Bell: Danielle Smith goes on offence against a two-faced Mark Carney
No more playing nice.
For Premier Danielle Smith, it is time.
Time to light a fire under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Time to cut through his weasel words.
The clock is ticking on Carney, the master of talking out of both sides of his mouth.
On Tuesday, in Calgary, Smith will roll out what she calls her Alberta Next panel.
She no doubt hopes Carney and his crew are watching what is going down.
This Alberta Next panel will travel to all parts of Alberta.
They will talk with Albertans about what people want to vote on in a referendum ballot next year.
This is not just an exercise in allowing folks to blow off some steam before returning to the same-old, same-old.
This is a panel is about getting Albertans to vote on questions before the next election.
The Smith government has possible votes for Albertans to consider on where the province could take over from Ottawa while still being in Canada.
They are also open to hearing Albertans on other questions where they want a chance to vote.
Of course, there will be a vote on whether Alberta leaves Canada and becomes its own independent country if separatists can get enough signatures on a petition.
Yes, it could be a long ballot in 2026.
Bell: Carney gets Bill C-5 win but will Danielle Smith get schooled by the PM?
'No right talking the way she is': Alberta First Nations chiefs united after emergency meeting denouncing separation talks
And if Carney sees Albertans voting Yes to moving further away from an Ottawa-run Canada the globetrotting prime minister might just wake up to what is going on in his own backyard.
It is obvious Carney is playing games with Alberta, while he pathetically postures as an Albertan because he lived in Edmonton 40 years ago.
Smith supported Carney's Bill C-5, where the prime minister and his cronies will hand-pick so-called nation-building projects to fast-track their approvals.
The federal Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre also voted for Carney's maneuver.
Smith wants a bitumen pipeline to the west coast port of Prince Rupert in northern B.C.
Carney does his victory lap late last Friday, when Bill C-5 passes the House of Commons, and he is asked point blank if an energy project, any energy project, will be among the projects to get into the express line for a green light.
Carney says it depends. There are all kinds of very attractive projects, he says in French.
This is the man who has said one thing in English and one thing in French.
There is a very attractive project in Quebec. There are very attractive projects elsewhere. There are very attractive projects involving critical minerals and AI and projects not on any premier's list. Blah, blah, blah.
The projects will have to be in line with 'the climate goals in Canada' and have the thumbs-up from Indigenous people.
Instead of just cooking up a list of favoured projects, the prime minister could simply get to the heart of the matter and say: No, the planned emissions cap on oil and gas is not happening.
Just that.
Now that would be front-page news, for good reason.
It would show Canadians this prime minister is serious.
With that emissions cap on the table, this is all just politicking.
Then Carney could rewrite the No More Pipelines law and scrap the net-power electricity regulations and Canada and Alberta would be off to the races.
Making money!!! For Alberta and the rest of Canada.
Doesn't Carney want Canada to be an energy superpower?
Or is it another line of crap to go along with his phony baloney Elbows Up stunt to con frightened Canadians into voting for the Liberals?
Yes, it is true Carney got rid of the consumer carbon tax but that was because the Liberals were facing a beating at the polls. The Liberals are not facing an election now.
They can be … well … Liberals.
Right now nobody, except those who like betting long shots, has confidence Carney will deliver the goods.
After all, Carney has given Alberta no visible signs of a better deal within Canada. What has he shown us?
The square root of squat.
Words, words and more words floating through the air. Question after question, never answered.
Albertans now have to decide. Is it time to bellyache some more or is it time to take a stand?
Is it time for Albertans to demand to be taken seriously?
The clock ticks.
rbell@postmedia.com
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