Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addressed members at UCP Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday from the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, saying Albertans are the owner of the province's energy..President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Travis Toews and Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Brian Jean introduced Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to a cheering crowd."The real fight starts right now," Jean said. Toews introduced Smith to the crowd as she received a standing ovation from UCP members."I think Ralph would have really enjoyed the idea of holding the AGM here, don’t you? I’ve been thinking about Ralph quite a bit these last weeks. How he was just that regular guy next door with a heart of gold who could get along and chat with basically anyone about anything," Smith said."I am also struck by the way that former MLAs and ministers in his caucus talk about him to this day Ralph never ruled over his caucus with an iron fist. He believed in empowering his MLAs and ministers to be the shared face of the party."During the beginning of her speech, Smith mentioned Todd Loewen, who got a bigger ovation from the crowd than Toews.Over the course of the first few days in office Smith met with 59 MLAs for about 45 minutes each to discuss plans for the future."We spent most of the days at the retreat talking about Albertan’s priorities. And there were four major themes that came out of that discussion," Smith said.Affordability and the inflation crisis caused by the NDP-Liberal coalition in OttawaJobs and the economy during this time of global economic uncertaintyImproving health care on an expedited basis; andStanding up to the NDP-Liberal coalition government in Ottawa"The system is broken my friends," Smith said."I am going to speak to each of these priorities and give you a good idea on where we are headed. So first off, the Liberal-NDP inflation and affordability crisis; let there be no doubt, this crisis lands primarily at the feet of the Trudeau-Singh coalition government in Ottawa. Justin Trudeau has taken on more federal debt during his time in office than all other previous prime ministers combined. And of course — there are the continuous stream of anti-energy policies and carbon taxes that Rachel Notley, Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau are so fond of."According to Smith, results of the above fiscal insanity and economic sanctions are "predictable — Whether its fuel, electricity, groceries, or fertilizer for our farmers — the cost of everything we need to live and raise our families has soared.""As a government, we can’t solve the inflation crisis on our own, but we can certainly keep our books balanced and we can ensure that Albertans and their families are better able to manage through this storm."Smith told UCP members, over the coming weeks and months you will “see our government take decisive action in this regard.”"To ensure families are not obliged to choose between power for their homes in winter and nutritional food for their families, we will lower the cost of electricity. To ease the financial burden for seniors and vulnerable Albertans, our government will ensure that they have more in their wallets right away to meet the rising cost of life’s necessities.""To restore affordability to daily life during a time when budgets are being stretched beyond limits affordability crisis."Smith said Albertans are the owners of the province's massive energy reserves."It is time to ensure each of you benefit from that ownership. Affordability is the primary challenge facing Albertans today, and we will make sure every decision we make from now until this crisis is over addresses this for Albertans," Smith said."Our caucus is also-laser focused on increasing jobs and strengthening the economy. This has been perhaps the greatest strength of our UCP government over these last three years after the train wreck of an economy handed to them by Rachel Notley."Smith said she will immediately index and lower Albertans taxes so that families will not have to choose between their rent and food. She also mentioned the Alberta Sovereignty Act as the crowd erupted."We will also look at lowering taxes for our ag producers, innovators and entrepreneurs because it attracts businesses from around the world. Whether its agriculture, forestry, technology, tourism or energy; whether the businesses we are attracting are small, medium or large — we need to diversify our economy and promote more jobs and prosperity for all Albertans."
