Separatists want to 'hold Poilievre's feet to the fire' in Alberta byelection bid

OTTAWA — Currently seatless Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is eyeing an easy win in a not-yet-called byelection in rural Alberta, but locals say he could be caught in the middle of a growing firestorm over Alberta separation. The first hurdle for Poilievre, who represented suburban Ottawa as an MP for two decades before losing his seat last month, will be convincing locals that he’s not just another central Canada politician who sees Alberta as a giant ATM machine. “I’m somewhat suspect that Mr. Poilievre has said publicly that he doesn’t feel there should be any big changes to the equalization formula,” said Rick Strankman, referring to the federal wealth redistribution program Alberta hasn’t seen a dime from since the mid-1960s. Strankman is a third-generation resident of Poilievre’s prospective riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, who represented the area as an Wildrose MLA from 2012 to 2019. He says he’s seen an uptick in support for Alberta separatism within the community since last month’s federal election , which saw the Liberals win their fourth-straight mandate. “I think many people are deeply unsatisfied, and many people are frustrated in that they don’t know how to achieve a positive change, unless it… evolves from a referendum,” said Strankman. Province-wide polls show up to two-thirds of Albertans who support the governing United Conservative Party would vote ‘yes’ in a referendum on Alberta independence. Poilievre said last week that he was “against (Alberta) separation” but sympathized with the “legitimate grievances” of those who were for it. Strankman, who’s involved with the pro-separation Alberta Prosperity Project, noted that the group has several upcoming events in and around the riding, including a forum in the 800-person town of Castor next month. “I just saw a poster for the Castor event at my local tractor repair shop,” said Strankman. Strankman doesn’t think that Poilievre is in danger of losing the byelection but suspects that turnout could suffer if he ignores the rising tide of Alberta separatism. “You could almost run a straw bale in our riding under the Conservative flag and that would get elected… but there might be an apathy there if (Poilievre) can’t shake the label of being a parachute candidate from Ottawa,” said Strankman. Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer with the Alberta Prosperity Project, says he expects the high-profile byelection to attract “a strong pro-independence candidate or two” with “good local name recognition.” “It would be fascinating to see somebody hold Poilievre’s feet to the fire and make him explain how it is that federalism still works for Alberta,” said Rath. Rath publicly dared Poilievre last week to run in Battle River—Crowfoot under the slogan “No more Alberta tax dollars for Quebec, and a dairy cow and micro-dairy in every Alberta barn that wants one.” Prime Minister Mark Carney said shortly after the election that he’d ensure Poilievre’s byelection took place “as soon as possible” if his fellow Conservatives wanted him to stay on as leader. The soonest the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection can take place under federal law is in early August , meaning it will likely follow three provincial byelections expected for earlier in the summer. One of these byelections, coincidentally, will take place in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, where Alberta’s first, and thus far only, separatist MLA Gordon Kesler was elected in a 1982 byelection. Kesler was beaten soundly in a general election later that year. Cameron Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, announced on Tuesday that he will be running in the riding , hoping to follow in Kesler’s footsteps as a separatist voice in the Alberta Legislature. He says that Kesler, who’s still active in the riding, has been an indispensable source of support and wisdom as he embarks on his own political journey. Davies told the National Post he doesn’t see Poilievre as an advocate for Alberta, even if he ends up winning a federal seat in the province. “(Poilievre) is a federal politician… he has to be a Team Canada player,” said Davies. “Alberta no longer wants to be part of team Canada, and so at some point (he’ll) have to reconcile with that.” National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.