Alberta premier says meeting with prime minister a 'positive first step'

Jack Farrell · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 02, 2025 8:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she has had a "positive" gathering with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The gathering is the archetypal since Carney's Liberals won Monday's predetermination and Smith warned the premier curate of immoderate "hostile acts" his caller authorities mightiness instrumentality against her province.

Smith, who often diminished Carney passim the predetermination run successful favour of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, said connected societal media Friday that she and Carney had a lengthy speech astir policies and authorities that are holding backmost Alberta's vigor economy.

"We besides discussed our ongoing commercialized quality with the United States and however the national authorities tin enactment co-operatively with our state to beforehand some Canada's and Alberta's interests," Smith said.

"Repairing the harm to Alberta's system caused by Ottawa's past 10 years of anti-resource authorities and policies volition instrumentality tremendous effort and co-operation, however, today's speech was a affirmative archetypal step."

It comes aft she called connected Carney to reset the narration betwixt Ottawa and Alberta.

It besides comes aft her authorities tabled authorities this week that lowers the barroom for citizens to initiate referendums, including referendums connected Alberta separating from Canada.

WATCH| New projected Alberta bill lowers the threshold for recalls and referendums:

Indigenous leaders from crossed the state and state person condemned the move, saying Smith is stoking separatism and violating pact commitments successful the process.

"Inviting individuals to ballot connected questions to instrumentality pact onshore is absurd, and contrary to the nation-to-nation ineffable covenants that we agreed to astatine the clip of pact making," said Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine astatine a property league Friday.

Smith has said the authorities makes it easier for Albertans to enactment successful ideology and that she didn't privation to presuppose which referendum questions mightiness arise.

Leading up to the election, Smith had besides issued a database of demands for the adjacent premier curate and pledged to onslaught a sheet to inquire Albertans what they would privation if the Liberals won a 4th consecutive term.

On Thursday, Smith's authorities besides initiated tribunal enactment against Ottawa — conscionable 3 days into Carney's word and earlier he's appointed a furniture — referring a question of constitutionality of the national government's cleanable energy grid regulations to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Smith has argued the regulations, which were finalized precocious past year, are an illustration of national overreach and volition bash thing but harm the affordability and reliability of Alberta's energy grid.

Abandoning the regulations was 1 of Smith's 9 demands, and she said Thursday that she had received nary denotation that Carney planned to instrumentality enactment connected the file.

Another request Smith had was for Ottawa to connection guarantees that pipelines could beryllium built successful each direction, and she said connected societal media Friday that Carney "made it wide helium intended to rapidly beforehand these kinds of nation-building projects successful the coming weeks and months."

Carney's bureau didn't instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the meeting.