What does a kid from Nanton, Alta., write in his private journals after spending his days influencing some of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's most controversial policies?

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty takes a peek into The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics, and Pierre Trudeau 1973-1981, with the book's editor, Ron Graham. As the prime minister's principal secretary, Jim Coutts was said to have exercised more backroom power than anyone else in modern Canadian political history. He was everywhere that mattered during the Trudeau era 50 years ago, and then went home and wrote a lot of it down.

Just as you'd expect from a diary, Coutts' offers juicy insight into exactly what he thought of both Alberta premier Peter Lougheed and Progressive Conservative Party leader Joe Clark. His entries reveal how influential he was as the reviled National Energy Program was being devised in the spring of 1980. And his private anxieties about inflation, affordability, energy prices and Western alienation read like they could have been written today.

As Albertans' anger toward Ottawa reached a boiling point, Coutts understood the West's legitimate grievances. But his diaries show he was a strategist first, who prioritized his party's survival no matter the cost to his reputation back home.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guest: Ron Graham
• Producer: Diane Yanko

Grab your snacks and beverages and settle in for a West of Centre twofer, no coupon required.

First, host Kathleen Petty reconvenes our citizens’ panel — Chelsea, Darryl, and Sunil — to get their perspectives on the latest happenings in Alberta. Darryl, who identifies as "blue through and through" describes his recent trip to Ontario and how Alberta politics is perceived by some in the east (Hint: it isn’t flattering). Sunil, a disappointed Conservative supporter, feels that Alberta has legitimate issues within Confederation, but questions the premier’s current tactics. Meanwhile, Chelsea is struggling to connect the dots on how some of the moves the provincial government is making will benefit everyday Albertans.

And then, as the April 1 deadline approaches for the next step to getting approval on a new bitumen pipeline to B.C., two energy industry insiders offer new insight into who might step forward to build it. Ian Anderson, the former president and CEO of Trans Mountain, recounts his experience developing that project, and the specific challenges with both the Port of Prince Rupert and Roberts Bank. And Sonya Savage, the former Alberta energy minister, shares what she’s hearing from investors as they watch the ongoing drive to force a referendum on separation.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Chelsea Matisz, Darryl Stanier, and Sunil Shah; Ian Anderson and Sonya Savage
• Producers: Diane Yanko and Josh Pagé

It’s a wrap for the Conservative Party Convention in Calgary. Leader Pierre Poilievre secured an 87.4 per cent vote of confidence. Now that he’s won over the delegates, the focus for him and the party becomes winning over Canadians.

West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined this week by two Conservative insiders who were also at this weekend’s convention. Amber Ruddy, Alberta's national councillor for the Conservative Party of Canada and a vice-president at Counsel Public Affairs; and Ian Brodie, a University of Calgary political scientist, senior advisor at New West Public Affairs, and former chief of staff to prime minister Stephen Harper.

They muse about when Canadians might next go to the polls and whether the Conservatives are ready (they are); how much more explicitly Poilievre and Alberta’s premier will have to speak about the spectre of separatism if momentum continues to pick up in Alberta and Quebec (much, much more); and where Poilievre might run in the next election (Carleton again?! One panelist thinks so).

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Ian Brodie, Amber Ruddy
• Producer: Diane Yanko

The seeds of separation are being sown. Thousands have been braving January’s cold to put some heat on the effort for the province to become a free and independent country.

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty speaks with one of the campaign’s key proponents and head of the Alberta Prosperity Project, Mitch Sylvestre. Among many points in their conversation, he tells her there’s no U.S. funding involved in the effort, and that his sense is things would have been much different if Pierre Poilievre had won last spring’s federal election.

Then, political pollster Janet Brown and Calgary-based Toronto Star reporter Alex Boyd join the table. They analyze the political calculation by Premier Danielle Smith in making it easier for a separation referendum to go to the people. And they break down the differing views on the separatist sentiment in Alberta — from those who are committed to the cause, to those who are more soft on the idea but want to keep the discussion going to negotiate a better deal with Ottawa.

Finally, as the rest of the country rubbernecks at what’s happening in Alberta, the panel cautions Canadians not to oversimplify the secession effort and its impact on national unity at a time when the country needs it most.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Mitch Sylvestre, Alex Boyd, Janet Brown
• Producers: Diane Yanko, Josh Pagé

This week on West of Centre, guest host Jason Markusoff reconvenes the national political panel The House Party for a conversation about Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa.

That historically difficult partnership has changed with a deal to pursue a pipeline to the B.C. coast, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s warmth towards this Liberal prime minister. But our panel wonders if that relationship is built to last.

Joining Jason are his two co-hosts from House Party: Catherine Cullen, host of CBC’s The House, and Daniel Thibeault, Radio-Canada’s Ottawa bureau chief, along with Falice Chin, the Alberta bureau chief for The Hub.

• Host: Jason Markusoff
• Guests: Falice Chin, Catherine Cullen, Daniel Thibeault
• Producer: Carla Turner

The geopolitical rules were rewritten this week as the U.S. moves beyond simply buying oil. It effectively took over the world's largest oil reserves in Venezuela — the same kind of heavy oil produced by Alberta. It's a threat that can't be dismissed.

This week, West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Gitane De Silva, former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator and Alberta's former senior representative to the United States; Martha Hall Findlay, who was Suncor Energy's first chief climate officer; and Sonya Savage, former Alberta energy minister.

With 10 per cent of Alberta's crude at risk of being displaced in the U.S. Gulf Coast and a big hit to the provincial budget at stake, the panel says Canada can no longer afford to be the 'boy scouts' of the global energy market.

The panel explains why Canada isn't building refineries instead of pipelines. And they drill down on how this complicates the pursuit of a private proponent for a new bitumen pipeline to B.C.'s northwest coast. They argue while the Smith-Carney MOU is a start, it is no longer sufficient to de-risk the massive commercial uncertainty created by the 'might-makes-right' White House.

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Gitane De Silva, Martha Hall Findlay, Sonya Savage
• Producer and editor: Diane Yanko

From a Trump trade war and a historic teachers' strike, to the UCP government’s use of the notwithstanding clause, 2025 has been a high-stakes whirlwind for Alberta.

This week on West of Centre, the CBC’s own Jason Markusoff swaps his producer and writer hat for a clipboard as quizmaster for our "not-quite-annual" quiz show. Testing their knowledge of the year's headlines: Falice Chin, Alberta bureau chief of The Hub; Alex Boyd, Calgary-based reporter for the Toronto Star; and pollster Janet Brown of Janet Brown Opinion Research.

Think you can beat our political smarties?

Use our study guide to prep for a look back on such key topics as:

• The prime ministerial pivot (Justin Trudeau’s resignation).
• The Mar-a-Lago minute (Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s trip to Florida).
• The notwithstanding fall (when Albertans got a lesson on the Charter).
• The ‘La-La-La-We-Can’t-Hear-You’ Act of 2025 (Markusoff gave a certain piece of legislation a very catchy nickname).
• Mayoral shakeups (new faces in the big chair in Calgary and Edmonton).

Test your knowledge, keep your own score, and stick around to find out which of the panellists wins bragging rights and the coveted ‘No. 1 Nerd’ trophy.

• Host: Jason Markusoff
• Guests: Alex Boyd, Janet Brown, Falice Chin
• Producer and editor: Diane Yanko

What if the biggest danger to Canada isn’t a foreign enemy or even U.S. President Donald Trump? Rather, poor policy decisions and decades of deferred leadership that have created deep regional resentments – including here in Alberta – that threaten to tear the country apart. And what if the greatest threat to Canadian unity now comes from the west?

John Ibbitson, veteran political journalist, and Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, join West of Centre host Kathleen Petty to discuss their third book together, Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk.

The book is an urgent, necessary sequel to The Big Shift, where the political realignment the authors predicted – the movement of power away from the Laurentian Elite toward the West and suburban immigrant voters. Only now, the country is at a critical juncture where national stability is at stake – and Alberta is at the centre.

They argue the horizontal threat is the refusal to face the fact that Canada is fundamentally a resource-based economy that has created deep regional resentments that threaten to pull the country apart.

But, Ibbitson and Bricker say, the growing cracks in the country’s foundation can be fixed, in part by radical federal decentralization, forcing the federal government to finally govern the country it claims to represent.

• Host: Kathleen Petty

• Guests: Darrell Bricker, John Ibbitson

• Producer and editor: Diane Yanko