Yes, Conservatives are patriotic...

Don’t believe the hype of the chattering classes saying Conservatives have a patriotism problem.

It’s been frustrating to stand up for Canada from a position of strength over the past nearly two years since Donald Trump was re-elected. He has imposed tariffs, he has made threats, he has hurled insults.

I’ve tried to sit back and separate noise from signal.

Respond to what is important, ignore anything that is not. Push for our country to do what is best for Canadian workers and Canadian companies to be able to survive.

For a large part of the Canadian public though, just screaming about how awful Trump is has become the only test of being a true, patriotic Canadian.

I don’t accept that and never have.

Now, when it comes to Alberta’s referendum on staying in Canada or starting a path to leave, I also have a different viewpoint than the standard member of the chattering classes.

If you are a columnist in Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal - even Vancouver, see certain Globe columnists - you are expected to say that Danielle Smith is a separatist and Conservatives across the province want to join the USA. None of that is true but appears to be “received wisdom” as if handed down by God on Mount Sinai.

I’ve known Danielle Smith for 16 years now, not super well, we don’t hang out or vacation together but she is not an Alberta separatist.

Neither are any of the Conservative MPs that I know.

That’s from Pierre Poilievre on down.

On Tuesday, Poilievre gave a speech in Edmonton - ahead of the Oilers season opener - calling for a united Canada that includes Alberta.

The video of the speech is below, but before we get to that, here is my interview with Dane Lloyd, Conservative MP for the riding of Parkland. I first met Lloyd shortly after he was elected in 2017 and we have kept in touch.

Poilievre tapped him to lead the campaign by the federal Conservatives to keep Alberta in Canada - I haven’t seen a Liberal campaign. I chatted with Lloyd from a different location while I was in Saskatoon over Labour Day weekend.

Here now, is Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre talking about why Alberta should stay.