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
VANCOUVER – Predictions of a close election were holding true in British Columbia on Saturday, with early returns showing the New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives locked in a tight battle.
Both NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative Leader John Rustad retained their seats, while Green Leader Sonia Furstenau lost to the NDP’s Grace Lore after switching ridings to Victoria-Beacon Hill.
However, the Greens retained their place in the legislature after Rob Botterell won in Saanich North and the Islands, previously occupied by party colleague Adam Olsen, who did not seek re-election.
It was a rain-drenched election day in much of the province.
Voters braved high winds and torrential downpours brought by an atmospheric river weather system that forced closures of several polling stations due to power outages.
Residents faced a choice for the next government that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago, between the incumbent New Democrats led by Eby and Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives, who received less than two per cent of the vote last election
Among the winners were the NDP’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in Delta North and Attorney General Niki Sharma in Vancouver-Hastings, as well as the Conservatives Bruce Banman in Abbotsford South and Brent Chapman in Surrey South.
Chapman had been heavily criticized during the campaign for an old social media post that called Palestinian children “inbred” and “time bombs.”
Results came in quickly, as promised by Elections BC, with electronic vote tabulation being used provincewide for the first time.
The election authority expected the count would be “substantially complete” by 9 p.m., one hour after the close of polls.
Six new seats have been added since the last provincial election, and to win a majority, a party must secure 47 seats in the 93-seat legislature.
There had already been a big turnout before election day on Saturday, with more than a million advance votes cast, representing more than 28 per cent of valid voters and smashing the previous record for early polling.
The wild weather on election day was appropriate for such a tumultuous campaign.
Once considered a fringe player in provincial politics, the B.C. Conservatives stand on the brink of forming government or becoming the official Opposition.
Rustad’s unlikely rise came after he was thrown out of the Opposition, then known as the BC Liberals, joined the Conservatives as leader, and steered them to a level of popularity that led to the collapse of his old party, now called BC United — all in just two years.
Rustad shared a photo on social media Saturday showing himself smiling and walking with his wife at a voting station, with a message saying, “This is the first time Kim and I have voted for the Conservative Party of BC!”
Eby, who voted earlier in the week, posted a message on social media Saturday telling voters to “grab an umbrella and stay safe.”
Two voting sites in Cariboo-Chilcotin in the B.C. Interior and one in Maple Ridge in the Lower Mainland were closed due to power cuts, Elections BC said, while several sites in Kamloops, Langley and Port Moody, as well as on Hornby, Denman and Mayne islands, were temporarily shut but reopened by mid-afternoon.
Some former BC United MLAs running as Independents were defeated, with Karin Kirkpatrick, Dan Davies, Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka all losing to Conservatives.
Kirkpatrick had said in a statement before the results came in that her campaign had been in touch with Elections BC about the risk of weather-related disruptions, and was told that voting tabulation machines have battery power for four hours in the event of an outage.
— With files from Brenna Owen
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
Rustad was kicked out of the Opposition BC United Party for his support on social media of an outspoken climate change critic in 2022, and last year was acclaimed as the B.C. Conservative leader.
Buoyed by the BC United party suspending its campaign, and the popularity of Pierre Poilievre’s federal Conservatives, Rustad led his party into contention in the provincial election.
VANCOUVER – Predictions of a close election were holding true in British Columbia on Saturday, with early returns showing the New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives neck and neck.
Conservative Leader John Rustad was elected in Nechako Lakes, and 20 minutes after polls closed, his party was elected or leading in 46 ridings, with the NDP elected or leading in 45.
Among the early winners were the NDP’s Ravi Kahlon in Delta North and Niki Sharma in Vancouver-Hastings, as well as the Conservatives’ Bruce Banman in Abbotsford South.
It was a rain-drenched election day in much of the province.
Voters braved high winds and torrential downpours brought by an atmospheric river weather system that forced closures of several polling stations due to power outages.
Residents faced a choice for the next government that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago, between the incumbent New Democrats led by David Eby and Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives, who received less than two per cent of the vote last election
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau has acknowledged her party won’t win, but she’s hoping to retain a presence in the legislature, where the party currently has two members.
Elections BC has said results are expected quickly, with electronic vote tabulation being used provincewide for the first time.
The election authority expected most votes to be counted by about 8:30 p.m., and that the count would be “substantially complete” within another half-hour.
Six new seats have been added since the last provincial election, and to win a majority, a party must secure 47 seats in the 93-seat legislature.
There had already been a big turnout before election day on Saturday, with more than a million advance votes cast, representing more than 28 per cent of valid voters and smashing the previous record for early polling.
The wild weather on election day was appropriate for such a tumultuous campaign.
Once considered a fringe player in provincial politics, the B.C. Conservatives stand on the brink of forming government or becoming the official Opposition.
Rustad’s unlikely rise came after he was thrown out of the Opposition, then known as the BC Liberals, joined the Conservatives as leader, and steered them to a level of popularity that led to the collapse of his old party, now called BC United — all in just two years.
Rustad shared a photo on social media Saturday showing himself smiling and walking with his wife at a voting station, with a message saying, “This is the first time Kim and I have voted for the Conservative Party of BC!”
Eby, who voted earlier in the week, posted a message on social media Saturday telling voters to “grab an umbrella and stay safe.”
Two voting sites in Cariboo-Chilcotin in the B.C. Interior and one in Maple Ridge in the Lower Mainland were closed due to power cuts, Elections BC said, while several sites in Kamloops, Langley and Port Moody, as well as on Hornby, Denman and Mayne islands, were temporarily shut but reopened by mid-afternoon.
Karin Kirkpatrick, who is running for re-election as an Independent in West Vancouver-Capilano, said in a statement that her campaign had been in touch with Elections BC about the risk of weather-related disruptions, and was told that voting tabulation machines have battery power for four hours in the event of an outage.
West Vancouver was one of the hardest hit areas for flooding, and Kirkpatrick later said on social media that her campaign had been told that voters who couldn’t get to a location to cast their ballot because of the extreme weather could vote through Elections BC by phone.
— With files from Brenna Owen
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
