It’s like one of the old Hardy Boys books. The Mystery of The Carney-Smith Showdown.
It all starts when the news comes Tuesday morning.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is at the microphone in Ottawa.
A newshound asks the question.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in Ottawa on Friday to speak at a conservative gabfest.
Does Carney have plans to meet with Smith and discuss the elephant in the room, the upcoming October referendum vote on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or leave and become its own country?
Then there’s pipelines.
So what about the Smith-Carney showdown?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (L) and Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) and others during a meeting June 1, 2025.
Carney says he has plans to meet with the Alberta premier when she is in Ottawa. They’re having a meeting later this week. It’s being settled. It’s been arranged. He looks forward to seeing her.
When the newshound asks if the Alberta referendum vote is on the agenda of the meeting, Carney moves on to the next question.
Back in Edmonton, there is no meeting with Carney. They haven’t been told of a meeting though press outlets write of the much-anticipated meeting.
There could be a meeting. There might be a meeting. They’re still waiting by the phone for Carney’s people to discuss details of a meeting if there is a meeting. No one knows what the hours ahead will bring.
But right now there is no meeting.
Smith would no doubt have been more than willing to meet Carney, especially since the prime minister did talk Tuesday about how if push comes to shove Alberta has to follow the rules for separation as set out in federal law.
The premier also knows full well the clock is ticking and she would no doubt inform the prime minister time is flying by.
Patience is wearing thin.
There is only so much talking you can do before you have to start walking. Actions speak louder than words.
I can see Smith telling the prime minister to hurry up. The two sides are already behind schedule.
Mitch Sylvestre, CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project, surrounded by boxes of signatures outside the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton on April 4, 2026.
And then there are those Alberta separatists with their 300,000-plus signatures on petitions, enough names to have a vote in October on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or leave.
NOTE TO READER: There will be a vote on Alberta independence this fall. Can you imagine not having a vote with two petitions in the hopper, one from the pro-Canada crowd, the other from the independence supporters?
Smith’s inner circle remains tight-lipped but you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know there looks to be a bit of a stalemate in talks with Carney.
This scribbler has told you in the past there has been frustration, a restlessness over the fact the Carney Liberals and the Smith government have not agreed on the details of the industrial carbon tax, how high it will go and how fast.
In the past, Smith’s people have said they will not sign on to something that’s not good for Alberta just to get to an agreement. Alberta will only move so far.
The talks are said to be progressing. There is progress.
Yes, progress. Inch by painful inch. And we’re not talking about a pipeline yet. Read on.
Speaking of an Alberta pipeline to the B.C. northwest coast, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre locks horns with Carney and his crew on Tuesday.
Carney is so full of it.
When asked about the Alberta pipeline Carney says it’s more likely than not, more probable than possible but none of that says it’s certain and there’s still a lot of work to be done.
Poilievre says it’s “like a riddle from Dr. Seuss. So how much will be the cost of green eggs and ham next year?”
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa May 5, 2026.
Poilievre goes after Carney while Carney’s sidekick Tim Hodgson says Smith is optimistic about working with this federal government.
Errr… Maybe Carney should have that sitdown with Smith.
An MP shouts at the Liberals: “Tell us the truth!” He’s asking a lot.
Before Poilievre even drops the gloves against the Liberals he says Carney has wasted a whole year.
It is Carney who is standing in the way, hasn’t made up his mind if he wants the pipeline and all this from a man who said he would green-light projects at speeds not seen in generations.
Meanwhile, Smith did ask for a Westerner to be named the new Governor General of Canada. It’s been over 30 years since someone from the West has held that post.
Of course, it didn’t happen. Noted lawyer and judge Louise Arbour got the job, another pick from the liberal Laurentian elite.
“The most Ottawa bubble choice,” says Howard Anglin, an expert in constitutional law and a top advisor to Jason Kenney when Kenney was premier.
“All the Ottawa bubblers will line up to applaud.”
As for that Smith-Carney showdown? What is Carney up to?