John Ivison: Odd couple Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley hit the road to foil Alberta separatists

Former Alberta Premiers Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley speak in favour of Alberta staying in Canada during a Chamber of Commerce event, in Edmonton Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia

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Whoever suggested the unlikely political double act of Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley may have saved Canada from what Kenney called “the endless trip to the dentist of Quebec separatism.”

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The two former Alberta premiers have teamed up to make the case for a united Canada in the days leading up to the province’s independence referendum on October 19 — and they are very convincing. On Tuesday, they took their vaudeville routine to a lunchtime event organized by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

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It is an inspired pairing, as the pollster Pollara noted. Its recent survey of Albertans showed that former prime minister Stephen Harper, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are the most trusted political figures in the province.

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However, Kenney and Notley are each trusted by roughly two-thirds of people in the province, and given their very different audiences, they cover a very broad political waterfront when speaking in common cause.

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Kenney was frank Tuesday that he does not consider Alberta’s place in a united Canada to be assured, despite polling that suggests 70 per cent will choose to vote to remain, against an average of 22 per cent who support beginning the process to hold a binding independence referendum.

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Those numbers have been pretty consistent across 10 polls since late May, with only one suggesting the separatists could break through the 30 per cent mark.

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But Kenney’s point is that a low turnout would lead Canada down the path similar to Quebec’s “neverendum.”

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He said a turnout of 40 per cent or below could win it for the separatist side because its backers would crawl over broken glass to cast their votes.

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“We would be pushed into a wood-chipper. Talk about lack of investor confidence in the next year, marching towards an actual vote on separation. The economic consequences would be catastrophic,” he said.

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The turnout at the last provincial election was 60 per cent but recent byelections have seen fewer than four out of 10 Albertans vote.

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The separatists will take even a strong minority vote as a message that they’ve been “mainstreamed” and separation destigmatized, Kenney said. “That’s why turnout is so important.”

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The two former premiers were careful not to revive ancient enmities, focusing on Alberta’s prosperity and the apparent momentum under a federal government “that seems to be listening to us,” in Kenney’s words.

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Notley focused on the common enemy of separation.

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“Under no freaking circumstances will we continue to get access to TMX (the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion) or (the proposed) Pacific Link, if we put up (an international) border between Alberta and British Columbia,” she said. “Or if we do get access, we’ll be paying a hell of a lot to get it.”