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If you are a politician of a conservative bent in Alberta you can’t be aggrieved enough.

You can’t sufficiently lament just how awful the Liberal government in Ottawa is and how every problem that has ever befallen Wild Rose Country is the fault of the Laurentian elite who run this country.

Except when it’s being run by a prime minister from Calgary.

When Jason Kenney left life as a federal politician to unite two conservative parties in Alberta and run for premier, he did so largely on the back of antipathy for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In the 2019 election, the United Conservative Party Leader didn’t so much run against Rachel Notley and the NDP as he did Mr. Trudeau and the big bad Liberals who were allegedly making life unbearable for everyone living in the province.

That this was a total crock was largely beside the point. Albertans have been told this story so often, for so long, that it has become gospel. It’s largely why the province has been a hotbed of separatism in the West.

Now, of course, Mr. Kenney is on his way out. Despite his best efforts to demonize Mr. Trudeau and make the Prime Minister responsible for all of his own failings, it didn’t work. His party demanded his hide and got it. He remains on the job only until his replacement is named in October.

And now the race is on.

Many of the names seeking to replace Mr. Kenney are familiar, including some who previously served in his cabinet: Travis Toews, Rebecca Schulz, Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer. Former federal cabinet minister Michelle Remple Garner is considering a run and as such announced she is stepping down as co-chair of Patrick Brown’s Conservative Party of Canada leadership effort.

But it is two former leaders of the provincial Wildrose Party – Danielle Smith and Brian Jean – who have made the biggest splash so far, with pitches designed to play to the sense of injustice, ill treatment and cold-hearted unfairness at the hands of Ottawa that prevails in Alberta.

In her launch video, Ms. Smith says Alberta needs less Ottawa in its life. “Our federal government has landlocked our resources, destroyed so many livelihoods and made all the basics we need to live so much more expensive,” she says.

This would be the same federal government that bought, and is now building, a pipeline to tidewater on the West Coast. But whatever you do, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good campaign pitch.

Ms. Smith goes even further, saying that on Day 1 as premier, she would introduce the Alberta Sovereignty Act “authorizing the provincial government to refuse to enforce any federal law or policy that attacks Alberta’s interests or provincial rights.”

Maybe every province could do the same. Then B.C. could halt the oil pipeline that Mr. Trudeau shoved down its throat on Alberta’s behalf.

It’s hard to say whether Ms. Smith actually believes the stuff she’s saying or is just playing to the constituency she believes she needs to win the leadership. Regardless, it makes her bid look unserious and, frankly, pathetic.

“If you want to run on a platform of Alberta separatism then do it,” Alberta political scientist Duane Bratt tweeted in response to Ms. Smith’s appeal. “It’s more honest than saying that we will stay in Canada but nullify any federal laws/regulation that we don’t like.”

Mr. Jean, it turns out, is fishing for votes in the same waters. He’s also campaigning on the promise of more autonomy for Alberta, saying he will push to open constitutional negotiations with Ottawa if elected as leader. Among the primary objectives of such a move would be to renegotiate equalization.

More grievance politics.

Making changes to the Constitution is an extremely hard thing to do, requiring the approval of the House of Commons, the Senate and, most difficult of all, two-thirds of provincial legislatures. There are many provinces quite happy with the equalization formula as it exists.

For years, Mr. Kenney and others have been propagating the falsehood that Ottawa is simply robbing Alberta to give more money to provinces such as Quebec. In fact, the equalization fund is made up of money collected through federal taxes – which are the same across the country.

In a formula that Mr. Kenney approved as a minister in Stephen Harper’s cabinet, provinces with higher incomes, such as Alberta, don’t receive transfer payments. The system is largely a fair one, but you’ll never hear an Alberta politician say that out loud.

It seems that regardless of who wins the UCP leadership, the script will be the same: Blame Ottawa for everything, accept responsibility for nothing.

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