There is no shortage of awkward atmospheres in Canadian politics, but the annual Western Premiers’ Conference kicking off Monday in Kananaskis may take the prize this year. Leaders from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon are converging on the scenic mountain resort west of Calgary for two days of talks all while their host province edges closer than ever to a formal debate over leaving the country.
Nunavut Premier John Main, unable to attend in person, is set to join the discussions virtually.
On the agenda are the usual priorities: regional trade, cross-border relationships, and shared policy concerns that bind western Canada together. But looming over the conference table is a far more unsettling question one that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith herself put there.
Just last week, Smith announced plans for an October referendum asking Albertans a direct and historic question: do they want to remain part of Canada, or do they want to begin the process toward a binding vote on separation? It is the most concrete step toward a breakaway vote the province has ever taken, and it has rattled nerves from Victoria to Ottawa.
British Columbia Premier David Eby did not mince words when asked about attending a conference hosted by a premier who, in his telling, is “setting the table to leave the country.” The comment, sharp and deliberate, captures the tension that will almost certainly simmer beneath the surface of every handshake and policy discussion this week.
Whether the premiers can set those fault lines aside long enough to get meaningful work done remains to be seen. What is clear is that the Kananaskis summit typically a forum for pragmatic western cooperation has taken on a weight this year that no agenda item can fully contain.
