Pierre Poilievre's western political roots run deep. The Conservative Leader was born in Calgary and his entry into federal politics came through the Reform Party.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said while he has a role to play in convincing Albertans not to separate from Canada, it is the job of the Prime Minister to keep the country together.
Mr. Poilievre also said none of the MPs he’s spoken with in his caucus align themselves with Albertans who say the province should leave the federation.
“All of my caucus members with whom I’ve talked have said that they’re on the side of Canada,” he told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board in a recent interview.
“It is possible for two things to be true. One is that Canada should stay united. It’s the greatest country on Earth. It’s given us incredible blessings as individuals and as a people,” he said. However, he added: “There are very legitimate grievances that Albertans harbour, and that we can and should fix those grievances.”
Alberta has long been the home of some of the federal Conservative Party’s most loyal supporters, and since the Alberta independence movement began to gain steam last year, the federal Tories have been repeatedly asked to what extent any of their own harbour separatist leanings.
But Mr. Poilievre told reporters in B.C. on Thursday all of his MPs will be campaigning for unity, as will he.
Opinion: Why aren’t more Alberta MPs standing against separatism?
He told The Globe’s editorial board during a sit-down interview in Toronto that he sees his role specifically as making the case to Albertans that the historic benefits of being part of the country can continue.
“We have the incredible shared history of winning wars, of settling frontiers, of building a prosperous, peaceful country that literally millions of people around the world want to come to join,” Mr. Poilievre said. “But there’s another part to that, and it’s how much hope we should have for what the country could be.”
“Mr. Carney is fond of saying that hope is not a plan, but you need to have hope in order to motivate people toward a plan.”
Mr. Poilievre’s western political roots run deep. He was born in Calgary, and his entry into federal politics came through the Reform Party.
Robyn Urback: Danielle Smith is not a separatist. She’s an opportunist who got in over her head
It sprung up in the 1980s in part over frustrations in Alberta and elsewhere in Western Canada that their voices weren’t being heard in Ottawa by the then-Progressive Conservative government.
At the time, a concern among Reformers was a belief that Quebec was given too much power relative to what the West had, and the West deserved more.
That pressure still exists; Mr. Poilievre said Alberta should have the same control over areas such as immigration and policing that Quebec does, as Alberta has advocated for, and so should any other province who wants that.
That Alberta doesn’t have those powers now doesn’t justify separation, but they are changes that could make a difference, he said.
The Sunday Editorial: Looking beneath the myths of Alberta separatism
“If you did these things, you would inspire a lot of people to commit to federalism again,” he said.
“And so that’s the hopeful future that I think Alberta has in Canada.”
Mr. Poilievre has long blamed the demand for a referendum on the years of Liberal government under Justin Trudeau.
He repeated that point in the editorial board meeting.
“We need to remind ourselves that it is the first job of the Prime Minister of Canada to keep the country united,” he said.
“And if we’re being honest about it, 10 years ago there was no separatist movement whatsoever in Alberta. It did not exist, and the separatists in Quebec were flat on their back and dead.”
Legal experts weigh in on what’s next for Alberta’s proposed separation referendum
Prime Minister Mark Carney has moved to address some of Alberta’s long-standing complaints. He and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have now finalized a deal that commits, among other things, to a new bitumen pipeline.
But Mr. Poilievre said talking is not the same as doing.
“We’re a year into the Carney government; he claims to want to build the unimaginable at speeds not seen in generations. Has he consulted? Does he have a route? Does he have a start date? Does he have a starting location, a terminus, a construction date?,” he said.
“Do any of those things happen to exist a year after having taken office on this promise of a building bonanza? I’m not aware of any of those things happening.”
A proposal from the Alberta government on the pipeline route is expected by the end of next month, and if the approval is granted swiftly, the province has said construction could begin as soon as 2027.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misattributed a quote expressing the rejection of "asymmetric federalism" to Pierre Poilievre. The quote has been removed.