Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, left, meets Quebec counterpart Christine Fréchette in Quebec City on Wednesday.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her Quebec counterpart Christine Fréchette highlighted their provinces’ economic ties and shared desire for autonomy in Quebec City on Wednesday, as the prospect of a fight over separation looms in both provinces.
Ms. Smith travelled to Quebec this week in what she described as a demonstration of the strength of a united Canada.
Despite their cultural and linguistic differences, Alberta and Quebec share much in common, including their efforts to assert their rights in the federation, Ms. Smith told a gathering of business leaders at the Port of Quebec.
“I’m here to show all Albertans, especially those who feel otherwise, that Canada can work for all of us,” she said.
Later in the afternoon, Ms. Smith met with Ms. Fréchette at the Quebec Parliament buildings, where both leaders said they want to bolster their trade partnership.
“We have complementary economies,” Ms. Fréchette told reporters ahead of the encounter. “So, today’s meeting will help strengthen the commercial ties between Quebec and Alberta.”
The Canadian Press
The meeting took place as twin secessionist movements in the two provinces look to build support ahead of provincial votes that will be dominated by debate over sovereignty.
Quebec’s Oct. 5 provincial election is likely to be fought on that issue, as the separatist Parti Québécois continues to lead in most polls. PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has promised an independence referendum within a first mandate if his party wins the election.
Soon after the dust settles in Quebec, Albertans are set to vote in the province’s first-ever sovereignty referendum. Two weeks ago, Ms. Smith unveiled the referendum question, which will ask Alberta voters to pick between remaining in Canada or beginning the legal wranglings needed to facilitate a binding secession referendum.
Ms. Smith says she hopes Albertans will vote to remain in Canada, while Ms. Fréchette opposes holding another referendum on independence at a moment of global uncertainty.
On Wednesday, Ms. Smith said the two provinces share a common cause. “I’m here to reinforce the Alberta-Quebec relationship to ensure our governments, our economies, and our peoples are building strong autonomous provinces within a united Canada,” she said.
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She added that both provinces have navigated challenging relationships with the federal government. “We’ve both dealt with an Ottawa that has refused to listen to our needs and ignores the constitutional rights of our provinces.”
The Oct. 19 vote in Alberta will also include questions on immigration policy that could give the province more control over whom it welcomes and what services it provides to non-permanent residents.
Wresting greater autonomy from Ottawa has been a central feature of Ms. Smith’s nearly four-year tenure leading Alberta, and she frequently points to the ways Quebec controls its immigration system as a potential model for her province.
Though the coming referendum in her province formed the backdrop of Ms. Smith’s visit to Quebec, she spent much of her time on Wednesday highlighting the two provinces’ trade relationship.
In her speech, she said there are many “points of connection” between the two economies, including in aerospace, defence and critical minerals.
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Ms. Fréchette said that while Quebec exports manufactured goods and agricultural products to Alberta, it imports energy products and natural resources from the Western province.
Ms. Smith said she’s “keen to collaborate on an east-west energy corridor,” a possibility Ms. Fréchette mentioned at a gathering in Montreal earlier this week.
The Alberta Premier later clarified that a potential energy corridor likely refers to building grid interties to move electricity between provinces.
But Ms. Smith also urged Quebec to develop its own natural gas reserves, particularly as a means to power AI data centres and AI-driven manufacturing.
“You need power to come on stream quickly, and the only way to do that is through natural gas,” she told reporters.
Ms. Fréchette has previously said she is open to reconsidering Quebec’s ban on shale gas exploration, which has been in place since 2022, pointing to the need to reduce the province’s dependence on the United States.
At the Port of Quebec event, Ms. Smith said there is currently $29-billion in trade between the two provinces.
“Both Alberta and Quebec stand to gain so much from working together,” she said. “Our economic strengths complement each other in so many ways.”