Also heavily implied he is now expected to mate with one of the victims??

Everyone knew Brexit would fail also!

I am not a columnist or reporter. But for me, Smith is both-siding this to a) give her leverage with Carney. You either negotiate with me or Rath; b) UCP unity. Prevent a split that could allow the NDP to win an election.

Ah thank you! I appreciate you explaining the impact vs intent far better than I did!!

You're free to disagree but I need to get back to work now. Appreciate the discussion!

... political forces may shape her behaviour, the government's behaviour and future leaders' behavious. And just to say again, I don't know if Smith *believes* in separatism. I don't think anybody does because she's being deliberately vague.

That is not what I'm saying. Regardless of why she's doing anything, Smith is a savvy operator who made choices to get here. I think intent matters. If we accept Smith is acting because she believes in an independent Alberta, we ignore the current political situation she is facing, and how those...

😅

A columnist could argue that, to a reporter that feels pretty speculative ;)

Like honestly she might be a separatist, I just don't think we have enough data to know. And that fact that so many of her actions are up for debate may be the point.

Well, another impact of her actions is she is currently premier of Alberta. Which she might not be had she not pandered to fringe groups. If she was an avowed separatist she could have not signed an MOU, not said nice things about Carney in recent months, let Lukazsuk's petition go forward etc.

... with separatism. I think Max's take about impact is totally fair! I just think intent also matters, and when we're at a point when a referendum could actually be on the table, we need to be as clear eyed as possible about what is happening.

I'm not arguing for it as a strategy, but I just think we need to be careful about what we know and what we don't know. And Max makes a totally fair point that the consequences may be the same, but I think it's also worth pointing out that she may be responding to forces that have nothing to do....

Interestingly, I asked Jeff Rath about this last week and he thinks Smith is only paying lip service to the separatists for political reasons and is actually "subtly undermining" the cause.

I mean liking Ron DeSantis is not equivalent to wanting to separate. Florida is still a part of the United States as far as I'm aware. (It sounds like she's mostly trying not to engage Modry in that clip, to me.)

She has, however, said repeatedly that she is team Canada. But maybe she's lying! I just really don't think we know, but I get that you disagree, which is fair! I just think it's important to acknowledge the political forces at work here. But the referendum could happen either way.

And I have met a lot of non-separatists who are like, I want to stay in Canada but there a reasons the separatists are mad and Ottawa needs to be nicer to Alberta. (That was a common sentiment at the CPC convention this weekend, for example.)

To me, she's saying it's a fair conversation to have and we need to address the grievances of Albertans, which is pretty on par for how Smith communicates. To quote Janet Brown, she missed her calling as a hostage negotiator because she'll have a convo about anything. (Remember chemtrails?)