EDITORIAL: Time for Carney to respect the West

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has an opportunity to reset the federal government’s relationship with Alberta and Saskatchewan and he should take it.

The attitude of the previous Liberal government under Justin Trudeau towards these provinces was made clear when one of his cabinet ministers committed the classic political gaffe of accidentally telling the truth.

That was when rural economic development minister Gudie Hutchings — who didn’t run in the April 28 election — said that if Prairie governments wanted special deals on carbon taxes like the one the Trudeau Liberals had given Atlantic Canada, “perhaps they need to elect more Liberals … so that we can have that conversation as well.”

That summed up the historic attitude of Liberal governments, made explicit by legendary Liberal campaign organizer Sen. Keith Davey in the 1980 election, whose slogan was “Screw the West, we’ll take the rest.”

With the Liberals winning only two seats in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan in this election, pursuing the Trudeau government’s attitude will further divide the country when what’s needed in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against Canada is national unity.

We disagree with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to initiate a referendum on separation in that province, although she personally opposes it.

A recent survey by the Angus Reid Institute prior to the election found 30% of Albertans, 33% of Saskatchewanians — and 30% of Quebecers — would vote in favour of separation or joining the U.S. if the Liberals won the election.

So the good news is that most people in the West don’t want to separate from Canada.

But there is the obvious and continuing problem of the Liberals being oblivious to their concerns in part because they have so few western MPs in their government.

Carney can address that to some extent, based on the composition of the federal cabinet he has yet to name.

But one of the root problems is his continuing commitment to Canada achieving net zero industrial greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which will wreak havoc on Canada’s energy-producing provinces and is corrosive to national unity, particularly in terms of its negative impact on their economies.

Carney knows this. For the sake of national unity, he needs to address it.