Vancouver mayor calls out Jason Kenney, western alienation talk

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart didn’t mince his words Thursday when asked about growing popularity on the prairies for western separation.

“I feel like we’re being a little bit hijacked by Alberta’s agenda. And in British Columbia we want to get (housing and transit upgrades) rolling,” he said while speaking with reporters on CPAC. The media scrum happened after he met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa.

“We have different priorities. I get a report every day about people dying in my city because of drug overdoses. I don’t get any emails about equalization payments … I have a housing crisis, I have people dying every day, I’ve got first responders who are burned out because they’re reviving people five, six, seven times after they’ve overdosed. And then we have transit that needs to get built.”

Since the federal Liberals were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan in the general election in October, premiers Scott Moe and Jason Kenney have been vocal about Trudeau’s obligation to combat economic hardship on the prairies.

The pair has also called for Ottawa to recalculate the national equalization payment formula and building oil pipelines. Both premiers also have mentioned pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan.

All of it has come amid public rallies, petitions and a new political party supporting western provinces separating from the rest of Canada, a movement often dubbed wexit (western exit).

“I just get upset when people say western alienation, because in British Columbia what we want to do is work with this government. We want to build transit (and) we want to build housing,” Stewart said.

During his media scrum, Stewart mostly referenced Alberta and its premier.

“He’s not going to drag me into this,” Stewart said of Kenney. “And he can yell all he wants, but he’s going to have to co-operate with the federal government too.

“Transit won’t get built in Calgary without federal investment, without provincial investment. So he’s probably going to have to drop this if he’s going to want to help his cities.”

Stewart’s advice for provincial and municipal leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan was blunt.

“Get over yourselves, get down to work, help your residents, get stuff built,” he said.

On whether such advice ignores economic anxieties in Alberta and Saskatchewan, he said: “Maybe it does, but that’s not my priorities.”