Interview: Danielle Smith explains why she trusts Mark Carney

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Smith describes the MOU as “a great accommodation of both desires — to develop our energy as well as to reduce emissions over a reasonable time frame.” It’s her proof point to Albertans that Canada can work.

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“We got to a pipeline MOU in November 2025,” she explains, “then we developed a number of different agreements.” Alberta’s premier and the prime minister ticked off the boxes: on methane; on Alberta’s environmental process taking priority; and on carbon pricing. Next up: oilsands producers and the carbon capture commitment.

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Carney is also shifting Ottawa’s direction on net-zero power regulations, greenwashing rules and the emissions cap. “And the result is the chief architect of all of these terrible policies (Guilbeault) quit today,” the premier notes.

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Some Albertans won’t believe it until first oil flows, Smith acknowledges with a wry chuckle. Her milestones: the oil export pipeline declared a project of national interest by Oct. 1 and final conditions/approvals by Sept. 1, 2027, enabling design and construction to begin.

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“It’s not easy, you don’t agree on 100 per cent of things 100 per cent of the time,” she reiterates. “But when you have a prime minister who is willing to work with us, that is how the country is supposed to work, and I think it is working.”

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Smith faced sharp criticism for adding an independence question to the Oct. 19 referendum in Alberta. How can she back a West Coast pipeline while floating separation? critics ask. On the day we spoke, another grassroots group launched — Alberta’s Voices — accusing her government of thinking Albertans are “dumb.”

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The October ballot now includes 10 questions: control over immigration, constitutional matters, and the new independence one — asking whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or direct the government to begin the legal process for a binding separation referendum.

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At the Western Premiers’ meeting, B.C.’s Eby and Manitoba’s Kinew pressed her on the duty to consult First Nations on the pipeline. Smith agrees on that point: “On a major project like a pipeline to the West Coast, absolutely, we have a duty to consult — and beyond that, we think we have a duty to provide equity ownership so the Nations can benefit from development. There’s no dispute, for me, for proponents, on that.”

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But she draws a firm line on the referendum: “I have a right to ask our citizens whether we want to change our relationship with Ottawa. That’s our right.” She’s honouring Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act after one separatist group gathered roughly 300,000 signatures and a pro-Canada group about 400,000. “When you have 700,000 people say they want to have a conversation, you don’t solve the problem by shutting the conversation down.”

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Alberta, she says, has a tradition of letting citizens decide big issues through referendums — prohibition, the Olympics, fluoride. “It’s part of our culture and our laws. I ask for respect that we do things a little differently in Alberta.”

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Hell hath no fury like Albertans scorned. It’s significant that the 300,000 who signed a petition for a referendum on separation did so in the dead of winter. It’s also been noted that the recent court decision quashing their petition seemed oblivious to the 400,000 who signed the Forever Canada petition during the summer and fall.

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Smith is also seeking a mandate on immigration: more like Quebec for economic migrants, and like the U.K. and Australia for guest workers who pay their own way. Under Section 95 of the Constitution, provinces have rights here and if the referendum delivers that mandate, she expects Carney to engage in good faith.

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Smith isn’t naive about the trust-building ahead. Yet her optimism stands out. Earlier this week, I watched the debate between pro-Canada former premier Jason Kenney and separatist spokesperson Keith Wilson. It was a classic fear versus hope showdown.