With her old thorn-in-the-side Steven Guilbault self-exiled from Liberal politics, Premier Danielle Smith told would-be separatists there’s grounds for optimism and staying in Confederation — and she warned of Brexit-level consequences for Alberta if the province left Confederation.

“Because that is at the heart of the frustration that Albertans have, is that you had a federal Liberal government with a federal NDP coalition for 10 years that were trying to shut in our resources, and it’s now laid bare, now that we have corrected all of the bad policies,” Smith said over the airwaves on her regular Saturday radio program, based in Calgary.

A caller named Trevor said he supports the referendum as a way to show the rest of Canada that Alberta’s serious, but he was worried about a possible fracture within the UCP.

“I think we need to send a message clearly to the rest of Canada that we needed a different deal, a better (deal to) make to make Canada work. I’m just concerned that with the infighting in the UCP, that with the separatist movement, that we could end up splitting up our party and allowing the NDP to win the next election,” he said.

Smith said the provinces should continue working together and building on successes — and gave a hint of Brexit warning.

“I can tell you, it just makes things a lot more difficult if you say that you want to sever the relationship and go your own way. I’m seeing that in the United Kingdom, they’re already talking about how they can re-establish an open trade system in the UK 10 years on, and I don’t, I don’t want there to be that kind of regret,” she said.

Smith said she thinks Alberta should stay in Confederation.

“I’ve made it pretty clear where I think we should go. I think we should remain. I think that we’re scoring a lot of wins, not only with the reestablishment of our relationship with the federal government, but also the chance for Western Canada to be an incredible powerhouse.”

Smith said the recent tete-a-tete with fellow western premiers was “a really powerful table to be at.”

There’s been a marked shift in the group’s focus from when she first met with the various leaders a few years ago, when they mostly talked about “how do we get the federal government to spend more money on health care,” she said.

“I think that’s important that the federal government plays its part, but what we’ve shifted to is when how can we press the federal government to spend money on its areas of jurisdiction? How can we press them to meet our NATO commitments? Because we all benefit not only from the direct investments from defence, but also all the spin-off benefits that happen in the aerospace sector and other economic development that happens as a result of meeting that commitment,” she said.

“It was an important signal to send to the United States that we were going to be a proper partner at the table in meeting our international commitments, which we felt would help with our trade negotiations, and we needed to get the federal government focused on having a robust port system, airport system, rail system, transportation network, and building out that strategic infrastructure, and that’s continuing to this day, and the federal government is meeting us part way, so I would say that those are the kind of things that the Western premiers can do.”

Smith was chided by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew about the upcoming Alberta referendum. She suggested a different approach for him.

“Rather than lecturing Albertans about what they should and should not do, and should believe, and should not, I would like to see other premiers give, as I am, reasons to feel confident in the Western partnership, and reason to feel confidence in Canada, and I think that the best thing that those premiers could do is work with us on getting pipelines built,” she said, noting that Kinew is eager for a line to Churchill in Canada’s north.

Albertchewan?

A listener, Lanny, texted to ask if Alberta and Saskatchewan should undertake a study to evaluate the proposition that those two provinces should consolidate.

“It’s an interesting idea,” Smith responded, recalling Premier Frederick Haultain’s 1905 proposal to combine provinces as a district called Buffalo.

“I don’t know if that there’d be an appetite for it now. I’ve never really had that raised with Saskatchewan. I think Saskatchewan feels they’re doing pretty well right now. They’ve got the lowest unemployment in the country, they’ve got potash and uranium deals all over the place, they’re selling grain and lentils and pulse products all over the world. So, I feel like if I was to broach that with Premier (Scott) Moe, he’d say, “Yeah, sure, I’d be happy to be Premier of Alberta,’” she said, laughing.

“So, maybe we could just collaborate.”

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