Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the United Conservative Party AGM in Edmonton on Saturday. Her speech echoed some of the rhetoric of Donald Trump that appeals to her party’s base.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail

You couldn’t have faulted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for thinking she might receive something of a hero’s welcome at this weekend’s United Conservative Party convention.

After all, she would be waving a freshly signed memorandum of understanding with Ottawa to build a new pipeline to the northwest coast of B.C. Sure, there were literally mountains to cross before it came to fruition, but it was still a deal many thought improbable.

So, she was surely stunned – and the look on her face confirmed it – when she was heavily booed after hailing the MOU as an illustration that Canada still worked for Alberta. It got worse.

Smith defends Ottawa energy deal at UCP convention

Jeffrey Rath, spokesperson for the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project, got up on the convention floor and denounced the MOU. He prompted a raucous standing ovation among delegates when he screamed into his mic: “How many of us here favour a free and independent Alberta?”

It was a humiliating moment for the Premier, one, oddly enough, for which she could likely take a........

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