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For all Trudeau’s Rotarian optimism about working together to “address issues of importance to Albertans and all Canadians,” including “taking decisive action on climate change, while getting our natural resources to market,” it promises to be a testing time for the loose confederation of warring tribes that we call Canada.

A new era of unfriendly federalism has been fully realized, with provincial governments hostile to the federal Liberals presiding in legislatures across the country, with the exception, at least for now, of three small provinces in Atlantic Canada. When Justin Trudeau came to power, 29 million Canadians lived in provinces run by provincial Liberals. That number currently stands at 1.6 million. And while Alberta was run by Notley’s NDP, she was an ally in Trudeau’s grand design to introduce a carbon tax while building a pipeline to new markets for the province’s oil. That alliance died with Kenney’s election Tuesday.

There was an edge to the United Conservative Party leader's attacks on Trudeau that went beyond campaign strategy

Alberta’s voters were not in a happy place going into this campaign, fizzing and popping like sausages in a pan. There was a sense they’ve been on the receiving end of a sustained assault on their interests. There were legitimate grounds for grievance — the governments of B.C. and Quebec went out of their way to oppose pipeline expansion, while the citizens of Quebec in particular benefitted from the equalization program, funded in large measure by the taxpayers of Alberta. The oilpatch has experienced an almost existential crisis, as jobs and investment have gone elsewhere.