West of Centre

Premier Danielle Smith joins host Kathleen Petty after a divisive Alberta referendum. Albertans are clear on their desire to remain a province of Canada. But parts of the province, and Smith’s own party, remain at odds. Separatists still hold United Conservative Party memberships. The premier says they should find a new party. But can she kick them out? And will she?

Also, Smith did not get a mandate on the four referendum questions on constitutional reform, and she failed to get a strong mandate on the other five questions on immigration. There's a cl...

CBC projects a clear majority of Albertans have voted to remain a province of Canada, rejecting a second, binding referendum on separation. The results were delayed to around 11 p.m. MT, as some polling stations were open later than expected. 

Host Kathleen Petty is joined by CBC senior reporter Alex Boyd to break down what is known about the early, unofficial results. They look at the perceptions around the energy and enthusiasm of both the federalist and independence campaigns. Plus, where it leaves Premier Danielle Smith in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Front Burner host, Jayme Poisson travels to Edmonton to take you inside two rallies where campaigners for a united Canada – and campaigners for Alberta independence – make their last pitch to voters before Monday's referendum. 

Plus, what we know about the deadly fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta that left four service members dead and at least 19 in critical condition. 

Front Burner is a daily news podcast that takes you deep into the stories shaping Canada and the world. Each morning, from Monday to Friday, host Jayme Poisson talks with the sm...

Premier Danielle Smith says she’s heard plenty from pundits, commentators and political actors ahead of this referendum. Now it's time to hear from Albertans themselves. This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty talks with voters about the process and their feelings as they cast their ballots.

One voter, who works in the energy sector, says she is done with Confederation and ready for an independent Alberta. A social worker says the current government is failing when it comes to cost of living, but wonders if an independent Alberta could do any be...

Premier Danielle Smith wants to “vote and move on” but is that even possible? For separatists like Mitch Sylvestre, this referendum on Alberta’s future might not be the end. With an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots requested, Sylvestre says he has cause to be suspicious if his side doesn’t get at least 40 per cent support. Host Kathleen Petty and CBC senior reporter Julia Wong look at the stakes and what could come after the vote.

Plus, conservative strategist Michael Solberg and political science professor Clark Banack weigh in on the trouble brewing for Smit...

The Carney government says a West Coast pipeline — now called Pacific Link — is a key nation-building project and essential to the country’s economic future. It's a hard-won victory for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. But what’s in it for the rest of Canada? Are they buying what Mark Carney is selling? 

West of Centre host Kathleen Petty hears from residents in the heart of oil country — Fort McMurray — who want to avoid boom-time growing pains. Plus, energy industry experts Emma Graney and Gitane De Silva on the tricky negotiations for a permit. There’s a lot to get...

New polling shows AI data centres in Alberta are a political problem for the UCP government. We hear from voters in the heart of conservative country who are saying “no” to these mega-projects near their farmland. As Technology Minister Nate Glubish tries to sell Albertans on the strategy to woo tech giants – including Meta – at a series of hostile town halls, many voters aren’t buying into the plan. 

Host Kathleen Petty is joined by political watchers Jason Markusoff and Trevor Harrison, who dive into new data from Janet Brown Opinion Research that shows only seven...

It’s crunch time to sway conservative voters ahead of Alberta’s referendum. But are federalist leaders doing enough? So far, separatists have reported raising nearly three times as much money as federalists and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pushed the unity file to another Alberta MP. Host Kathleen Petty and former Conservative MP Damien Kurek look at what needs to happen in the final weeks and what’s at stake if federalist get-out-the vote efforts fall flat.

Plus, journalists Alex Boyd and Matthew Scace on why separatists seem to be more organized when it com...

Separatists think they’ll win a vote they’re poised to lose by a wide margin, according to an exclusive new poll. With a little more than five weeks to go before Alberta’s fall referendum, host Kathleen Petty explains how the heck we got here and where we’re headed next.

David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, does a deep dive into Alberta public opinion. His numbers say if the referendum was held today, Albertans would vote decisively to remain. Motivations for the other side aren’t clearcut. Do they actually want to leave? How...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are using very different tactics in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war. As Smith travels to Nashville, we ask whether her kill them with kindness approach is working. And Alberta’s senior representative in Washington, Nathan Cooper, weighs in on the delicate dance of diplomacy in Donald Trump’s America.

To put it all in context, two conservative insiders join host Kathleen Petty. Evan Menzies worked with the United Conservative Party, and before that with Smith during the early days of the Wildrose Party. Cole Hoga...

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Putting oil and gas on the bargaining table as the U.S.-Canada trade war heats up would pour gasoline on Alberta’s fall referendum. At least that’s what one separatist leader, Keith Wilson, is arguing. This week we ask Wilson why he thinks the trade war means Albertans should push for a binding referendum on separation in October.

After that, journalists Tyler Dawson from the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star’s Richard Warnica weigh in with host Kathleen Petty on some major questions: how will the trade war in...

From how we entered confederation to how Alberta is debating its future within it, a new book tries to anticipate where the province is headed.

"The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta: An End To Solitude" explores the enigma that is Alberta and pulls back the curtain. Anthony Sayers, David Stewart and Royce Koop provide a revelatory journey through how the province has defined itself politically over the years, what that tells us about what makes Alberta tick and how that may be changing.

Sayers joins host Kathleen...

**New episode drops Friday, August 21**

ENCORE PRESENTATION 

There’s great concern that people in Ottawa aren’t taking what’s happening in Alberta seriously enough. With national unity at stake, some Senators are looking west from the upper chamber and acknowledging there are indeed structural issues at the federal level that’s fueling frustration.

This week on West of Centre, Kathleen Petty welcomes a panel of Prairies senators. Alberta Senator Paula Simons, who was appointed in 2018 and sits in the Independent Senators Group; Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin, appointed...

**New episode drops Friday, August 21**

ENCORE PRESENTATION 

Back in January 2001, six influential Alberta conservatives sent then premier Ralph Klein the now famous 'firewall letter.' Under the heading 'Alberta Agenda,' the letter proposed withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, establishing a provincial police force, bypassing the Canada Revenue Agency in favour of the province collecting its own income tax, and Senate reform. These ideas were seen as fringe. Extremist even. But with the passage of time, some of the key measures in the firewall letter have influenced conservative policy in Alberta, a...

**New episode drops Friday, August 21**

ENCORE PRESENTATION

What does a kid from Nanton, Alta., write in his private journals after spending his days influencing some of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's most controversial policies?

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty takes a peek into The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics, and Pierre Trudeau 1973-1981, with the book's editor, Ron Graham. As the prime minister's principal secretary, Jim Coutts was said to have exercised more backroom power than anyone else in modern Canadian political history. He was everywhere...

As Canada stares down the barrel of fresh U.S. tariffs (50 per cent), there is a realization that the counter-strategies that succeeded in President Donald Trump's first term won't cut it today. For our expert panel, the power to change Trump's mind won't come down to the federal government or Prime Minister Mark Carney. Instead, the pressure will come from America's voters, businesses and political funders.

What game is the U.S. playing in targeting products such as Christmas decorations, dog leashes, toilet paper and hockey sticks, while exempting crude oil, potash and critical...

As Canada stares down the barrel of fresh U.S. tariffs (50 per cent), there is a realization that the counter-strategies that succeeded in President Donald Trump's first term won't cut it today. For our expert panel, the power to change Trump's mind won't come down to the federal government or Prime Minister Mark Carney. Instead, the pressure will come from America's voters, businesses and political funders.

What game is the U.S. playing in targeting products such as Christmas decorations, dog leashes, toilet paper and hockey sticks, while exempting crude oil, potash and critical...

A non-binding trilateral agreement to advance the multibillion-dollar Pathways Project, as part of the push to build a new bitumen pipeline to B.C.'s southwest coast, has now been reached. But in this episode of the podcast, there are serious questions about the math: on emissions, economics, and business case.

Host Kathleen Petty is joined this week by three journalists who have all been analyzing this latest MOU:

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and several prominent federal Conservatives, including leader Pierre Poilievre, had a showdown with Calgary's mayor over a local noise bylaw. It was a master class in political communication by Jeromy Farkas, according to one panellist, in a battle with the Conservative political machine over how long and how loudly people are allowed to party in the Stampede city.

Sounding off with host Kathleen Petty this week:

About 3.4 million Albertans are eligible to receive a $100 energy rebate. The provincial government says the cash will bring meaningful relief from the pain of the cost of living. But for some on this week's episode, the move doesn't cure what's causing affordability issues in the province.

This week, host Kathleen Petty is joined by The Hub's Alberta Edge podcast panellists.

Danielle Smith uses the energy MOU has Exhibit A in her argument for remaining in Canada. Pierre Poilievre uses it as Exhibit A in making his case that the federal government is failing Alberta.

Our guests worry that divisions over how to battle separatism could fracture the provincial conservatives and even pose problems for federal conservatives.

Host Kathleen Petty is joined by two people with deep ties to the Conservative movement.

West of Centre's citizen panel is back, this time to weigh in on October's referendum, where Albertans will be asked to decide the future of their province within Confederation.

Returning to join host Kathleen Petty are Darryl Stanier, who runs a logistics supply chain business; Sunil Shah, an electrical engineer; and Chelsea Matisz, a research scientist. 

The panel agrees Alberta has legitimate grievances within Confederation. But they disagree on whether the 10 questions Albertans will vote on are necessary. They have differing takes on w...

As Albertans contemplate an October referendum that will see them choose between the province remaining in Canada or starting the process toward a future binding independence vote, the governing United Conservative Party is starting to show signs of internal strain and vulnerability of its leader, Premier Danielle Smith.

The political game in Alberta has changed. The debate around the future of the province has ignited emotion on all sides, and has morphed into "primordial politics," a deeply-entrenched, identity-based attachment to your side.

This...

Let’s make a deal, Alberta! Will it be door No. 1 or door No. 2? Except there’s no zonk prize, and you’re not allowed to switch. 

Alberta’s premier has put an end to the speculation about whether voters will get a say on the future of the province. Danielle Smith has announced a tenth referendum question on the ballot in October with two choices: should Alberta remain in Canada or should the provincial government start the process toward a binding referendum on separation? What is the premier’s wager, based on th...

'The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat'. It's an old chestnut that seems apropos in the blood sport of Alberta politics.

The victory is for the Alberta government, as it clears another hurdle in its landmark energy deal with Ottawa. The province has reached an agreement with the federal government on increasing the effective industrial carbon price to $130 per tonne by 2040. While the Pathways Project on carbon capture, utilization and storage, a potential pipeline route, and a private sector proponent are still to come, the agreement could see construction...

Supporters of Alberta independence are celebrating this week after over 300,000 signatures calling for a referendum on separation were submitted to Elections Alberta. 

But it comes as another separatist group, the Centurion Project, is being investigated by the RCMP, Elections Alberta and Alberta’s privacy commissioner for its use of a voters list with the information of nearly three million Albertans. 

West of Centre guest host Jason Markusoff is joined this week by Tyler Dawson, an editor for the Globe and Mail’s opinion section and the author of the new bo...

What you see is what you'd get if an election were held today in Alberta — except the United Conservative Party would have an even bigger majority government.

That's one of the findings from the latest poll by Janet Brown Opinion Research for the CBC.

Brown is one of Alberta's most respected pollsters. Her secret sauce when it comes to opinion research is Albertans talking to Albertans.

Brown joins West of Centre host Kathleen Petty this week to take a deep dive into the findings, al...

The UCP’s decision to reject a bi-partisan commission’s report and order a do-over of riding maps has ignited a firestorm over the usually sleepy issue of electoral boundaries.

Is this meddling or giving rural Alberta fair representation?

Meanwhile, a separatist group is in court to avoid opening its books, Premier Danielle Smith’s new website is pushing her own referendum questions, and many clicks are going to a series of AI “slopaganda” online videos that stoke worries about foreign interference.

And do we have to...

Separatism is in court (again), as several First Nations try to thwart a referendum on Alberta independence. The group collecting signatures to trigger a referendum on separation says it already has more than the required number of signatures. It expects the Smith government to put its question on the ballot, even if a judge rules against the petition.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s education minister has tabled a bill aimed at getting politics and ideology out of the classroom. It mandates that teachers present all issues in a neutral and unbiased way, and li...

As members of the NDP celebrate new leader Avi Lewis and his vision to revitalize their party, there’s skepticism in Alberta that Lewis’ federal victory will put the New Democrats back on the road to relevancy.

Two NDP insiders, Shannon Phillips, a former Alberta NDP cabinet minister, and Keith McLaughlin, who was chief of staff to several ministers in Rachel Notley’s government, join West of Centre host Kathleen Petty to offer their analysis on the impact that Lewis will have in Alberta — and they’re blunt in their assessment.

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Back in January 2001, six influential Alberta conservatives sent then premier Ralph Klein the now famous 'firewall letter.' Under the heading 'Alberta Agenda,' the letter proposed withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, establishing a provincial police force, bypassing the Canada Revenue Agency in favour of the province collecting its own income tax, and Senate reform. These ideas were seen as fringe. Extremist even. But with the passage of time, some of the key measures in the firewall letter have influenced conservative policy in Alberta, and are now being set in motion 25 years later by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.<...

There’s great concern that people in Ottawa aren’t taking what’s happening in Alberta seriously enough. With national unity at stake, some Senators are looking west from the upper chamber and acknowledging there are indeed structural issues at the federal level that’s fueling frustration.

This week on West of Centre, Kathleen Petty welcomes a panel of Prairies senators. Alberta Senator Paula Simons, who was appointed in 2018 and sits in the Independent Senators Group; Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin, appointed in 2008; and Manitoba Senator Charles Adler, who was appointed in 2024. Both sit in the Cana...

The deadly U.S.- and Israel-led attack on Iran has given way to a cold economic reality. According to the International Energy Agency, the war in the Middle East has created the biggest oil supply disruption in history. With oil markets in turmoil and fears of export restrictions growing as the conflict enters its third week, Canada suddenly has more relevance in the conversation around energy security.

This week, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Gitane De Silva, the former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator and Alberta’s former se...

For decades, Alberta’s federal politics has been a fortress. But the Conservative blue wall protecting the province is showing signs of cracking. And the colour seeping in? Liberal red.

To help understand the shift, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Éric Grenier, a premier Canadian polls analyst and founder of The Writ; and David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, whose latest online survey reinforces the idea that the increase in Liberal support in Alberta isn’t a blip.

Multiple polls since the start of the year...

Buckle up and keep your hands on the bar, Albertans! The province’s ride on the resource revenue roller coaster continues, and the latest $9.4 billion drop is enough to make a staunch fiscal conservative lose their lunch. The latest budget update projects three consecutive years of red ink and increased borrowing to fund critical public services, with no clear track back to balance. 

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty has assembled three big brains to critique this latest dive loop in Alberta’s fiscal trajectory. Economist Trevor Tombe and political scientist Lisa...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has some questions she wants Albertans to answer. Nine of them, to be exact.

That’s how many referendum questions Smith announced in a televised speech that she’s going to put to Albertans on Oct. 19.

They range from constitutional reform to abolish the Senate and change who picks judges, to several that would directly affect some immigrants and the services they receive.

To unpack the proposed immigration changes, host Jason Markusoff is first joined by Raj Sharma, an immigration lawy...

What does a kid from Nanton, Alta., write in his private journals after spending his days influencing some of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's most controversial policies?

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty takes a peek into The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics, and Pierre Trudeau 1973-1981, with the book's editor, Ron Graham. As the prime minister's principal secretary, Jim Coutts was said to have exercised more backroom power than anyone else in modern Canadian political history. He was everywhere that mattered during the Trudeau era 50 years ago, and then went home and wrote...

Grab your snacks and beverages and settle in for a West of Centre twofer, no coupon required.

First, host Kathleen Petty reconvenes our citizens’ panel — Chelsea, Darryl, and Sunil — to get their perspectives on the latest happenings in Alberta. Darryl, who identifies as "blue through and through" describes his recent trip to Ontario and how Alberta politics is perceived by some in the east (Hint: it isn’t flattering). Sunil, a disappointed Conservative supporter, feels that Alberta has legitimate issues within Confederation, but questions the premier’s current tactics. Meanwhile, Chelsea is struggling to connect th...