1/14 🔥 SMITH PLAYING WITH ALBERTA SEPARATISM FIRE 🔥 Premier Smith's flirtation with separation has escalated—introducing legislation to lower referendum barriers & delivering a provocative list of federal demands that coincided with PM Carney's meeting with Trump. #AbPoli #CDNpoli #Separation

2/14 The timing couldn't be more charged. As Carney navigated Trump's White House and unpredictable threats to the border, Smith chose that precise moment to issue ultimatums to Ottawa that columnist Bruce Arthur describes as demands "no responsible prime minister could grant." #AbPoli #CDNpoli

3/14 Smith's legislation would dramatically lower the signature threshold needed to trigger a separation referendum—from 600,000 down to just 177,000—while simultaneously removing barriers to collecting those signatures. Critics see this as deliberately stoking separatist flames. #AbPoli #Referendum

5/14 Arthur's assessment? Pure disingenuousness. "All separatists are, by definition, traitors to their country," he writes, comparing Smith's stance to an arsonist saying "I am not in control of the fire I set because that fire will follow its own path." That's our Premier 😜 #AbPoli #CDNpoli

6/14 Polls show only 25-30% of Albertans support separation. Historical precedents offer a sober warning. Quebec's separation movement damaged its economy. Brexit devastated Britain's. Political grievance can quickly spiral beyond control. Smith's a danger to Albertans & Canada! #AbPoli #Separatism

7/14 Alberta NDP Leader Nenshi's dire warning: "They just pick fights all the time because that's what keeps their base excited... But when you start picking these fights all the time, you start something you might not be able to control." Albertans need a referendum for an early election! #AbPoli

8/14 Nenshi pointedly recalls being present when former British PM David Cameron announced his Brexit referendum plans to European leaders. "Nobody expected Brexit to win," he reminds us—a cautionary tale about unleashing forces that can't be reined back in. #AbPoli #Brexit

9/14 The irony? Smith's separatist posturing comes when an Albertan prime minister has shown more openness to fossil fuel expansion "than at any point in decades," according to Arthur. The timing makes her demands seem more political theatre than genuine grievance. #AbPoli #OilAndGas

10/14 When asked about Alberta separation in Washington, Carney's response was notably tepid: "Well, Canada is stronger when we work together. As an Albertan, I firmly believe that you can always ask a question, but I know what I would respond to it with." #AbPoli #Carney

11/14 Arthur suggests Smith's separatist rhetoric may be a calculated distraction from mounting provincial problems: healthcare scandals, controversial electoral changes, ill-timed tax cuts as oil prices plummeted, and economic uncertainty looming on the horizon. #AbPoli #Politics

12/14 The broader context is alarming: western Conservative parties "increasingly unmooring" from reality while federal Conservative leader Poilievre strategically positions himself in an Alberta riding with strong separatist sentiment—a concerning alignment of forces. #AbPoli #CPC

13/14 Arthur's metaphor is pointed: "Smith is playing with matches in the country's biggest gas station." The danger is provincial disruption and national vulnerability, creating openings for foreign interference at a time when Canada needs unity most. That's our Premier 😜 #AbPoli #NationalUnity

I’m left wondering what’s really in it for her 🤔