energy industry, while having the support of a Conservative government in Ottawa sympathetic to its unique resource-focused economic demands. Her lobbying efforts have failed to secure a tariff exemption for oil and gas exports and seem to have spurred the ire of Poilievre himself. Speaking to reporters about Smith’s comments, Poilievre said, “People are free to make their own comments. I speak for myself.”

            In light of all this, maybe we can offer Premier Smith some free political advice: stay in Edmonton, stay away from American media outlets, and consider that the antagonistic populism that worked so well for Lougheed and Klein might not be the best response to the threat posed by the Trump administration and its incredible unpopularity across Canada.