As members of the NDP celebrate new leader Avi Lewis and his vision to revitalize their party, there’s skepticism in Alberta that Lewis’ federal victory will put the New Democrats back on the road to relevancy.

Two NDP insiders, Shannon Phillips, a former Alberta NDP cabinet minister, and Keith McLaughlin, who was chief of staff to several ministers in Rachel Notley’s government, join West of Centre host Kathleen Petty to offer their analysis on the impact that Lewis will have in Alberta — and they’re blunt in their assessment.

Neither see a clear path for the federal NDP to become relevant in the near future. And as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith weaponizes the tie between the New Democrats’ federal and provincial wings -- pointing to the party’s constitution as proof that their federal and provincial policies are one and the same -- the panel is brushing off the document as meaningless. They say what the federal NDP is doing doesn’t matter to Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, as his focus is on the politics in his province, and his opponent is Smith.

For his part, Nenshi tells the podcast his priority isn’t on the federal party and convincing them to change their policy on natural resource development and expansion. He shrugs off the division, and says his attention is on the future of Alberta. 

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Keith McLaughlin, Shannon Phillips
• Producer: Diane Yanko

Back in January 2001, six influential Alberta conservatives sent then premier Ralph Klein the now famous 'firewall letter.' Under the heading 'Alberta Agenda,' the letter proposed withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, establishing a provincial police force, bypassing the Canada Revenue Agency in favour of the province collecting its own income tax, and Senate reform. These ideas were seen as fringe. Extremist even. But with the passage of time, some of the key measures in the firewall letter have influenced conservative policy in Alberta, and are now being set in motion 25 years later by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

This week, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty gets the inside story on the firewall letter, straight from two of its signatories. Ted Morton, an executive fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and a former PC cabinet minister; and Ken Boessenkool, a longtime policy advisor who worked with former prime minister Stephen Harper (credited as the catalyst for the letter, and another one of its six signatories).

These insiders describe how the hostile reaction to the letter came as a surprise, as the ideas contained in the letter were things other provinces were already doing. They talk about the visceral reaction 25 years ago to the word 'firewall,' and how it came to be added to the letter. And how the nine questions on a referendum that Albertans will vote on in the fall is seen as 'anti-firewall letter.'

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Ken Boessenkool, Ted Morton
• Producer: Diane Yanko

There’s great concern that people in Ottawa aren’t taking what’s happening in Alberta seriously enough. With national unity at stake, some Senators are looking west from the upper chamber and acknowledging there are indeed structural issues at the federal level that’s fueling frustration.

This week on West of Centre, Kathleen Petty welcomes a panel of Prairies senators. Alberta Senator Paula Simons, who was appointed in 2018 and sits in the Independent Senators Group; Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin, appointed in 2008; and Manitoba Senator Charles Adler, who was appointed in 2024. Both sit in the Canadian Senators Group.

The panel pulls no punches in questioning whether Canada has done the work it needs to become a true energy superpower. For them, it’s time to turn words into action. As trade tensions with the U.S. simmer, they’re blunt on CUSMA: Canada can’t take its own self-interest out of the equation because negotiations are not about love, but business. And while they disagree on the strategy for a potential fall referendum on separation, they also tackle another referendum question about Senate abolishment.  

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Senator Charles Adler, Senator Paula Simons, Senator Pamela Wallin
• Producer: Diane Yanko

The deadly U.S.- and Israel-led attack on Iran has given way to a cold economic reality. According to the International Energy Agency, the war in the Middle East has created the biggest oil supply disruption in history. With oil markets in turmoil and fears of export restrictions growing as the conflict enters its third week, Canada suddenly has more relevance in the conversation around energy security.

This week, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Gitane De Silva, the former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator and Alberta’s former senior representative to the U.S.; and Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

When it comes to oil scarcity, both experts agree that Alberta has little to fear. While consumer prices are set to climb, the province’s abundance of oil and natural gas is critical to weathering the economic storm. And Canada’s reputation as a stable, reliable and predictable energy partner is becoming increasingly attractive to our global allies. As the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes up for review, Canada may find itself with a lot more muscle to flex at the table. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the conflict underscores the need for a new bitumen pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast, but does the crisis actually make the project more urgent and, more importantly, viable? There are big hurdles for new energy infrastructure in Canada. And as the April 1 deadline approaches for the federal and Alberta governments to come to an agreement on methane, carbon pricing and carbon capture, the industry is spooked over some key conditions for the project’s approval.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Gitane De Silva, Heather Exner-Pirot
• Producer: Diane Yanko

For decades, Alberta’s federal politics has been a fortress. But the Conservative blue wall protecting the province is showing signs of cracking. And the colour seeping in? Liberal red.

To help understand the shift, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Éric Grenier, a premier Canadian polls analyst and founder of The Writ; and David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, whose latest online survey reinforces the idea that the increase in Liberal support in Alberta isn’t a blip.

Multiple polls since the start of the year show the gap between the federal Conservatives and the federal Liberals is narrowing. According to Grenier, it's a trend that’s leaving people scratching their heads.

Coletto outlines why Prime Minister Mark Carney’s popularity is a primary driver and marvels at the ‘bizarro world’ in which the country finds itself — with a prime minister from Alberta who speaks of the province’s virtues while selling Canada as a stable source of energy. If the numbers hold, he also wonders if Alberta could transition from a ‘flyover’ province to a potential federal battleground.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: David Coletto, Éric Grenier
• Producer: Diane Yanko

Buckle up and keep your hands on the bar, Albertans! The province’s ride on the resource revenue roller coaster continues, and the latest $9.4 billion drop is enough to make a staunch fiscal conservative lose their lunch. The latest budget update projects three consecutive years of red ink and increased borrowing to fund critical public services, with no clear track back to balance. 

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty has assembled three big brains to critique this latest dive loop in Alberta’s fiscal trajectory. Economist Trevor Tombe and political scientist Lisa Young from the University of Calgary join the CBC’s own writer and producer Jason Markusoff, a veteran of more than 20 provincial budgets. 

Tombe breaks down why the province is now more reliant on resource revenue than it has been since Don Getty’s days. Young explains why this year’s fiscal roadmap feels more like an election budget. And Markusoff analyzes why Albertans may be more receptive to deficits than in years past…and he learns about plosives! 

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Lisa Young, Trevor Tombe, Jason Markusoff
• Producer: Diane Yanko

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has some questions she wants Albertans to answer. Nine of them, to be exact.

That’s how many referendum questions Smith announced in a televised speech that she’s going to put to Albertans on Oct. 19.

They range from constitutional reform to abolish the Senate and change who picks judges, to several that would directly affect some immigrants and the services they receive.

To unpack the proposed immigration changes, host Jason Markusoff is first joined by Raj Sharma, an immigration lawyer based in Calgary. He argues many of the questions appear outside Alberta’s jurisdiction.

Then, the panel breaks down the rest of the premier’s address. Journalist Rob Breakenridge says the referendum could serve as a distraction in advance of a bad-news budget. Evan Menzies, a vice-president at Crestview Strategy and former head of communications for the United Conservative Party, says there are reasonable questions to be debated amongst the proposals. Finally, Shannon Greer, a senior consultant at New West Public Affairs, who worked in Rachel Notley’s NDP government, says the government is sending contradictory messages.

• Host: Jason Markusoff

• Guests: Raj Sharma, Rob Breakenridge, Evan Menzies and Shannon Greer

• Producer: Joel Dryden

What does a kid from Nanton, Alta., write in his private journals after spending his days influencing some of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's most controversial policies?

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty takes a peek into The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics, and Pierre Trudeau 1973-1981, with the book's editor, Ron Graham. As the prime minister's principal secretary, Jim Coutts was said to have exercised more backroom power than anyone else in modern Canadian political history. He was everywhere that mattered during the Trudeau era 50 years ago, and then went home and wrote a lot of it down.

Just as you'd expect from a diary, Coutts' offers juicy insight into exactly what he thought of both Alberta premier Peter Lougheed and Progressive Conservative Party leader Joe Clark. His entries reveal how influential he was as the reviled National Energy Program was being devised in the spring of 1980. And his private anxieties about inflation, affordability, energy prices and Western alienation read like they could have been written today.

As Albertans' anger toward Ottawa reached a boiling point, Coutts understood the West's legitimate grievances. But his diaries show he was a strategist first, who prioritized his party's survival no matter the cost to his reputation back home. 

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guest: Ron Graham
• Producer: Diane Yanko

Grab your snacks and beverages and settle in for a West of Centre twofer, no coupon required.

First, host Kathleen Petty reconvenes our citizens’ panel — Chelsea, Darryl, and Sunil — to get their perspectives on the latest happenings in Alberta. Darryl, who identifies as "blue through and through" describes his recent trip to Ontario and how Alberta politics is perceived by some in the east (Hint: it isn’t flattering). Sunil, a disappointed Conservative supporter, feels that Alberta has legitimate issues within Confederation, but questions the premier’s current tactics. Meanwhile, Chelsea is struggling to connect the dots on how some of the moves the provincial government is making will benefit everyday Albertans.

And then, as the April 1 deadline approaches for the next step to getting approval on a new bitumen pipeline to B.C., two energy industry insiders offer new insight into who might step forward to build it. Ian Anderson, the former president and CEO of Trans Mountain, recounts his experience developing that project, and the specific challenges with both the Port of Prince Rupert and Roberts Bank. And Sonya Savage, the former Alberta energy minister, shares what she’s hearing from investors as they watch the ongoing drive to force a referendum on separation.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Chelsea Matisz, Darryl Stanier, and Sunil Shah; Ian Anderson and Sonya Savage
• Producers: Diane Yanko and Josh Pagé

It’s a wrap for the Conservative Party Convention in Calgary. Leader Pierre Poilievre secured an 87.4 per cent vote of confidence. Now that he’s won over the delegates, the focus for him and the party becomes winning over Canadians.  

West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined this week by two Conservative insiders who were also at this weekend’s convention. Amber Ruddy, Alberta's national councillor for the Conservative Party of Canada and a vice-president at Counsel Public Affairs; and Ian Brodie, a University of Calgary political scientist, senior advisor at New West Public Affairs, and former chief of staff to prime minister Stephen Harper.

They muse about when Canadians might next go to the polls and whether the Conservatives are ready (they are); how much more explicitly Poilievre and Alberta’s premier will have to speak about the spectre of separatism if momentum continues to pick up in Alberta and Quebec (much, much more); and where Poilievre might run in the next election (Carleton again?! One panelist thinks so). 

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Ian Brodie, Amber Ruddy
• Producer: Diane Yanko