He estimates that the province of 4.4 million people has lost about 100,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry over the last four years, something that , he says, the prime minister has not sufficiently recognized.

“That is, in part, what fuels the sense of anger,” he said.

Eleanore Catenaro, Mr. Trudeau’s press secretary, said the government was “determined to see the Trans Mountain Expansion project completed,” noting that despite the court challenges, work has already begun. She also pointed out that the government was supporting four pipeline projects other than Trans Mountain involving Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“These projects demonstrate our support of Canada’s energy industry and its workers,” she said.

To some extent, the discontent with Mr. Trudeau is an offshoot of structures in the Canadian government that predate him.

The way federal tax revenues are distributed , for example, has long rankled people in the west. Even with oil industry in a slump, Alberta provides a disproportionately large chunk of the federal government’s revenues. But to make sure that Canadians have roughly the same level of basic services in areas like health care and education, the federal government helps provinces with weaker economies.

This year Alberta will get no help from the federal government because comparatively its economy remains strong, even though Mr. Kenney has cut spending to make up for lost income from the oil downturn. But Quebec just posted a budget surplus of 4.8 billion Canadian dollars after receiving 13 billion dollars from the federal government.