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“Canada is stronger when we all work together as Canadians. I’m an Albertan, I deeply believe in Canada,” Carney said Tuesday in Washington after a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Ford shared that sentiment.

“We have to stay united,” added the premier, who earlier in the day announced an extra $1 billion to train workers, including those laid off because of Trump’s tariffs.

“This is about Canada. This isn’t about Ontario or Alberta.”

But Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — who stressed she does not personally support separation — maintained she will hold a vote on secession if enough citizens request it.

She took a swipe at Ford for his intervention.

“I don’t tell him how he should run his province and I would hope that he doesn’t tell me how I should run mine,” Smith told an Edmonton news conference.

“I think we supported different people in the last federal election, and so we don’t have to agree on everything,” she added.

Smith endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in the April 28 vote while Ford worked closely with Carney’s Liberals.

The two premiers and Carney will be attending a virtual first ministers’ meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the trade war with the United States.

Smith said there is a growing contingent of Albertans who have soured on Confederation over federal Liberal policies that are “holding back Alberta’s economy.” 

She estimated support for separatism at 30 per cent.

“I want to make sure those numbers do not go higher.”

Smith credited Carney for dropping the consumer carbon levy upon becoming prime minister and expressed hope that they can work out a “fair deal” making it easier for Alberta to get its oil, gas and other natural resources to world markets. 

“We have a prime minister who is willing to change gears,” she said. “There is evidence of some pragmatism.”

The day after the federal election, Smith’s Conservative government introduced legislation that would lower the bar to trigger a referendum on separation or other issues.

If passed, the bill would change the rules for a citizen-initiated referendum to a petition signed by 10 per cent of eligible voters in a previous generation election. That is down from a previous requirement of 20 per cent of registered voters.

The time period to collect the required signatures — about 177,000 — would be increased, to 120 days, up from 90, making it easier to meet the threshold for a vote.

Smith said a decade of Liberal government in Ottawa has taken an unfair share of Alberta’s oil and gas wealth and undermined the industry, which fuels the province’s resource-dependent economy.

While saying she is encouraged by a rise in public support for pipelines and other infrastructure projects, Smith insisted the country has a long way to go. 

For his part, Ford said “I’m a big proponent of building pipelines west, north and east, that’s critical ... we need to diversify our trade to other countries around the world.”