What Danielle Smith said she wouldn't campaign for in the 2023 election
Smith said she wouldn't campaign on an Alberta Pension Plan and police force, but it looks like that's what we're getting.
As part of my writing process between columns I keep a running list of topics and stories that I think might be interesting or fun to write about and share with you. Being Alberta politics, sometimes these lists run long (and sometimes, very long). Here are a few of the items on this week’s list:
the stroke patient being sent to live in a Travelodge.
Premier Danielle Smith’s trip to Texas.
homeless people in Edmonton dying at a rate of 8 times higher than just a few ago.
the Alberta Energy Regulator being sued by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
concerns about the revival of a twice-rejected coal mine proposal in the Eastern Slopes.
Naheed Nenshi’s entry into the NDP leadership race (keep scrolling to read more).
the expected introduction of municipal political parties in Alberta.
US Senator Jon Tester throwing shade on Alberta beef in a video for Agriculture Week.
the federal government spending $34 billion building the TransMountain Pipeline Expansion!
As you can see, there is no shortage of things to write about in Alberta politics, but today I decided to take a step back and look at what was, or what wasn’t, promised by the United Conservative Party in last year’s provincial election.
I want to focus on the lede from this widely shared Canadian Press story published on March 5, 2023:
United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith says she won’t be campaigning on some of her party’s more contentious ideas — sovereignty legislation, a provincial police force and an Alberta pension plan — ahead of the May 29 election.
The reason why this story is notable is because of how much of the re-elected UCP’s political agenda today focuses on those three things Smith specifically didn’t want to talk about during the campaign.
It’s not unusual for parties that form government to back away from campaign promises or even implement policies they didn’t campaign on at all. But it feels a little more unusual for a party leader to implement policies she said she didn’t want to talk about during a 28-day election campaign that happened less than a year ago.
It was a shameless and cynical move, because despite Smith saying she didn’t want to campaign on those issues during the election, it was clear the UCP was going to move forward on pensions, police and sovereignty if they were re-elected.
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