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Smith has renewed the to Prime Minister Mark Carney just days before the start of the election campaign 鈥� or else face an 鈥渦nprecedented national unity crisis.鈥�

鈥淲e need to lift the tanker ban off the B.C. coast,鈥� she said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淲e need to eliminate the oil and gas emissions cap that has been proposed, which is a production cap. We need to scrap the so-called clean electricity regulations. We need to end the treatment of plastics as toxic.鈥�

Smith said she wants to 鈥渞eset鈥� the relationship with the federal Liberals 鈥渨ith meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.鈥�

But her own rhetoric, if not itself hollow, is heated: 鈥淎lbertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa.鈥�

Never mind, of course, that the Liberals spent $34 billion to buy and expand the Trans Mountain pipeline to get more of Alberta鈥檚 energy products to the West Coast for shipment overseas.

This is not about facts but partisan politics.

Smith wanted Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to win and she wants him to stay on as leader: 鈥淚 told him so. I think that he can find another riding where it may be a little bit easier to be able to win.鈥�

But the election results are not a total loss for Smith. She now has another convenient foil, this time Carney, to blame for pretty much all of Alberta鈥檚 woes.

She鈥檚 hopeful that Carney鈥檚 conciliatory comments the past few months make him amenable to more energy pipelines from Alberta to the rest of the country as a response to Trump鈥檚 tariffs.

However, even though she talks of hitting the reset button, Smith seems eager for a fight: 鈥淚n the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province鈥檚 future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against and to ultimately choose a path forward.鈥�

If you suspected 鈥渃hoose a path forward鈥� was code for 鈥渟eparation,鈥� you wouldn鈥檛 be wrong.

Smith herself is not championing secession.

But on Tuesday, her government introduced a bill amending the 鈥淐itizens Initiative Act鈥� to make it easier for Albertans to kick start a referendum.

鈥淚 believe in Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淗owever, there is a citizen initiative referendum process that if citizens want to put a question on a ballot and get enough of their fellow citizens to sign that petition, then those questions will be put forward. Again, I don’t want to prejudge what a question might be.鈥�

Of course, a province cannot simply vote unilaterally to secede from Canada and there are all kinds of barriers, including what to do about treaties with First Nations, to name just one.

It is a pipe dream 鈥� and one not supported by most Albertans.

And even though 30 per cent say they鈥檇 if the Liberals won, the majority of Albertans would not.

Government members will hold a special meeting Friday to discuss next steps.

Smith is toying with separatist sentiments, not only because it plays to her Conservative base, but because it鈥檚 an important distraction tool.

Smith鈥檚 government is currently gripped by a scandal involving allegations of wrongdoing in how procurement contracts were handled in health care.

Smith has denied any wrongdoing and the allegations have not been proven. But one of Smith鈥檚 cabinet ministers, Peter Guthrie, was so shocked by them that he resigned his portfolio on a point of principle in February and then voted with the Opposition NDP for a public inquiry.

After he was kicked out of the United Conservative caucus, Guthrie accused the premier of .

It鈥檚 the kind of scandal that could cause lasting damage to a government 鈥� if the public was paying attention. But less damaging if the public and the rest of the country were distracted by inflamed rhetoric over Alberta separation.