For anyone looking, it was right there in bold text: white on blue, a message affixed to the front of the lectern Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used to speak two days after her province overwhelmingly rejected the pursuit of separatism.
asserted
province → look → separatism
“Stronger Alberta within a United Canada,” the text read.
asserted
text → read → Canada
It was a new formulation of a familiar refrain for Ms. Smith, who has spent years agitating about Alberta’s place in Canada.
asserted
who → spend → Canada
Her government passed an “Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act.”
asserted
government → pass → Act
The ranks of her United Conservative Party swelled with separatists.
asserted
ranks → swell → separatists
She lowered the signature threshold for citizens to petition lawmakers to consider a proposed referendum question, clearing the way for a campaign that ushered those separatists into a bright international spotlight.
asserted
that → lower → spotlight
But when Ms. Smith spoke this week, the word “sovereignty” was gone from the lectern, and with it – perhaps, if she can navigate the stormy political waters she herself had a hand in creating – the turmoil of a lengthy chapter in which some in Alberta loudly threatened the breakup of Confederation, until Albertans themselves made clear they had no interest.
asserted
they → speak → interest
She was sending a clear signal,” said Monte Solberg, the former Conservative cabinet minister who now leads New West Public Affairs, an influential government relations firm in Calgary.
asserted
who → send → Calgary
A restive Alberta moment, one in which Ms. Smith had sought to appease both separatists and federalists in her own party, “was over,” he said.
asserted
he → seek → party
“Albertans want to move on.
asserted
Albertans → want → ?
They want some optimism.
asserted
They → want → optimism
They want to work with the federal government.”
asserted
They → want → government
But none of this presages peace and quiet.
asserted
none → presage → peace
Ms. Smith has found, like generations of Western leaders before her, that stoking anger at Ottawa is a potent political tool.
asserted
stoking → find → Ottawa
Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, must find a way to calm the political headwinds while showing he is willing to work with Ms. Smith and wrest productive gains from a province where loud voices continue to advocate rupture – all while this country’s largest trading partner continues to inflict economic damage.
asserted
partner → find → damage
Even so, with millions marking ballots this week – in Alberta’s referendum and, on Saturday, in a British Columbia provincial election – the landscape of Western politics could be remade.
uncertain
landscape → mark → politics
Mr. Carney has shown himself eager to spur economic growth, abandoning his predecessor’s desire to cap Alberta’s petroleum production; some Albertans, meanwhile, have taken to calling themselves “Carney conservatives.”
asserted
Albertans → show → themselves
British Columbians are choosing a new government, making choices that could alter tensions over the export of energy resources through the province.
uncertain
that → choose → province
And three-quarters of Albertans said they wish to remain in Canada, raising a new possibility of snuffing the destructive flame of separatism in the province.
asserted
they → say → province
Inside Ms. Smith’s United Conservative Party, separatist sentiment remains strong.
asserted
sentiment → remain → Party
In late November, the party will hold an annual general meeting in which members will elect nearly half the provincial board – and leading independence advocates are gunning for control of the seats.
asserted
advocates → hold → seats
Ms. Smith said this week that she expects, from this moment on, that party representatives must be committed to Canada.
asserted
representatives → say → Canada
But separatists, beaten in the referendum, are girding to continue their fight for independence by exerting more control over the party, from the provincial executive to its most grassroots level, the constituency associations.
asserted
separatists → beat → level
If they act in sufficient numbers, they can force a review of Ms. Smith’s leadership.
asserted
they → act → leadership
“It will be a pitched battle,” Mr. Solberg said.
asserted
Solberg → say → ?
Alberta may have chosen Canada.
uncertain
Alberta → choose → Canada
But it’s no longer clear Ms. Smith’s United Conservative Party will continue to choose her.
asserted
Party → ’ → her
The premier has emerged from the referendum into a fractious fight to hold onto her position.
asserted
premier → emerge → position
And it is a fight to wrestle into submission the fervid forces of separatism as they change course, pursuing a political path to splitting apart the country.
asserted
they → wrestle → country
“There’s lots of things that could go wrong,” Mr. Solberg said.
uncertain
Solberg → ’ → things
Two generations ago, Jacques Parizeau brought the country to within a breath of cracking apart.
asserted
Parizeau → bring → breath
Mr. Parizeau was a scion of family wealth, an economist who interned at the Bank of Canada, then worked to foment Quebec’s Quiet Revolution from behind the scenes.
asserted
who → intern → scenes
As a younger man, though, he “didn’t like politics.
asserted
he → like → politics
He found it difficult, he found it tough,” recalled Jean Royer, who served as Mr. Parizeau’s influential chief of staff.
asserted
who → find → staff
But the secessionist leader who would rise to become premier came early to a realization that he could not succeed outside the halls of the legislature.
uncertain
he → rise → legislature
To achieve sovereignty, he had to accept “the rules of the game.
asserted
he → achieve → game
And the rules of the game are to participate in parliamentary debate,” Mr. Royer said in an interview this week.
asserted
Royer → participate → interview
It was under Mr. Parizeau that Quebec nearly said yes to secession during its 1995 referendum.
asserted
Quebec → say → referendum
Three decades later, his example has taken on new relevance in Canada’s west.
asserted
example → take → west
“In my opinion,” Mr. Royer said, “the best way to demonstrate legitimacy is running in an election with a platform.”
asserted
way → say → platform
…and 76 more, not listed.
The Aporia
