Bell: What Danielle Smith told Alberta separatists behind closed doors

I was in the room.

I looked around.

I appeared to the only newshound in the room on a cold Saturday at a hotel in east Calgary.

Some prominent supporters of Alberta independence were in the room, though not the names most often seen in news stories.

The moderator of the event says Smith is the bravest of politicians. The assembled applaud.

They know she is supporting Option 1 in the referendum vote. She supports Alberta remaining in Canada.

She does not want to go down the road to a future Yes or No vote on Alberta independence.

Many of them disagree. No surprise. Pollsters say about half of Smith’s UCP voters disagree with her.

Smith fast-forwards to the day after the referendum vote. Oct. 20.

Almost everyone believes the remain in Canada side will win. Smith’s side.

Her pitch to this group after the referendum dust settles  …

“Are we going to stay united as a movement? That’s a question each one of us is going to have to ask and ask our friends and our neighbours,” says Smith.

“Knowing I have a different pathway to get autonomy than some of the others are proposing, is that the better pathway to achieve more autonomy?”

Here it comes.

“Or is splitting our movement apart and electing an NDP government going to serve us well? That is the reality of what happens when our beautiful movement splits,” says Smith.

The premier looks back to unhappier times when Wildrose politicians led by Smith defected to the Progressive Conservatives.

It was a mess. Smith was exiled to the political wilderness and the NDP led by Rachel Notley won the election.

“I’ve been part of the problem in the past, having our movement split.”

Smith tells this group they are still family.

“I’ve given you my pitch about why I think Option 1 is the way to go. I know I haven’t persuaded everyone on that.”

Smith’s wish.

“I do hope all of us will accept the results of what we see on Oct. 19 and then stay united as a movement. We’ve had so many important strides we’ve made on the economy, on rights, on wokeism.”

Smith says “all of the wokeism has subsided to a great extent.”

“There are still people who are targeted for cancellation but I would say the tolerance for that is much, much lower.”

Back to the prospect of Alberta electing an NDP government because conservatives are fighting among themselves.

“You saw the kind of damage those guys did being in power for only four years. Every single thing I talked about, that’s the list of things they’d repeal if they got in.”

Smith says she realizes Albertans get hot under the collar when Ottawa tells us they can do better “because we know they can’t.”

The moderator, a veteran of the political trenches and a man who knows his way around this game, tells Smith he wants his referendum vote to send a clear message to Ottawa and the rest of the country.

“I want to let those eastern people how deeply unhappy I have been with how we’ve been treated.”

Sounds like Option 2. The send them a message crowd.

The premier is “very sympathetic” to those who want more Alberta and less Ottawa.

“I want more autonomy,” says Smith, with emphasis.

She returns to Oct. 20.

Smith tells the people she knows they are not going to agree with her on everything, but if conservatives stop understanding each other, “the space between us grows and the echo chambers fester.”

She wants conservatives to “focus on the areas where we agree and work together on that and maybe not so much on the areas where we disagree.”

Another question heads the premier’s way. Is Prime Minister Mark Carney for real?

Smith says she gets how people are suspicious and uneasy.

If the Ottawa Liberals could do a 180 after former prime minister Justin Trudeau exited, they could pull a U-turn again.

Smith tells the sceptical audience she would prefer Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as prime minister, but Carney is who she’s got and the premier believes the prime minister is reading the mood of Canadians and is prepared to work with Alberta.

“Now is not the time to give up hope in our country, not when we have fought so long and come so far.”

Is Smith’s pitch for conservatives staying united and working on common goals going to sell the morning after the Oct. 19 election night?

Is Smith telling conservatives if they don’t unite after the referendum the NDP could win the next election going to calm the waters with the independence activists?

Or are separatists, firmly committed to their cause, willing to burn the house down?

My email is at the bottom.