Danielle Smith promises broad review of Alberta’s pandemic response

Open this photo in gallery:

Danielle Smith is replacing her campaign promise to enshrine human rights protection for the unvaccinated with a broad review of the province’s pandemic response.

The Alberta Premier says the move is about being better prepared for the “next pandemic.” But it runs the risk of taking Alberta back to divisive fights over vaccine mandates in the new year.

Ms. Smith stepped away from one of her most controversial leadership campaign promises – her pledge to immediately put a law in place to protect the COVID-19 unvaccinated – last month. Her caucus “thought that just changing the Human Rights Act was kind of an incomplete approach,” Ms. Smith said in a year-end interview with The Globe and Mail.

Instead, a yet-to-be assembled committee will be put to work reviewing Alberta’s response to the pandemic. The terms of reference for the task force, to be announced in early 2023, haven’t been fleshed out. But up for scrutiny is the Public Health Act, the Emergency Management Act, the mechanism for a patient bill of rights, professional codes, and the province’s employment standards, she said.

“The law of probabilities is there will be some other novel virus we have to deal with,” Ms. Smith said.

“Is there a better way that we can make sure that we’re getting the best medical information and a full range of opinions? Is there a better way that we can deal with the issue of medical choice?”

This isn’t about another battle with Ottawa – it will not include a look at the federal response to the pandemic (perhaps leaving it to former Reform Party leader Preston Manning’s self-described citizens inquiry to examine Canada’s overall response to the pandemic, including the provinces). And Ms. Smith insists the task force will be forward-looking instead of stirring up past controversies.

“People know it was not a perfect response. We’ve had a change in our leadership in our party because of the very divisions you’re talking about,” she said, referring to Jason Kenney’s departure as premier and United Conservative Party leader this fall.

“So, I think it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that if this happens again, that we don’t just default to doing what was done before,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s a positive look forward as opposed to a negative look back.”

After 10 weeks as Alberta’s Premier, Ms. Smith said she’s happy with the level of unity in what has often been a fractious United Conservative Party caucus. She said it comes in part from her leadership style of giving cabinet ministers leeway to do their jobs, and not running everything out of the Premier’s office.

“Our cabinet is really talented, and my leadership style is just to identify things that are priorities,” she said, noting she collaborated with cabinet ministers on their mandate letters. “And then I just let them go. And if they have any issues, to let me know if I need to intervene.”

But the task force looking at the province’s response to pandemic will be worn by the Premier. An examination of the past is usually a good thing. But even beyond the controversy of whether we’re really past the worst of COVID-19 – cases are surging in China at this moment – there are many potential pitfalls for Ms. Smith’s task force.

The Premier doesn’t have the full trust of Albertans on this issue, to put it mildly. She struck out on the communications front on her first day in government when she described the COVID-19 unvaccinated as the most discriminated group she had seen in her lifetime. As various groups protested her words, she clarified she was trying to “underline the mistreatment” of people who opted not to immunize themselves against COVID-19 and weren’t able to work, travel or, in some instances, see loved ones.

There has been little to no recognition from her of the dire choices governments have had to make. Mr. Kenney only reluctantly imposed a vaccine passport system, for instance, to protect the capacity of Alberta hospitals to help the desperately ill and keep some level of other health care services functioning.

Weeks into her time as Premier this fall, Ms. Smith phoned some organizations with vaccine mandates to urge them to change their minds. In at least one case, when she contacted the Arctic Winter Games, she tied her request to government funding – a move the NDP denounced as an intimidation tactic. I have a hard time believing Ms. Smith in opposition would have ever supported such a heavy-handed move by a governing party.

This month, it was revealed that the Premier has made her already humungous cabinet even larger by quietly appointing MLA Tracy Allard as parliamentary secretary for civil liberties. Ms. Allard will focus on everything from campus free speech to protecting property rights to excessive use of police force – matters the Premier said have been identified by caucus and cabinet members as priorities.

Ms. Smith said she has also been approached by some who want to see Alberta move forward on a written provincial constitution – definitely more details needed on this in the new year – and that also may fit into Ms. Allard’s portfolio.

Ms. Allard’s role, of course, will also be focused on protecting the rights of the unvaccinated, “if there’s any existing problems.” The Premier noted that she doesn’t think there are many businesses left with vaccine restrictions on staff or customers.

Albertans looking for Ms. Smith to be focused on more than her controversial leadership campaign promises – which include her emphasis on the rights of the unvaccinated and the Sovereignty Act – will be frustrated.

I asked why the focus is still on vaccine battles instead of trying to fix the immediate problem of the province’s beleaguered health care system – including the waiting times and staffing crunch in children’s hospitals.

Ms. Smith replied it’s possible to do both – to learn from recent history and move forward on current issues.

But there are good reasons to be skeptical about the Premier’s framing of the past.