With a provincial election coming in the spring, a good start to 2023 will be crucial for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. For this vote, she will need to convince more than just 53.77 per cent of the United Conservative Party’s voting members (on the sixth ballot, it should be said) that she is worthy.
So, since it is that time of year, here are a few resolutions Ms. Smith might consider making.
I will operate with grace and class.
If, for instance, the official portrait of a former premier is being unveiled at a non-partisan ceremony at the provincial legislature, she really should show her face. She should not cancel last minute, send a replacement and explain that she was busy in meetings (which surely would have been scheduled well ahead of time), as she did for former premier and current NDP leader Rachel Notley’s portrait ceremony in December. Unjustified and petty-seeming snubs are bad behaviour – both politically and in general. Ms. Notley herself attended the portrait unveilings of former Progressive Conservative premiers when she was in charge. That’s what decency and leadership look like.
I will bone up on Canada’s political system.
Ms. Smith’s signature legislation, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, is a highly controversial decree that gives the province powers to disregard federal legislation. Constitutional experts have balked and the Onion Lake Cree Nation is suing, arguing that the legislation violates the constitutionally recognized treaty rights of its members. Even former UCP premier Jason Kenney – who resigned his seat the day Ms. Smith tabled the act – had called the idea “catastrophically stupid.” Speaking of which, after the bill was passed, Ms. Smith said: “It’s not like Ottawa is a national government.”
I will take a history class and read some history books – or, at the very least, a few Wikipedia articles.
In her first moments after being sworn in, Ms. Smith said non-vaccinated Canadians were the most discriminated-against group she has witnessed in her lifetime. This insulting and erroneous assessment was shocking, even for her. She walked it back, a bit, and said she would be reaching out to marginalized groups. One could surmise that she has forgotten about that commitment, based on recent comments comparing Alberta’s experience to the plight of First Nations in Canada. She later clarified that she was merely stating that Alberta and First Nations share a common problem: Ottawa. If Ms. Smith were a high-school student, her parents might be thinking about getting her a history tutor right about now.
I will focus on the things that actually matter.
After the Sovereignty Act’s passage, Ms. Smith stated on her regular radio appearance that the legislation could have been used in the past to prevent Alberta from having to abide by federal restrictions on plastic straws. “How many people love the fact that they are now having to use paper straws?” she said. She went on to explain that at her restaurant, when a kid orders a root beer float, multiple paper straws will be required “because they get so destroyed.” An observer might thus conclude that Ms. Smith is working to upend national unity because of outrage over a child’s inability to consume an entire beverage with a single straw. (Okay, that might be a bit of a straw man argument – but she started it.)
I will be less blatant about tying funding to my political views.
When Ms. Smith explained that she had called up organizers of the Arctic Winter Games, which were seeking $1.2-million in funding from Alberta, and persuaded them to reconsider their vaccination policy for athletes, she was boasting. Boasting, that is, about using “threatening” tactics, as the NDP’s justice critic Irfan Sabir described them. For a Premier to proudly say the quiet part out loud – that she is tying funding to politics – suggests a deep lack of judgment. Meanwhile, the president of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee said the Premier’s pressure was not the reason the policy was changed, stating he had not even been aware of her call.
I will be more informed about medical issues.
Ms. Smith, in her Arctic Winter Games boast, said she asked organizers to reconsider their vaccination policy in light of “new evidence” – leaving that data unspecified. Meanwhile, the health care system is strained beyond capacity – especially pediatric ERs. That would be a better health care focus for Ms. Smith. Also, this was several controversies ago, but let’s not forget last summer’s comments about cancer patients: “When you think about everything that built up before you got to Stage 4 and that diagnosis, that’s completely within your control and there’s something you can do about that that is different,” she said while interviewing a naturopath. Ms. Smith later apologized and clarified – something she has been doing since with some regularity.
I will do less apologizing and clarifying.
See above.
These are just a few suggestions. Ms. Smith may have more ideas for resolutions around how to conduct herself. Or perhaps her constituents in Brooks-Medicine Hat do, or the people of Alberta. In 2023, she’s going to need to have those voters onside.