Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds her first press conference in Edmonton, on Oct. 11.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is asking businesses in the province to ditch their vaccine requirements ahead of the government’s plan to make those who opt not to get immunized against COVID-19 a protected class of people.
Ms. Smith, who became premier after winning the United Conservative Party leadership race this month, told a crowd in Edmonton that she wants businesses to get on board with her strategy now in order to broadcast to others that Alberta is focused on freedom.
The Premier, during the campaign to replace Jason Kenney, pledged to amend Alberta’s Human Rights Act to protect people who choose not to get vaccinated from discrimination.
Provincial politicians are scheduled to return to the legislature near the end of November, where Ms. Smith’s priority will be to pass her proposed sovereignty act. However, at a speech at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, she pressed businesses to take the lead on ending vaccine requirements, saying she is offering “fair warning” that the government is going to make a “serious pivot” on such rules this fall.
“I would just ask if you would work with us to align your policies with the direction that we want to go in Alberta, because we want to send the message to the community, and to the world community, to the investment markets, that this is a place that is open for business, that this is a place that believes in freedom,” Ms. Smith said.
“This is a place that believes in free enterprise and this is a place where we’re not going to be making arbitrary decisions that are going to disproportionately impact the small and medium businesses in this province.”
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Ms. Smith has yet to announce details on what a Human Rights Act amendment would look like, but said on the Premier’s call-in radio show – which she inherited from Mr. Kenney – over the weekend that she would keep it narrow and limit such protection to COVID-19 vaccines. She agreed with a caller that including all vaccines in such a change would open up a “big can of worms,” though she didn’t elaborate. Some health care related jobs and training require other vaccines such as immunization for polio and hepatitis.
Roughly 91 per cent of eligible Albertans over 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine against COVID-19. Ms. Smith captured the leadership of the UCP after focusing her campaign on lingering resentment over public-health restrictions tied to the pandemic and anger toward Ottawa.
She will announce a new cabinet Friday and has said she plans to have more representation from rural communities, which she believes were disregarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her Edmonton speech, Ms. Smith said she is expecting pressure on the health care system through the fall, but the way to address that stress is not through public-health restrictions. The government, she said, will soon roll out announcements to address the capacity crisis in Alberta Health Services, which Ms. Smith previously promised to dismantle.
Ms. Smith, hours after being sworn in as Premier on Oct. 11, declared that those who chose not to vaccinate were the most discriminated-against group of people she has witnessed in her lifetime. The following day, facing widespread criticism, she issued a statement saying she did not intend for her comment to take away from discrimination other minority communities have faced.
Mr. Kenney, in September, 2021, introduced a vaccine passport system for COVID-19 shots, reversing his earlier promise to never impose such a structure. At the time, 79 per cent of eligible Albertans over 12 had received at least one shot against COVID-19. Alberta imposed a vaccine requirement on government employees, and scores of private companies instituted mandates for employees. Ms. Smith, who was then a private citizen, accepted a vaccine only after the passport system was implemented.
AHS imposed a mandatory immunization program, although very few employees lost their jobs because of the vaccine requirement. Ms. Smith and others believe this vaccine requirement contributed to a staffing shortage in hospitals during the crisis.
Alberta lifted its vaccine passport system in February as the government faced pressure from protesters blocking the border between the United States and Canada at Coutts, Alta.
Mr. Kenney in May said he would step down after UCP members selected a new leader. This announcement came after he collected support from just 51 per cent of UCP members who voted in his leadership review. The evaluation came after both the left and right flanks of his party criticized him for the way he handled the pandemic.
Ms. Smith does not have a seat in the legislature. She will compete in a by-election in Brooks-Medicine Hat on Nov. 8.