Will Alberta leave Canada? Either way, Premier Danielle Smith is feeling the heat

At a recent anti-separatist rally in Calgary, left-wing activist Jenny Yeremiy denounced Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as a "separatist premier," accusing her of promoting independence "like a teenager slamming her bedroom door."

It was a striking charge against a politician who, at almost the same moment, was being condemned by committed Alberta separatists for refusing to let voters decide independence on the terms they wanted.

'I'm surprised, actually, my polling was as high as it was.'

That political whiplash neatly captures Smith's predicament: To many federalists, she has become the face of a dangerous separatist movement, while to many separatists, she is the establishment figure standing in its way.

As the debate over Alberta independence continues, passions on either side show no signs of abating.

Strong and sovereign

Smith, who has advocated for "a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada," finds herself leading a United Conservative Party whose grassroots includes a significant separatist faction, with past polling suggesting a majority of UCP voters are at least open to Alberta leaving Canada."

The latest flash point came in May after King's Bench Justice Shaina Leonard ruled that an independence referendum question backed by more than 300,000 petition signatures could not proceed without additional consultation with Alberta's indigenous communities.

Although she appealed the court ruling, Smith has concluded that the litigation could take years to resolve. Instead of placing a straight independence question on October's ballot, she has proposed asking Albertans whether they want to hold a binding independence referendum in the future — a referendum on whether to hold a referendum.

RELATED: Albertans are ready to vote on Canadian secession — so why is their premier stalling?

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Wrath of Rath

That decision drew criticism from Alberta Prosperity Project legal counsel Jeff Rath, who argued that the court ruling did not prevent the province from proceeding with the original question asking Albertans whether they wish to remain in Canada.

Speaking with Blaze Lifestyle, Smith defended the government's approach as the product of legal advice.

"As you know, I get a lot of advice from a lot of lawyers, and the lawyers ... have told me that once something is decided in a court of law, it's the law of the land," Smith said.

"The law of the land right now in Alberta is that in order to proceed with a question that was designed as the Stay Free Alberta folks put forward, we'd have to do months of indigenous consultation."

A recent Angus Reid poll found Smith's approval rating in Alberta had fallen to 39%, one of the lowest levels of her premiership. Smith said she considers that number shockingly favorable considering that she has angered nearly every faction in the debate simultaneously.

"I'm surprised, actually, my polling was as high as it was," she said.

"Everyone was mad at me for about a week there — I had four different groups."

'Why are you doing this?'

She described the first group as Albertans who oppose even discussing independence.

"There was a group of people who said, 'Why are you doing this at all?'" For Smith, the answer comes down to Alberta's robust Citizen Initiative Act, which allows eligible voters to submit proposals directly to the provincial government. "When 400,000 people sign that petition, and 300,000 sign another saying they want to have this debate ... it's our obligation as government to follow our own law and put that forward."

A second group, Smith said, wanted a referendum initially but later "got cold feet" and hoped the government would provide "an off-ramp."

"The leave folks ... wanted us to put their question on as it had been written," said Smith, referring to the original petition language asking Albertans directly whether they wish to remain in Canada. "I explained [that] we have legal advice that we cannot do that."

Finally, Smith pointed to Albertans who are dissatisfied with Ottawa but do not want to leave Canada.

"I know that there's a group out there that are not happy with [Alberta's] relationship with Canada, don't want to break the country up, but they want to send a message. And ... I just think there's a better way to send a message."