Contempt and kindness: Danielle Smith’s bizarre strategy
Last week, Danielle Smith offered a press conference to explain her strategy for dealing with the breakdown in negotiations between the U.S. and Canada.
“Basically, it means being more Canadian; too friendly, kind, and helpful to resist,” she said with a smile.
She added that she would not accept using oil and gas exports as leverage in negotiations with the U.S. in any way.
It was a good speech, if you’ve never had to listen to the contempt that is apparently only reserved for Canadians in Alberta who vote NDP, anyone who votes Liberal, and federal Liberals who are not as popular as Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Initially, I likened it to the fact that real problems are met with diplomacy and fake problems are met with backbone. I’ve seen nothing to change my mind since.
As if to drive the point home, she appeared on a few national news segments to claim that Ontario and Quebec should now understand what Alberta had to deal with under the Trudeau government.
Yes; in Danielle Smith’s world, the Trump Administration’s repeated and targeted attacks against the Canadian economy to force us to give up our sovereignty are the same as environmental regulations and carbon taxes— even though Alberta has had a large emitter tax on carbon since 2007.
Probably time for my semi-regular reminder of a short-lived introduction to the Danielle Smith show on QR770— “There’s two sides to every story; then there’s Danielle Smith’s.”— which always made me think “completely untethered to reality.”
Her speech also included a detailed list of ways the Trump Administration could apply more pressure to Canada— as one does. Then she headed down to Tennessee for a “personal trip” but also asked Nathan Cooper, Alberta’s former Speaker who was promoted to envoy in Washington, meet her there for government business reasons.
Apparently, she had a super important meeting with the CEO of Tourism Tennessee. Sure, Danielle; everyone totally believes that the same person who grabbed a public ticket to watch the president’s inauguration, spent a week and a half on the balls and cocktail circuit schmoozing Republican officials, headlined a maga conference and made a few appearances on their aligned media, flew down to meet a civil servant and the envoy to Washington a week after trade talks imploded. I kid. Of course not everyone believes that.
One political strategist I recently spoke with suggested that the meetings could either be a cover for a meeting with a more important US official that was cancelled at the request of Canada’s trade negotiators or a cover for a meeting with a more important US official that will happen (remember Smith’s surprise trip to Mar-a-Lago in January 2025?).
Dave Cournoyer, Danielle Smith heading to Music City U.S.A., August 31, 2026
Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney team up for team Canada
It’s not a match made in heaven; more like hell freezing over.
The two couldn’t even put out a new photo of them together, requiring every media outlet to use the most recent one on file; a photo from the NDP-UCP transition after the election in 2019.
Kenney said while the alliance once seemed “unlikely,” it is time for those of differing political stripes to come together ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada or hold a second, binding vote on independence.
“We both are proud Canadians — as are the vast majority of Albertans — and I think it’s past time that we all put aside partisanship and put patriotism first.”
CBC/Radio Canada— but I have to use a Bing link??
Yes, Mr. Kenney; when you spend three and a half years blaming the NDP for a recession that began the year before they were even in office, erasing their policies from existence, along with Ms. Notley who had more than her fair share of criticisms about his character and incompetence when he became leader of the UCP, and during COVID— while both doing their level best to convince voters that the other just wanted to inflict more pain on Albertans— saying an alliance would seem “unlikely” is comically understated.
I’d love to say our political culture doesn’t have to be in the literal bottom of the barrel but this unholy alliance is engulfed in so much hypocrisy that it’s almost preposterous.
It’s also not who Albertans want to hear from most and the scum-scraping politics seem to be getting in the way of hearing from some of them, too.
More than half say they “definitely” or “probably” trust former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper (51%) and current Canadian prime minister Mark Carney (also 51%). The rating is lower for current federal Official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre (47%), current provincial Official Opposition leader Naheed Nenshi (46%), former Alberta premier Rachel Notley (40%), current Alberta premier Danielle Smith (37%) and former Alberta premier Jason Kenney (32%).
Fewer than a third of likely voters in Alberta trust professional hockey player Connor McDavid (26%), leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) Avi Lewis (20%), Progressive Tory Party of Alberta leader Peter Guthrie (17%), Wildrose Loyalty Coalition leader Paul Hinman (13%), Alberta Prosperity Project co-founder and lawyer Jeffrey Rath (also 13%), Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre (also 13%), social media personality Marty Belanger (11%) or Republican Party of Alberta leader Cameron Davies (10%) on the issue of Alberta separating from Canada.
…
Alberta Prosperity Project co-founder and lawyer Jeffrey Rath (also 13%), Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre (also 13%), social media personality Marty Belanger (11%) or Republican Party of Alberta leader Cameron Davies (10%) on the issue of Alberta separating from Canada.
Research Co., Fewer Than 1/4 of Voters in Alberta Side with Separation, August 31, 2026
Where is former Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the subject anyway?
All I could find was an anecdote where he claimed a “prominent” long-term separatist and he were chatting and when asked what he thought about what “President Trump’s doing”, Mr. Harper said, “I think we have to stick together.” To which the separatist supposedly replied with a lowered voice, “I think you’re right.”
That was seven months ago.
In another link— still looking specifically for Stephen Harper on Alberta separatism— I was offered an interview SUN columnist Brian Lilley gave to Bridge City News in Lethbridge. He said the former PM would be out all summer.
Thank goodness I found it afterwards and didn’t get my hopes up because I can’t find any evidence that it happened.
So… wtf?
Current leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre is also seen as more credible on the issue and what did he do? He threw the job to a CPC MP in Edmonton with zero name recognition who bears no political risk at all— in Edmonton— for saying Alberta should remain in Canada.
How bizarre…
Mr. Poilievre is currently facing attacks from the Trump Administration as his once-star candidate (a failed radio host who was roommates with the now Vice President) is jockeying for the leader’s job, and pretty much everyone agrees that Mr. Poilievre is unemployable outside of politics, so… can’t expect much from him, I guess.
Prime Minister Carney has taken a few turns at warning Albertans of the unintended repercussions of this type of referendum, while also doing what he can to meet Danielle Smith’s demands, which she claims can help subdue separatist sentiment. Except separatists want this promised $60 billion a year the Fraser Institute keeps saying belongs to them. So, weirdly, nothing the two are working towards is going to displace the Alberta utopia where separatists get to keep everyone else’s money.
The space we’re in, for some reason that will eternally escape me, is that If we can’t rely on Conservative leaders who should be able to stand up for Alberta’s place in Canada, at least we have two former premiers willing to follow the current one around trying to clean up the mess she’s making.
Sigh.
Pierre Poilievre à l’Orange
The Alberta NDP, in what I am praying is not actually a soft launch of their 2027 platform, released their oppo research disguised as part of their campaign for the Calgary-Shaw by-election. The party— who is on their third Communications Director since Naheed Nenshi became leader in 2024— seems to still be seeking that elusive sweet spot between messaging they actually like and strategic communications for a political party who even has a modicum of interest in forming government.
Then again, the party that does have great communications isn’t generating any buzz at all, so we should obviously just keep racing to the bottom rather than wondering how we managed to get to a point where Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney collaborating on an issue they both believe in would seem “unlikely.” Or “awkward.” Or “like a circus oddity.”
In any case, hoping that the other party implodes, or becomes so incredibly unpopular that people have to vote for someone else, isn’t a strategy that I’m particularly proud to recognize as having even the slightest chance of success, but there it is, and I do.
We can all wait until the government screws up that bad, right?
Facepalm.
Good news/bad news: Referendum ballots
All the poli-nerds were super excited to see their referendum ballots starting to arrive in their mail boxes this week. HURRAY!
Except… there’s a declaration one has to sign saying that they require a special ballot for a legitimate reason and threatens a fine and possible jail time if it’s not true.
People were reasoning it out.
“I’m not going to show up on October 19, therefore, it’s not untrue that I cannot vote that day, but is the fact that I don’t want to stand in line, or; that Elections Alberta was advertizing for us to request a special ballot to help the referendum go as smoothly as possible reason enough for me to sign that declaration swearing that I cannot vote on October 19?”
As it turned out, it shouldn’t have been included.
Declarations
Special ballot packages include a declaration that electors using this voting method are required to sign and return in their special ballot package. It contains a line “I declare that I am unable to vote at an advance voting place or a voting place on Election Day” that is causing concern and confusion for electors. We recognize this is carryover language from a previous version of the Election Act which required reasons to apply for a special ballot.Electors may cross out the statement “I declare that I am unable to vote at an advance voting place or a voting place on Election Day” and complete the rest of the declaration, and Elections Alberta will accept it.
The declaration will be modified to remove that line for special ballots packages that have not yet been sent out.
Ballot folding
Several electors have expressed concerns about how to fold their ballots in their special ballot package. Elections Alberta will accept all ballots returned in completed special ballot packages, regardless of the way they are folded.
BUT ALSO!
Robson Fletcher released an interesting tool we can play with to judge whether it matters if we show up to vote in a referendum.
Recent polling shows that separatists have about 26 percent support but that can end up looking like far more if Albertans don’t show up. If only half of those who say they will vote to remain show up but all of the separatists do, the outcome could look as if they have far more support. Try it yourself.
That kind of an outcome would almost certainly give the separatist MLAs (and the separatists running to become candidates) in the UCP reason to hold the threat over our heads, and our economy, for years.
There is still time to apply for a special ballot to avoid the lines, however the deadline is September 25, 2026.
And feel free to visit Alberta’s Voice to see the fun projects they’ve been working on!
Final thoughts
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I’m sorry I’ve heard A LOT and I mean A LOT of grievance BS coming from this province’s politicians over the years but that jab at Ontario, Quebec and Trudeau is a level of mental psychosis and gymnastics that is borderline delusional
Some of your readers are ancient enough like me to remember a former (unpopular in Alberta) Prime Minister issuing the apt benediction “FUDDLE DUDDLE” during a particular acrimonious session in the House of Commons. When I used to periodically appear on Danielle’s radio show ostensibly to discuss matters with a religious component, I was not a few times left virtually speechless by the vacuities expressed by the host and her listeners. After one particularly eye-rolling session (I don’t recall what the alleged topic was supposed to have been) but my wife asked me that evening how things had gone with “what’s her name on the radio?” I reminded her of PM PIERRE Trudeau’s infamous remark and suggested “I believe Danielle and her listeners fit the description of those who have been truly fuddled and duddled.”