They’re not ignoring us now.

Finally, an Alberta premier dropped the pointless referendum votes, those endless legal challenges and the regular emotional appeals asking for support from Canadians beyond our provincial borders. (In truth, nobody east of Lloydminster ever gave a hoot about any of it.)

We’ve been engaging in such behaviour for almost half a century, ever since that epic battle between Peter Lougheed and Pierre Trudeau over the National Energy Program back in the late ’70s was sort of settled. Yes, we may have kicked the feds off the porch back then, but we never actually removed them from the property.

It seemed we were dragging ourselves down the same dead end when our current premier announced some word-salad new bill about Alberta being sovereign in a united Canada.

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What the hell does that mean? It’s like declaring you’re an only child in a family of 10. It remains the type of semantics instantly ignored by the rest of Canada and appealing only to lawyers looking for some future payday, along with political scientists who enjoy showing off.

Then, just when you think it’s all a game and the only real backbone you’ll find is in an operating theatre full of spinal surgeons, Premier Danielle Smith delivers. Suddenly, the issue Alberta’s been pleading about into a void as wide as the Canadian prairie becomes front and centre in the national consciousness.

The funny thing is, Smith didn’t have to do anything at all. She just wouldn’t sign onto Team Canada — a coming together of all the other premiers, led by a fellow who still calls himself prime minister because he’s too scared to recall parliament and quickly get disabused of that fantasy.

But a drowning man will cling to any straw. So, when Smith said she had no intention of joining a team that wouldn’t agree to forgo stripping Alberta’s energy industry under the ruse of fighting any future tariffs imposed on this country by the U.S., Justin Trudeau saw his opportunity.

This was his final chance to don that Captain Canada costume and pretend he’s fighting tooth and nail for this country against the odious Donald Trump. Now, he wouldn’t dare say that to the U.S. president’s face — maligning Smith for not lining up behind him was a much easier option.

Of course, the other provinces hopped aboard — who knows what they could score from the proceeds of an export tax on U.S.-bound Alberta oil, the imposition of which being the biggest weapon to threaten Trump.

So, now, Smith is a traitor to Canada while Albertans are simply selfish knuckle-draggers. The vitriol is quite spectacular from the rest of Canada — including from Quebec, a province that sends separatist MPs to the House of Commons.

Team Canada? You’re having a laugh.

Of course, this has upset the apple cart of how our country is supposed to run.

Where will Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stand on this? He’ll have to munch on a barrelful of apples if trying to avoid that question. Alberta has a lot of MPs but nowhere near as many as Ontario, and the premier of that province isn’t jumping on Smith’s bandwagon.

Speaking of those provincial Tory MPs, who’ve enjoyed the easiest job in politics this past decade — voting how they’re told while nodding sagely to anyone telling them that Trudeau just has to go. Suddenly, they might have to decide — are you for Alberta or Team Canada?

They should check out the 1993 federal election results and the obliteration of sitting PC members before making that choice.

Where this goes, nobody knows. It could hurt Alberta massively in the short term. But, as with any abusive relationship, there comes a point that the status quo is worse than whatever terror an unknown future holds.

Well done, premier. You had it in you after all.

Chris Nelson is a regular columnist.

© Calgary Herald