Her time in office has been so delightfully wacky there’s just too much to cover. She’s tripled down on the Alberta Sovereignty Act while admitting that she would follow any Supreme Court rulings on its constitutionality, and admitting she will likely never use it.
Since everyone knows the Act cannot achieve what she says it can within the confines of the Constitution (indeed, one of the authors of the strategy, Barry Cooper, has written that its unconstitutionality is ”exactly the point”), many Albertans are left wondering “what the hell is she doing?”
The same question has been asked again and again since Smith was elected by a razor thin of her own party in a surprisingly close race. (She got 53.7% on the final ballot, but about 5500 members who voted in the first ballot declined to rank either her or her final opponent, so she ended up with almost exactly 50% of votes cast.)
There are so many greatest hits to choose from; indeed, it seems every time she opens her mouth, something bizarre drops out.
It’s worth noting that she’s a few months older than I am. We went to university together. Residential schools existed for the first half of our lives, as did apartheid.
Heck, Smith even named the largest cabinet in Alberta history, and could find room for only four women and three non-white people, one of whom is the minister of trade, immigration and multiculturalism, another of culture. At least she didn’t relegate the women to the status of women portfolio – because there isn’t one.
She attempted to clarify her comments about discrimination, highlighting that, since her grandmother had “Cherokee relatives,” she has Indigenous ancestry and understands discrimination.
Notably, she did not apologize and instead doubled down, vowing to make vaccine status a protected class under the Alberta Human Rights Act (does this mean your hairdresser can’t be required to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B, or a firefighter who lives in close quarters with others, against measles? Who knows?). Of course, she has not actually done so, having perhaps received some legal advice.
She was forced to apologize for another gaffe, in which she parroted Russian talking points about Ukraine and NATO being responsible for the invasion and suggesting that if only Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons (which it did in the 1990s) and just ceded some territory to Russia, all would be fine.
Before her advisers reminded her that Alberta has one of the largest Ukrainian diasporas in the world, she blamed the controversy on the media digging up things she had said long ago, while she was wearing a different hat.
However, the comments were made last year, when she had declared she would run for the leadership of the UCP.
When she finally did apologize, she noted that one of her great-grandparents (not the Cherokee-adjacent one) fled Ukraine and that she, like so many Albertans, is proud of her Ukrainian roots.
And there’s the constantly changing story on whether she interfered with criminal prosecutions of those facing not just COVID-related charges, but those involved with alleged criminal activity around the blockade of the Coutts border crossing.
Regardless of which of her explanations one believes (and it’s impossible for more than one of them to be true. She calls it “imprecise” language, others call it “lying”), she has admitted to far more than Justin Trudeau was accused of doing during the SNC Lavalin affair.
The only thing she has not done is replace her Attorney General – because she has no one to replace him with. (He’s under investigation for bad behaviour from the Law Society himself, but that’s yet another story)
How in the world did we get here? There are two schools of thought: one is that Smith is simply incompetent (she’s never been in government before and has only worked in media, lobbying, and politics, other than washing dishes and light bookkeeping at her family restaurant).
Indeed, amongst University of Calgary grads of the early 1990s there are active group text debates on whether she’s always been like this or if something has broken.
The other school says this is all an act. That like Boris Johnson or her political idol Ron DeSantis, she’s putting us all on.
She herself has lent credence to this theory. In an attempt to change the channel, she told a press conference that she sees journalism as a form of entertainment, focused on getting clicks and ratings. Therefore, she shouldn’t be held responsible for anything she said or espoused as a talk radio host.
Setting aside the cynicism of this statement – was she always playing her listeners for chumps? Will they abandon her when they figure it out or is she counting on their blind loyalty? – there is a political strategy here.
Shortly after taking office, she again said the quiet part out loud, suggesting that the math meant she could get a bare majority by sweeping rural Alberta and more or less ignoring Calgary and Edmonton.
She believes, therefore, that there is an audience for her extremism in rural Alberta and in cities such as Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and the Grande Prairie region (all of which elected NDP members in 2015) to bring her back to the Premier’s office.
She may well be right. Polls consistently show a deadlocked race, with a small lead for the opposition NDP. However, the NDP must run a perfect campaign and win every seat they are competitive in, while the UCP has much more room for error.
‘THE LURE OF KEEPING POWER IS SEDUCTIVE INDEED’
Her caucus knows this. While they grumble loudly in private, they have fallen behind their leader in public, even on issues such as the Sovereignty Act that they had previously angrily denounced. The lure of keeping power is seductive indeed.
Many of them understand that all but one of the last five Conservative premiers have been removed by a party revolt after winning an election but before finishing the term. Many of them figure that they’ll be rid of her soon enough, so why put their necks out now?
Time will tell if Smith proves to be a good premier after all, but one thing is certain. She has done what I would have thought impossible: she’s made many Albertans long for the leadership of Jason Kenney.
Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi wrote this opinion column for CTV News
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
