Separation Anxiety

A guest op-ed by Blaine Moen

In December of 2014, Danielle Smith, Wildrose leader of the opposition, crossed the floor joining Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice.

“...you have to really want to take down the premier. I don’t want to take down the premier.”

- Danielle Smith

Until that moment, I was a Wildrose and Danielle Smith supporter. The opposition is supposed to hold government to account, not “take down the premier”. That was our introduction to exactly who and what Danielle Smith is.

This week, Smith has thrown the country into a needless polarizing referendum;

“....hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?””

Danielle Smith created the Alberta Sovereignty Act, intended to amplify and incite short sighted angry Albertans. Like a weasel on an unattended chicken nugget, Smith pounced on the opportunity to feed and lead the angry mob to gain power.

There is no conspiracy, just a human being with no ethics or specific ideology calling herself a “conservative”, claiming to give a voice to unhappy Albertans.

Populism at its worst.

If she’s in a room full of separatists, she’s a separatist.

If she’s in a room full of moderates, she’s a moderate.

If she’s in a room full of anti-vaxers, she’s an anti-vaxer.

If she’s in a room full of progressive empathetic people, she’s in the wrong room.

Today, with real consequences hanging in the balance, having set in motion an unpredictable divisive referendum, Smith is now finally saying she will vote to keep Alberta in Canada.

May 22, 2026, the day Danielle Smith turned her back on the right wing separatists who gave her power and switched teams from Trump dumb separatists to Go Canada Go!

Now, the entity Smith breathed life into and used as a springboard to power is turning on her. Like in 2014, Smith saw an opportunity to gain power, then ditched the people she was supposed to represent.

I feel no sympathy for separatists, they deserve nothing other than a refresher course in basic math and directions south, I’ll even show them how Google maps works.

Danielle Smith never cared about Albertans or our economy.

Want proof?

After whining and moaning for literally years, we now have a pragmatic Prime Minister willing to work to improve investment. Instead of using last week’s court ruling to allow her to drop the separation question altogether, Smith adds the question plunging Alberta and Canada into a divisive referendum.

If you had money to build a pipeline to the west coast, would you invest it now? I remind you that the last pipeline to the west coast was bought and paid for by taxpayers, not a corporate backer!

Albertans are understandably unhappy with our place in the Canadian experience. From a dysfunctional useless Senate to unfairly spent tax dollars to anti-pipeline legislation. Danielle Smith claimed she wanted to help Albertans, instead, we are fighting to save Canada and the UCP is unabashedly a separatist party.

Is this what you voted for?

• Party affiliation in municipal elections

• Provincial interference in the Calgary Greenline routing

• Buying off select foreign coal speculators, yet allowing others to proceed. $250 million thus far.

• Using the Notwithstanding Clause 4 times to bully trans families and teachers.

• The corrupt care scandal.

• Ignoring First Nations consultation.

• Promoting chemtrail conspiracies.

• Gerrymandering.

• Alberta tax dollars to visit Christian University in Florida and Ben Shapiro.

• Politicizing the Jasper wildfire.

• Lowering threshold for citizen initiated referendum leading to a constitutional crisis.

If you are one of those Albertans threatening separation believing it is just an exercise to use as leverage to gain Alberta better standing with Ottawa, know this. In 2014, about the same time Danielle Smith was switching teams in Alberta, less than one third of Brits wanted to leave the EU. Then Brexit, myriads of misinformation resulting in a vote, 52% in favor of leaving the EU. Today, 64% regret that decision.

Separatists are moon walking towards becoming Puerto Rico with snow, using a live grenade pin to pick day old Spamburger out of their gums.

Smith could have humored a lady who asked her about jet chemtrails, instead, “If anyone is doing it it’s the US Department of Defense, I have some limitations in what I can do in my job. I don’t know that I have much power if that is the case. If the US Department of Defense is spraying us.”

Ask yourself what kind of educated person humors chemtrail chasers. Encouraging lies only deepens the gap for the electorate between fact and fiction, creating more ignorant and angry Albertans.

A normal response might have been:

“Jet streams are nothing but condensed water vapor, a byproduct of superheating very cold air through jet engines. I encourage you to read scientific factual information.”

But here we are.

A majority of Albertans recognize some things are beginning to improve, but Danielle Smith doesn’t want investment. Instead, Smith kills economic momentum, hijacking the narrative perpetuated by hateful trolls with no plan other than using our personal data as though it were free funnel cake at the Milk River Mud Bog. Where is David Parker anyways?

Many Albertans have been smoldering in anger over our treatment by Ottawa, enter Fire Chief Danielle Smith, dumping diesel fuel on glowing embers, yelling “FIRE, FIRE”, only to realize the inferno she created blocked the only exit.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Blaine Moen is a landowner and advocate in Southern Alberta.