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Good morning! It’s James Keller in Calgary.

It’s no secret how voters on the Prairies view the Trudeau government. Alberta and Saskatchewan shut out the Liberal Party in last month’s federal election, and both provinces have conservative premiers who have made fighting Ottawa a key priority.

That anger has only increased since the election, which many saw as a sign that the rest of the country does not have this region’s interests at heart. And the lack of representation in the Liberal caucus meant there were no MPs from Alberta and Saskatchewan who could be appointed to cabinet.

Ottawa has been attempting to make inroads. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Jim Carr, a Winnipeg MP and former cabinet minister, as a special adviser for the Prairies. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan visited Alberta within days of being sworn in.

And this week, he sent his most senior minister, Chrystia Freeland, to meet with the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Her first stop was Edmonton to meet with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who gave her a warm welcome at the provincial legislature as he pointed out her Alberta roots (she grew up on a farm in northern Alberta).

Before the meeting, she appeared alongside Mr. Kenney as she acknowledged “challenges in the relationship.” Mr. Kenney, in turn, said he was confident they could find “common ground to be partners in prosperity."

After the meeting, Mr. Kenney’s office said the Premier reiterated a list of demands he has been making for months, including the repeal of recently passed environmental legislation, more money from a fiscal stabilization fund, and reforms to the equalization system.

In Regina yesterday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the federal government has a chance to “reset" its relationship with his province and other parts of the country. He said he was encouraged by his meeting with Ms. Freeland, whom he applauded for making the trip to hear his concerns.

He also said the meeting was “more cordial” than his encounter with Mr. Trudeau this month. Mr. Moe left that meeting fuming, saying he expected “more of the same” from a Liberal government that he argued had ignored the province.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here. This is a new project and we’ll be experimenting as we go, so let us know what you think.

Around the West

TRANSIT STRIKE AVERTED: The union representing thousands of transit workers reached a tentative agreement with transit operator Coast Mountain Bus Company very early Wednesday. In doing so, they averted a system-wide bus and Seabus strike that would have lasted through Friday.

RECALL LEGISLATION: Alberta is poised to follow B.C.'s lead in passing legislation that would allow voters to recall their MLAs in between elections. Recall campaigns have long been a goal of populist politicians in Alberta, though such a law would be incredibly difficult to successfully use and has been criticized by experts.

ELECTION COMMISSIONER: Experts say the Alberta government’s decision to eliminate the independent election commissioner, and instead fold the role into Elections Alberta, represents a step backward from a system that was leading the country. The government has been under fire for the change, since it also terminated the previous election commissioner as he was investigating the governing United Conservative Party.

PRIVACY: The federal and B.C. privacy commissioners are calling for reforms to the law after they were unable to fine a small B.C. company involved in an international scandal involving Facebook user data. The privacy commissioners concluded that Victoria-based Aggregate IQ broke Canadian privacy laws, but they were unable to impose financial penalties under the current law.

MANITOBA COURTS: The Chief Judge of Manitoba’s Provincial Court has blocked criminal-defence lawyers from using a video link to Winnipeg judges to avoid long delays for bail hearings in northern Manitoba. Chief Judge Margaret Wiebe issued a directive in July that said “access to justice” generally means that matters should be heard locally.

HEALTH-CARE LAWSUIT: A lawyer for the B.C. government argues that allowing people to pay for faster access to necessary medical care would hurt vulnerable patients who depend on the province’s universal health-care system. The province presented final arguments in a pivotal constitutional challenge of laws that restrict private, for-profit care.

VANCOUVER MAYOR: The mayor of Vancouver says he left a series of meetings with the newly appointed federal cabinet optimistic that the city’s needs will be addressed. Kennedy Stewart, a former NDP MP, says he used the meetings to push for progress on transit, drug-overdose prevention and housing.

ENERGY: A little-known private company called Clover Oil & Gas Ltd. has emerged as a contender to acquire $3.7-billion in crude-by-rail contracts that the Alberta government is trying to sell. Meanwhile, the former head of the International Energy Agency says oil and gas producers should do more to move toward renewable energy instead of casting their industry as a victim.

TRADE: The Alberta government plans to open a trade office in Houston in the new year, with an eye to make contact with Texas oil and gas executives and investors as the province tries to reverse a flow of capital south.

Opinion

Konrad Yakabuski on Jason Kenney’s equalization demands: "If Alberta is experiencing budgetary woes, it has nothing to do with Albertans being forced to finance generous equalization payments for Quebec, but rather stems from provincial tax rates that are nearly 30 per cent below the national average. "

Gary Mason on the NDP and B.C.'s finances: “The NDP has, in turn, tabled two balanced budgets and is now drafting its third, which will be out early next year. The question is, will it be balanced? Or maybe it’s better phrased this way: Can the NDP afford it not to be?”

Brian Tobin and Aaron Engen on the need for a national energy strategy: "Other than in uranium, Canadian energy is only sold domestically or into the U.S. Canada’s energy market reach is not global. That is a big part of the problem.”

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