Premier Jason Kenney warned the numbers would be ugly and they are. The latest fiscal update shows Alberta is farther in the hole than at any time in its history. How the province digs itself out is anything but clear. Meanwhile, the candidate Kenney endorsed for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada has emerged the winner. What will Erin O’Toole’s succession to the top job mean for Alberta’s future in Canada? On this week’s West of Centre, Kathleen Petty talks with political watchers and columnists, Kelly Cryderman, Graham Thomson and Duane Bratt.

Interim Wexit Canada party leader Jay Hill says he knows. The veteran Reform and Conservative Party MP is leading a political movement to separate western provinces from Canada. And the next CPC leader and/or prime minister will have to deal with it. Kathleen Petty talks to Stephen Harper’s former House leader about why he’s giving up on the country, but voting in the CPC leadership contest. Pollsters Shachi Kurl of the Angus Reid Institute and Janet Brown of Janet Brown Opinion Research offer their analysis of what’s at stake.

The "pandemic bump" has flattened for the federal Liberals. The next leader of the Conservative Party will try and take full advantage. As the party gets ready to choose its new leader this month three Conservative insiders assess the race, the candidates, the stakes and the prospects for a federal election. Kathleen Petty talks with Dennis Matthews of Enterprise Canada, Jenni Byrne of Jenni Byrne and Associates and Ken Boessenkool, research fellow at the CD Howe Institute.

Owning the narrative or just getting owned? If you rely on social media for your political news, you’d conclude it’s all out war among partisans. Is anyone being persuaded to consider the other’s point of view? At a time of difficult and contentious issues from kick starting the economy, making peace with Alberta doctors during a pandemic to getting kids back to school safely, the divide seems wider than ever. Kathleen Petty talks to two strategists, skilled in the art of political communication - Corey Hogan and Melissa Caouette about how to cut through the noise, get your message out, and why it often doesn’t work.

Premier Jason Kenney is applying financial shocks to a flatlining Alberta economy. Will deep corporate tax cuts, billions in infrastructure spending along with investments in oil and gas, jolt the economy back to life? How will women fare? Host Kathleen Petty talks to Lynette Tremblay of Edmonton Global and Adam Legge of the Business Council of Alberta about the business case for the premier’s plan and whether his economic wager will work.

Albertans may have more at stake in the Conservative Party leadership race with all but one of their MPs flying the party flag in a minority government. Erin O’Toole has the enthusiastic endorsement of Premier Jason Kenney and other high profile Conservatives in Western Canada. Host Kathleen Petty asks Erin O’Toole about his economic ideas and how he’d cope with western alienation if he wins the leadership. Political scientists Jared Wesley of the University of Alberta and Duane Bratt of Mount Royal University listen in and provide their analysis.

Alberta is moving more quickly than other provinces to reopen the economy as the trend line for COVID-19 slowly improves. The challenges are monumental - with an economy gutted from the pre-pandemic oil price crash and an effective unemployment rate of 25 percent. The UCP government is making almost daily announcements to encourage job creation and investment. Guest host Jim Brown assesses Alberta’s plans with commentator and business owner Emma Grace May, energy and opinion journalist Max Fawcett and political strategist Stephen Carter of Decide Campaigns and The Strategists podcast.

What lies at the core of Alberta's identity? Is it conservatism? An attachment to the oil and gas industry? Or something else? The answer could help to determine the province’s future. Guest host Jim Brown in for Kathleen Petty looks at why, with University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young, U of C economist Trevor Tombe, and C.D. Howe Institute research fellow Ken Boessenkool.

Four podcasters, from three podcasts, all veterans of the political trenches dissect the big political news of the week. David Herle and Jenni Byrne of the Herle Burly, and Zain Velji of The Strategists get down and partisan with West of Centre host Kathleen Petty. They tackle the fall out from the Fair Deal panel, whether the West wants out and the Conservative Party leadership race.

The Alberta government released its Fair Deal recommendations calling for more provincial autonomy - from a better deal on equalization to the creation of a new Alberta police force to replace the RCMP. It warns that if Ottawa doesn’t act, separatist sentiment will grow. Guest host Jim Brown looks at the Fair Deal report, and assesses the CPC leadership race post debate with three Alberta journalists and commentators: Graham Thomson, Jason Markusoff of Macleans and Jen Gerson.