Premier Jason Kenney says deep down Albertans don’t actually want to separate from the rest of Canada.
He spoke to media Tuesday afternoon about the sentiment sweeping the province following Monday’s federal election, saying Albertans shouldn’t let Justin Trudeau and his policies make them feel unwelcome in their own country.
He says Alberta has allies across the country and provincial governments who have “got our back” on a number of issues including a fair deal for the resource sector and oil and gas workers.
Kenney reiterates Alberta is not isolated, is not alone and people shouldn’t draw that conclusion from Monday night.
He also says land-locking the province through separation is not a solution, adding “the green left has been leading a campaign to land-lock our energy, why would we give them what they want by land-locking Alberta within North America as a jurisdiction that has no argument for access to our coasts or for that matter, a jurisdiction that would fall out of NAFTA.”
Of the 34 federal seats in Alberta, the Conservatives won 33 of them. The lone exception was in Edmonton Strathcona which went to the NDP.