Danielle Smith steers clear of separatism as she addresses federal Conservatives in Calgary

Premier Danielle Smith told delegates that Pierre Poilievre is the person to lead the Conservatives to victory in the next federal election.

Alberta’s premier spoke at the Conservative Party convention Saturday, the final day of the federal event hosted in Calgary, and for the most part, she told the party faithful what they wanted to hear.

Danielle Smith gave a 10-minute address to a crowd of Conservative delegates gathered at the BMO Centre to discuss the constitution and some preferred Conservative policy priorities.

“Pierre Poilievre and our (federal) Conservatives believe in our constitution in leaving the provinces to be provinces focusing on what the federal government needs to do,” Smith said in her address.

She said those things include bail reform and building a new pipeline to the west coast.

“Conservatives supported building new pipelines long before the elbows up crowd (ever did),” she said, “and they will support them long after all the elbows come down.

“As I’ve said many times before, we need to build pipelines to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south,” she added. “I would love, as the prime minister said, for pipelines to be boring again. I would love to just get them built.”

Spirits high

Spirits seem high among delegates at the convention the day after Poilievre received more than 87 per cent support in his leadership review.

Michelle Mather, a Conservative delegate from Calgary, said her main take-away from the event is a feeling of hope.

“Conservatives have come together this weekend to talk about hope and how to keep this nation going in the right direction,” said Mather.

She thought Smith’s speech struck the right tone.

“She’s there for us and there for Alberta,” said Mather.

The premier took jabs at the federal Liberal party, and past Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and environment minister Stephen Guilbeault, but not current prime minister Mark Carney.

“For 10 years, we saw a prime minister that did everything he could to devastate the west and drive our investment and jobs out,” Smith said.

Smith steered clear of comments about the possibility of a referendum on Alberta separating from Canada.

Conservative delegate Tom Lakusta, from Northwest Territories, said he thought some provinces have had difficult relationships with the federal government, leading to talks about separating that he thinks are unlikely to materialize.

“I think people in both sides, Quebec and Alberta, will then step back and say that (separatism) makes more problems than it’s worth and a united Canada is where we need to be right now,” said Lakusta.

A group pressing for Alberta separation started a petition and needs close to 178,000 signatures by May for Smith’s government to call a referendum.

Instead, Smith focused on a future federal vote, putting her confidence in Poilievre.

“I know that he’ll lead the Conservatives back to victory in the next election,” she said.

Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams said Poilievre has another opportunity to prove himself while recent polling shows he faces a formidable opponent.

“Twenty-five per cent of Conservatives think Mark Carney is doing a good job, so the work isn’t over for Pierre Poilievre,” Williams said. “I think it’s just a question of how much time he has and whether he can turn it around.”