As Canada barrels through one of the stormiest periods in its history toward an April 28 federal election, there’s a name that’s not on the ballot but is on people’s minds: Danielle Smith.

Ms. Smith, the premier of Alberta, the Western province often called the Texas of Canada because of its oil, ranches and conservative politics, is referred to as “divisive” by supporters and critics alike: People love her, people hate her, people love to hate her.

An unapologetic MAGA-aligned conservative, she has riled Canadians across the country by speaking admiringly of President Trump and focusing on her province’s fortunes, particularly its oil exports, even as the U.S. administration menaces Canada.

Ms. Smith, 54, has been premier for the past two and a half years, having spent the past two decades dipping in and out of politics.

“I keep getting fired,” she chuckled in an interview with The New York Times in Calgary, Alberta, in February.

She has also worked as an economist, a lobbyist and a radio host of a popular call-in show in which she honed her folksy, affable but sharply ideological raconteur style.