Jim Stanford: Let’s drop the phoney Alberta versus Canada nonsense. The province has met the enemy — and it is them - Toronto Star

During the so-called decade of federal 'attacks on oil,' Alberta oil giants set records for production and profits, writes Jim Stanford. So why is the average Albertan not getting their cut?

During the so-called decade of federal ‘attacks on oil,’ Alberta oil giants set records for production and profits, writes Jim Stanford. So why is the average Albertan not getting their cut?

Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work in Vancouver, is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @jimbostanford.

(Trigger warning: The author was born, bred, and educated in Alberta. Reader discretion is advised.)

Because the Liberal party won the most seats in a national election (the fourth time in a row), but most Alberta ridings went Conservative (for the umpteenth time in a row), Canada is now said to be facing a national unity crisis.

Premier Danielle Smith facilitates separatism (while claiming she doesn’t support it).

Alberta business leaders play the national unity card in demanding fast approval of more pipelines: unless the oil industry (assumed to proxy Alberta’s general interests) gets what it wants, national unity is in jeopardy.

Federal Conservatives, while disavowing explicit separatism, reinforce the claim Alberta has been mistreated by the country. Interim leader Andrew Scheer, on X, complains Ottawa has “attacked Canada’s oil and gas industry for 10 years.”

An aspiring Alberta MP-in-waiting, Pierre Poilievre, echoes that view. While saying he personally opposes separation, Poilievre complains “Albertans have a lot of legitimate grievances,” the result he says of a decade of attacks on oil. This rhetoric will excite the voters of Battle River-Crowfoot. Whether it helps Mr. Poilievre contest a future federal election, however, is a different question.