Cory Morgan: Carney’s Choice of Venue for Cabinet Retreat

Commentary

The scenery and venues in Banff, Alberta, are world-famous and make it a popular destination for conferences and political summits. While those factors surely played into the Liberal government choosing the mountain town to host its fall cabinet retreat this week, the underlying national unity issue with a referendum approaching in Alberta surely impacted the location choice as well. It’s a subtle way of indicating that the federal government is taking the referendum seriously, without appearing to be intervening directly in it.

The ongoing trade tensions with the United States surely dominated the agenda as cabinet tries to grapple with the impasse in negotiations before facing scrutiny in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Carney called the latest White House measures “relatively modest” compared with earlier blows. That’s message discipline, not calm. Trade is still the file that can wreck the fall sitting if cabinet can’t decide how hard to hit back, what to protect, and how to sell diversification as more than a slogan.

Diversification of export markets for oil and gas would give Canada much more leverage in trade negotiations with the USA. Despite years of effort by Alberta to expand coastal access through new pipelines for overseas energy exports, over 90 percent of Canada’s hydrocarbon exports go south of the border.

Carney has expressed amenability to approving a new pipeline to the West Coast. But despite regular announcements on that front and an MOU signed with great fanfare between Carney and Premier Danielle Smith, progress on the file can only be described as glacial. While the deadline to declare or decline a new pipeline to the West Coast a project in the national interest is still three weeks away, nothing is stopping the prime minister from making such a declaration right now. It would make much more of an impact on Albertans contemplating their referendum votes than holding a conference in the province would.

Carney is walking a similar tightrope on the national unity file. He can’t stand by idly while a province considers exiting the federation, but if he inserts himself too directly into the debate it could have the effect of inflaming regional alienation rather than cooling it. The prime minister’s approach has been carefully balanced, and he has said he is “heartened to see the level of support” for remaining in Canada in public polling. While in Alberta, he also signed the “Forever Canadian” campaign van. However, he declined to put federal money into the remain campaign. It’s a wise stance, as the political situation in Alberta is sensitive and pouring funding into one side of the campaign would likely infuriate many Albertans. Albertans are divided on the referendum questions, but most agree that it’s a local issue to be managed rather than a federal one.

The guest list at Carney’s Banff “Cabinet Planning Forum” was one of the more politically loaded details of the event. Cabinet heard from Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas, Red Deer Mayor Cindy Jefferies, and Calgary pollster Janet Brown. No Alberta provincial government officials, including Premier Smith, her cabinet ministers, or other representatives of the government, were present as speakers or participants. That choice could be read as a snub, even if Ottawa never said so out loud. Inviting two city mayors and a local pollster, while leaving the provincial government off the program, creates an obvious contrast: Ottawa is talking to Albertans, just not to the government Albertans elected.

One of the jurisdictional friction points between Alberta and Ottawa was the propensity of the federal government to bypass the provincial authorities and cut deals directly with municipal governments in Alberta. The Smith government passed legislation in 2025 inspired by Quebec’s laws, which prevent the federal government from making deals with the municipalities without provincial approval. While the Alberta mayors invited to the Liberal cabinet retreat weren’t there to make agreements with the federal government, their inclusion in the event, coupled with the exclusion of provincial representatives, delivers a poke in the eye to the Alberta government.

Alberta premiers have repeatedly accused Ottawa of talking past them or dealing with friendlier local actors. Smith has spent years arguing that the federal government does not treat Alberta as a co-equal partner. Holding a high-profile cabinet session in Banff while consulting city halls instead of the legislature feeds that narrative.

To be fair, cabinet retreats are not first ministers’ meetings. Guest speakers are usually experts, pollsters, and selected stakeholders, not the leaders of other governments. Premiers are not automatically entitled to a seat at a federal cabinet planning forum.

Optics matter, and Alberta is in a politically delicate state. Carney has a lot on his plate and can only dedicate so much time to matters in a single province. As a referendum considering a move toward provincial secession looms only weeks away, though, the prime minister must carefully consider his actions and statements regarding Alberta. Missteps or perceived snubs could inadvertently swing the volatile electorate toward the independence side of the vote and undo any benefits which may have been accrued through holding the cabinet retreat in Alberta.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.