Why shouldn't Alberta separate?

Alberta shouldn't separate because we built something terrific, and we, we should build upon that.

You know, we are, as I mentioned, the wealthiest province in Canada per capita by a long stretch.

We're one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in all of North America, like ranking high.

We're, we're almost on an equivalent with Texas.

We're about, uh, I think $1,800 less per capita on, uh, income.

I think if they're at 84, we're at 82.2, I believe, or something like that.

So I, I'm wondering, how do you have conversations with people who, who don't understand the details the way that you do?

So what is the appropriate response to make sure that people really are heard and that progress is made on these long-standing issues while not adding fuel to, to the other side of things?

It's a fine line, and I think, uh, you know, we're lucky, uh, to have a premier who's an excellent communicator, which helps us in a couple of ways.

She speaks directly, uh, to Albertans, and, uh, I think Albertans have confidence in her.

But she's also effective at speaking to Ottawa, which is the source of a lot of this frustration.

You know, I'm not sympathetic at all to separatists, but I am very, uh, sympathetic to their frustrations over Alberta's treatment, certainly under the previous prime minister.

Uh, but I think the premier is painting a picture and did a good job last night of painting a picture for a strong Alberta, uh, still within Confederation, still in Canada.

What else would you say to those who might be leaning towards the separation side?

side?Well, I think a lot of people who are leaning that direction feel it's okay to send a message to Ottawa by voting in favor of separation, and we want to discourage, uh, that thinking.

Do, do you think that's the case, um, Monte? Or, or do you think there's the possibility that they're kind of l- laying the groundwork for stuff not going very well, if that should be the case?

No, I think they're taking the responsible position right now.

I think they're indicating that they're prepared to go nose to nose with the Americans on issues that are important, not just to the president and Howard Lutnick, but also to northern border states, uh, that are in contention when the midterms come up.

And it's very much in Canada's interest, I think, to push back hard, uh, and to say, "If you hurt us, you'll hurt yourselves." This is something that's very present in the minds of Americans right now, uh, with the, Trump's approo- approval ratings being the, being down to, like, 32% on the economy, partly attributable to, uh, to tariffs.

So I think the American trades, uh, negotiators need to be very careful about how hard they push Canada, because Doug Ford said it well today when he spoke to, uh, Wolf Blitzer on CNN and talked about, uh, high tariffs hurting Americans, hurting, uh, Americans as much as hurting Canadians.

And I think Canada's in a good position and should continue, uh, to be tough.

Um, what, what are your thoughts on, is this the thing holding up the MOU right now? Like, is there kind of wind under the wings of the Alberta premier, for example, who never really wanted the price to go up but, but agreed to this sort of basic formula back in November?

Well, I was encouraged to hear the prime minister not be declarative about needing to get to 130 by 2030.