Commentary
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been trying to maintain a delicate political balance between an active provincial separatist movement and dedicated federalists within her base of support as a referendum with unity implications approaches.
With such a polarizing issue, there isn’t much of a grey area that can be occupied by political figures. In trying to assuage concerns of secessionists by holding a non-binding referendum with a unity question while spending $4 million on a campaign supporting the federalist option, the premier appears to have managed to alienate people in both camps. A recent byelection loss in what had been considered a safe seat for the United Conservative Party illustrates this….