Danielle Smith did not draw a line in the sand for the UCP separatists

Listen carefully to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s post-referendum message to members of her United Conservative Party (UCP) and you’ll understand that she isn’t drawing a strict line in the sand for the party’s many separatists so much as introducing a gentle policy of “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.”

Secessionists are still welcome in the woods of the UCP – yes, the Prime Minister is desperate to keep them there – they just need to agree to keep their lips shut about their separatism for now, especially if they hold party office or run as candidates.

“Now that the referendum is behind us, I hope you know I have no ill will towards our members because of how they voted or which side they campaigned on,” Smith told the membership in the pre-recorded message posted on social media yesterday. “What is important now is that we as a party accept the results of the referendum and support and implement the clear mandate given to us by Albertans to pursue a strong Alberta and a united Canada.”

Of course, the real message of the vote in the referendum on a referendum that was fueled on the province of Smith and its separatist-dominated party is that the overwhelming majority of Albertans want no part of separatism, secession or sovereignty in a united Canada. They are proud Canadians and intend to stay that way. Period. Full stop.

“A strong Alberta and a united Canada is the position of our party and our government,” Smith continued, keeping the candle of sovereignty-association bright enough for the separatist faithful to see and dim enough for the rest of us to ignore.

“While members of our party can have any opinion they want, candidates running under our party banner must commit to supporting and maintaining that position from the day they pick up their nomination papers, throughout their candidacy, and for the duration of their time as MPs in our caucus,” she said.

“We expect all members of our Provincial Board and members of the Constituency Association Council across the province to maintain our party’s position on this issue and focus their attention and efforts on a single goal. over the next 12 months“, she continued. (Emphasis added.) “And that goal is to beat the NDP in every riding in the province.”

Prime Minister Smith then outlined a dystopian fantasy of woke “socialist NDP” rule, pure comedy gold, in which children would change their genders without their parents’ knowledge, the carbon tax would return, and Albertans would be forced to get vaccines, while Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi’s “boss in Ottawa, Avi Lewis, would gain a significant amount of control over Alberta’s future.

So begins Smith’s version of the reconstruction era of the UCP, the party whose unity is in shambles and whose popularity with Albertans, like the premier’s own, is sinking after a referendum that no one but hard-core separatists wanted.

There is no way this will be legislated or the Riot Act will be interpreted to the party’s separatists, as many media stories yesterday tried to suggest. There is a temporary pause in session talks while Ms Smith tries to maneuver the powerful separatist faction of the party into not giving her the rush they did to her predecessor Jason Kenney.

That was the prime minister’s real message, not her performative challenge to “those few who … insist on dividing our party and turning it into a vehicle for the independence movement. I would respectfully invite them to join another party.”

Smith repeated some of the same points to reporters yesterday during a press conference on the referendum results. “I’m asking people to do some self-reflection, and if they can accept the results of the mandate that Alberta gave us through a free and democratic process, then we can do a reset. And those who can’t, they have opportunities through other political parties.”

Of course, she means that the separatist people really do not have such opportunities. Only those intent on political suicide would join the Republican Party of Alberta, tarnished as it is with its connection to the leak of the personal information of 2.9 million Alberta voters last spring. What else is there? Wexit?

And while Ms Smith’s personal reputation has certainly suffered as a result of the referendum debacle, she believes she can recover from any blunders and, in truth, often. This will be a test of that talent.

As Referendum Vote Counts Roll In, UCP ‘Mandate’ Continues to Slip

Meanwhile last night, the damaging nine sub-referendums included to scapegoat immigrants for policy failures of the UCP and give the Premier an excuse to engage in endless constitutional battles with Ottawa that have no chance of success – fueling future regional discontent – not well done as the number of Alberta elections slowly continues.

With 97 percent of ballots counted at 10 p.m., Albertans appear to have voted “no” to all four of the UCP’s constitutional referendums, despite Smith’s previous comments about his mandate.

Surely this suggests that Albertans have had enough of the UCP’s constant unproductive spat with Ottawa.

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