Few provinces in Canada are so opposed on so many issues as Quebec and Alberta.

Culture, language, the environment, LGBTQ rights, religion and secularism — these are just a few examples of the many issues on which the two provinces rarely see eye to eye.

Alberta tends to lean considerably more conservative, while Quebec skews more progressive — particularly on social matters.

The feud has been going on for decades. Pundits and politicians in Calgary and Edmonton have long used Quebec as a scapegoat to highlight what they see as unfairness in the way provinces are treated in this country. Many Albertans still believe their tax dollars fund Quebec’s generous social programs through equalization payments — spoiler: that’s not how it works.

But Albertans and Quebecers may have more in common than one might think.

Both provinces frequently find themselves at odds with Ottawa over the federal government’s respect for their autonomy within their constitutional areas of jurisdiction. Both view the federal government as a disconnected and distant — if not outright foreign — force seeking to centralize power and undermine their economic and cultural interests. That shared frustration runs deep.

So deep, in fact, that according to a recent poll, more than one in three........

© Montreal Gazette