Canada is complicated. Alberta has opinions. Ride shotgun with host Kathleen Petty on West of Centre for conversations about the state of politics in Canada, as power and influence shifts West. Whether you live here or just can't look away, you’ll get the no-nonsense analysis you need to make sense of it all.
Latest episodes
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30 min
Was this referendum worth it? We ask Danielle Smith
Premier Danielle Smith joins host Kathleen Petty after a divisive Alberta referendum. Albertans are clear on their desire to remain a province of Canada. But parts of the province,…
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8 min
Referendum results: Alberta votes to remain
CBC projects a clear majority of Albertans have voted to remain a province of Canada, rejecting a second, binding referendum on separation. The results were delayed to around 11 p.…
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55 min
CFB Wainwright tragedy + the final Alberta referendum push (via Front Burner)
Front Burner host, Jayme Poisson travels to Edmonton to take you inside two rallies where campaigners for a united Canada – and campaigners for Alberta independence – make their la…
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30 min
Alberta voters on where they stand and what comes next
Premier Danielle Smith says she’s heard plenty from pundits, commentators and political actors ahead of this referendum. Now it's time to hear from Albertans themselves. This week…
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32 min
Win or lose, is Alberta separatism here to stay?
Premier Danielle Smith wants to “vote and move on” but is that even possible? For separatists like Mitch Sylvestre, this referendum on Alberta’s future might not be the end. With a…
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32 min
Pacific Link: A pipeline in whose interest?
The Carney government says a West Coast pipeline — now called Pacific Link — is a key nation-building project and essential to the country’s economic future. It's a hard-won victor…
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30 min
Alberta’s data centre push is trouble for Danielle Smith
New polling shows AI data centres in Alberta are a political problem for the UCP government. We hear from voters in the heart of conservative country who are saying “no” to these m…
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30 min
How Alberta’s federalist push is lagging
It’s crunch time to sway conservative voters ahead of Alberta’s referendum. But are federalist leaders doing enough? So far, separatists have reported raising nearly three times as…
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31 min
Alberta separatists think they’ll win. Polls project a loss
Separatists think they’ll win a vote they’re poised to lose by a wide margin, according to an exclusive new poll. With a little more than five weeks to go before Alberta’s fall ref…
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31 min
Too friendly to resist: Danielle Smith’s U.S. diplomacy
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are using very different tactics in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war. As Smith travels to Nashville, we ask whether he…
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2 min
Trailer: Welcome to West of Centre
New to West of Centre? Start here to hear what we're all about.
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1 min
West of Centre on CBC Radio
An exciting announcement about a new way to listen to West of Centre, starting this fall.
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29 min
Is a trade war good for separatists?
Putting oil and gas on the bargaining table as the U.S.-Canada trade war heats up would pour gasoline on Alberta’s fall referendum. At least that’s what one separatist leader, Keit…
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26 min
A new era of politics in Alberta?
From how we entered confederation to how Alberta is debating its future within it, a new book tries to anticipate where the province is headed. "The Dawn of Competitive Party Polit…
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46 min
The Prairies senators: ‘We can’t do stupid stuff’ (Encore)
**New episode drops Friday, August 21**ENCORE PRESENTATION There’s great concern that people in Ottawa aren’t taking what’s happening in Alberta seriously enough. With national uni…
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32 min
The Firewall Letter - 25 years later (Encore)
**New episode drops Friday, August 21**ENCORE PRESENTATION Back in January 2001, six influential Alberta conservatives sent then premier Ralph Klein the now famous 'firewall letter…
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35 min
The Coutts Diaries (Encore)
**New episode drops Friday, August 21**ENCORE PRESENTATIONWhat does a kid from Nanton, Alta., write in his private journals after spending his days influencing some of Pierre Ellio…
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33 min
'We're not dealing with normal'
As Canada stares down the barrel of fresh U.S. tariffs (50 per cent), there is a realization that the counter-strategies that succeeded in President Donald Trump's first term won't…
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33 min
'We're not dealing with normal'
As Canada stares down the barrel of fresh U.S. tariffs (50 per cent), there is a realization that the counter-strategies that succeeded in President Donald Trump's first term won't…
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34 min
It's all about the math
A non-binding trilateral agreement to advance the multibillion-dollar Pathways Project, as part of the push to build a new bitumen pipeline to B.C.'s southwest coast, has now been…