Then came the interview.
On Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivers a speech to a standing-room-only crowd at the historic Legion No. 1 in downtown Calgary.
He tells the crowd Alberta does not need to be a different country.
Alberta needs different government policies coming out of Ottawa.
Most people in Alberta want those different policies and held out hope Poilievre would become prime minister and make it all come true.
You know the rest of the story. Now, Alberta separatism grabs headlines.
There was no question-and-answer session with newshounds this day but your scribbler managed to talk with Poilievre. He did deliver the Calgary Sun back in the day.
I told him I couldn’t help but ask myself a question while listening to his words from the Legion stage.
When is Prime Minister Mark Carney going to make his speech to Albertans? When will the jet-setting prime minister touch down here and make his pitch to Albertans?
He is the prime minister and Carney is always going on about his glorious boyhood days in Edmonton.
Poilievre responds and, true to form, he does not pull his punches.
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“He should have been here a long time ago to denounce his own personal policies the Trudeau government implemented on his advice. Mark Carney founded a banking alliance to defund oil and gas. He said we should keep half our oil and gas in the ground.
“He advised Justin Trudeau against approving the pipeline to the Pacific.”
That’s the Northern Gateway pipeline that doesn’t exist.
“He supported big carbon taxes.
“He’s got to come to Alberta and denounce everything he and his party have done for the last decade. He has been wrong about every major economic issue of the last decade.
“I think if he had the humility to show up and say: Hey, I, Mark Carney, was wrong. I think a lot of people would appreciate that kind of candor.”
Does the leader of the official opposition expect that kind of candor?
“I don’t know what to expect. He doesn’t give me advance notice of what he’s doing. It would be good for him, though.”
Does Poilievre think Carney has changed?
“I don’t think he has changed,” chuckles the Conservative leader, believing with Carney everything is an illusion and there is a lot of rhetoric and way, way more talk than walk.
“I think he should get on a plane and come out here and make a speech to talk about how the federal government will need to reverse all of its policies on oil and gas, law and order, firearms and most other subjects.
“That would go a long way to healing the wounds the Liberals caused.”
The audience watches as Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at the Royal Canadian Legion in downtown Calgary on Monday, June 8, 2026. Poilievre was launching his campaign on national unity calling for a strong Alberta within a united Canada.
Poilievre says more than once how the division we now see in the country is driven by policy.
“Separatists in other countries are almost always driven by some powerful dislike for the country they’re part of or a dislike for some other group also living in the country.”
Alberta is different. Those wanting to split from Canada don’t like the bad policies imposed by Ottawa and Albertans are asking for changes that would benefit the whole country.
And the Conservative leader believes the Liberal mess can be fixed.
“Nobody in Ontario is asking for this insane gun grab. Nobody.”
He says Toronto police think it’s ridiculous.
At a Montreal Canadiens game Poilievre says people were coming up and telling him we need to build pipelines.
“This is in downtown Montreal!”
Then there’s the memorandum of understanding between Carney and the Alberta government which might lead to a pipeline.
Poilievre says the fact Carney creates an office to pick and choose which projects can go around regulations to get built shows the regulations are unnecessary. They are impossible barriers.
Poilievre adds he believes there is a method behind the madness of this approach.
“It means everything has to go through Carney. It concentrates power in his hands. He gets to decide what happens and what doesn’t.
“Every project proponent has to kneel before the altar of Caesar to get his blessing rather than just going and building things.”
Poilievre says he has seen some positive signs of an attitude adjustment in central Canada but he wants to see what happens in the coming months.
Will My Canada Includes Alberta bumper stickers pop up in Ontario and other provinces?
Poilievre hopes there are enough Canadians who realize what is oh-so-obvious to people here.
“Alberta makes such a massive contribution to this country and has done so with so little return from the federal government.
“It’s time to show some respect for the province and do the things Albertans have been demanding.”
What say you, Mr. Carney?