https://hardpressednorth.substack.com/p/all-for-one-mark-carney-danielle?
“When you strip away party labels, Harper, Carney, and Smith inhabit the exact same operational sandbox.
Carney uses green transition frameworks and “Projects of National Interest” to crowd in private capital;
Harper used treaty lock-ins and banking bailouts;
Smith uses sovereign leverage.
The shared goal across all three is ensuring that major financial structures and energy corridors remain insulated from chaotic democratic interference.”

“Here is a breakdown of what this text is saying, translated into plain and simple language.
The Big Idea
The text argues that Canadian conservative politics—especially in Alberta—is run by a small group of leaders who use loud, angry political fights to keep their voters happy, while behind the scenes, they all work to protect big business, banks, and the country's economic system.

In short:
What politicians say to get elected and what they actually do once they are in power are two very different things.

The Main Players and Concepts:

1. The Calgary School and Tom Flanagan
 What it means: For the last 30 years, a specific group of political thinkers and professors at the University of Calgary (led by a man named Tom Flanagan) created a playbook for conservative politicians.
 The Strategy: This playbook uses a political trick. It teaches leaders to give angry voters an outside enemy to blame (like the federal government in Ottawa, foreign countries, or "special interests" ) so that people stay focused on that fight instead of looking at how the real power and money work behind the scenes.

2. Stephen Harper (The Master of the Playbook)
 What it means: When Stephen Harper was Prime Minister, he talked like a fierce conservative who hated government bailouts and big spending.
 The Reality: Behind closed doors, when the 2008 financial crisis hit, his government quietly pumped billions of dollars into Canadian banks to keep them from crashing. He also signed long-term international trade deals (like one with China) that locked Canada into global economic systems.

3. Danielle Smith and the COVID Rage
 What it means: Danielle Smith had a rocky political past (including a disastrous decision to cross the floor to a different party in 2014 that angered her own voters). However, she made a massive political comeback during the COVID-19 pandemic by riding a wave of intense anger against lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

 The Bait-and-Switch:
She promised her supporters she would grant total pardons to anyone who broke COVID rules and would protect unvaccinated workers. But once she became Premier of Alberta, those promises quietly disappeared, citing legal limits.

4. The Separation Movement (The Ultimate Safety Valve)
 What it means: Frustrated by Ottawa, many Albertans started pushing to separate from Canada. Instead of crushing this movement, Smith used it.
 How it worked: She gave passionate speeches, visited Mar-a-Lago, and talked about referendums on Alberta's future. This made angry voters feel heard. But at the same time, she made sure Alberta stayed safely inside Canada. She appointed former Prime Minister Stephen Harper to run Alberta's massive investment fund (AIMCo), refused to use Alberta's oil exports as a weapon against the U.S., and worked with Mark Carney's federal government on major energy projects.

The Ultimate Conclusion
The text claims that whether you look at Stephen Harper, Mark Carney, or Danielle Smith, they are all playing the same game.
 The Theater:
In public, they yell at each other, stage political battles, and pretend to fight over opposing ideologies.
 The Reality: In private, they all agree on the main goal—protecting big money, keeping the Canadian economy stable, and ensuring that massive energy corridors and financial systems are insulated from everyday voters changing things through democracy.

On October 19, 2026, Albertans will vote on big questions, but the real question underlying it all is:
If conservative leaders aren't actually trying to break away from Canada or change the system, who are they really fighting for, and who do they actually represent?”