Former Wildrose Party leader and Calgary radio journalist Danielle Smith held an online Zoom news conference Thursday morning. She introduced her return to Alberta politics and kicked off her leadership campaign..Smith's delivery was fast-pitched, confident, and purposeful as she addressed 86 members of the public and the press. She covered a host of topics and delivered comprehensive answers to a broad range of insightful questions..Smith's core themes emerged as party and provincial unity, sovereignty, justice, and equalization..Smith responded to the question of the federal erosion of provincial self-determination: "I believe in Alberta autonomy and to me that is defined in a number of different ways. I'm taking part in a couple of sessions with Rob Anderson, who has proposed a free Alberta strategy, the centrepiece of which is an Alberta sovereignty Act, which would essentially be a 'notwithstanding' clause on federal legislation that intrudes in our area of jurisdiction. And that would be one of the key pieces of legislation we would need to pass. ... If the federal government dares to intrude in provincial jurisdiction, we're just not going to enforce it," said Smith.."In this province, that would be one thing. The other thing is we need to collect our own personal income taxes. I think people need to see just how much money has continued to be taken out of this province for federal priorities. Because every single time the federal government announces a national program, they're expecting Albertans to pay the lion's share of the cost."."I think Albertans just want some respect. They want Ottawa to be as deferential to Alberta's interests and rights as they are to Quebec's. Quebec is going through a process where they've declared themselves a nation within a nation. Saskatchewan has declared themselves a nation within a nation. We've got to start asserting our rights and our responsibilities in our areas of jurisdiction," said Smith. "So those would be the things that I would be advocating as a priority.".Smith talked about whether she considered it prudent to delay the leadership election until 2023.."I don't see any reason to at the moment," she said. "I think there's enough time for us to get the leadership decided in September, and that would allow for a fall legislative session and it would allow for spring legislative session all the way through to passing a budget.".The party leader hopeful said it would be critically important to regain Albertans' trust in the election process saying the ballot submissions should be exclusively mail-in. She said it would be helpful to have regional polling stations throughout the province and that Albertans should not have to travel more than a couple of hours to cast their votes..In the context of the ongoing conversation in the province surrounding the issues of personal freedom and the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Smith talked about the jailing of pastors and the socially divisive politics of the pandemic period, and also whether charges against pastors and protesters should be dropped.."We should never have come down on pastors the way we did. Every other jurisdiction was able to enforce their measures without putting pastors in jail and [it] has created so much division in our communities. So yes, we should drop those [charges]. We should also drop charges against small businesses. Part of the reason we're enjoying the freedoms that we have today ... is because there were some courageous people who stood up and said, 'You know what? There's another way to do this, enough is enough.'".The Western Standard asked Smith if she could allay Albertans' concerns about her loyalty to the UCP in the light of her having crossed the floor from the Wildrose Party — along with eight other Wildrose MLAs — in 2015 and given that many people have questions about trust and confidence in leadership.."I have been a mainstream conservative my whole life. I joined the Progressive Conservatives back in 1992 when I was the president of the campus club at the University of Calgary and I stayed with the Progressive Conservatives until 2008."."I think in the end, Albertans recognized that — especially in this environment with the NDP polling at 44% — if we split this movement, we are not going to be successful in forming a government. So, I would hope that people would see me entering back into politics with the UCP [and it] shows my commitment to unity. I remain a vocal supporter of unity and I hope I can be that voice of unity as we go through the leadership campaign."
Former Wildrose Party leader and Calgary radio journalist Danielle Smith held an online Zoom news conference Thursday morning. She introduced her return to Alberta politics and kicked off her leadership campaign..Smith's delivery was fast-pitched, confident, and purposeful as she addressed 86 members of the public and the press. She covered a host of topics and delivered comprehensive answers to a broad range of insightful questions..Smith's core themes emerged as party and provincial unity, sovereignty, justice, and equalization..Smith responded to the question of the federal erosion of provincial self-determination: "I believe in Alberta autonomy and to me that is defined in a number of different ways. I'm taking part in a couple of sessions with Rob Anderson, who has proposed a free Alberta strategy, the centrepiece of which is an Alberta sovereignty Act, which would essentially be a 'notwithstanding' clause on federal legislation that intrudes in our area of jurisdiction. And that would be one of the key pieces of legislation we would need to pass. ... If the federal government dares to intrude in provincial jurisdiction, we're just not going to enforce it," said Smith.."In this province, that would be one thing. The other thing is we need to collect our own personal income taxes. I think people need to see just how much money has continued to be taken out of this province for federal priorities. Because every single time the federal government announces a national program, they're expecting Albertans to pay the lion's share of the cost."."I think Albertans just want some respect. They want Ottawa to be as deferential to Alberta's interests and rights as they are to Quebec's. Quebec is going through a process where they've declared themselves a nation within a nation. Saskatchewan has declared themselves a nation within a nation. We've got to start asserting our rights and our responsibilities in our areas of jurisdiction," said Smith. "So those would be the things that I would be advocating as a priority.".Smith talked about whether she considered it prudent to delay the leadership election until 2023.."I don't see any reason to at the moment," she said. "I think there's enough time for us to get the leadership decided in September, and that would allow for a fall legislative session and it would allow for spring legislative session all the way through to passing a budget.".The party leader hopeful said it would be critically important to regain Albertans' trust in the election process saying the ballot submissions should be exclusively mail-in. She said it would be helpful to have regional polling stations throughout the province and that Albertans should not have to travel more than a couple of hours to cast their votes..In the context of the ongoing conversation in the province surrounding the issues of personal freedom and the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Smith talked about the jailing of pastors and the socially divisive politics of the pandemic period, and also whether charges against pastors and protesters should be dropped.."We should never have come down on pastors the way we did. Every other jurisdiction was able to enforce their measures without putting pastors in jail and [it] has created so much division in our communities. So yes, we should drop those [charges]. We should also drop charges against small businesses. Part of the reason we're enjoying the freedoms that we have today ... is because there were some courageous people who stood up and said, 'You know what? There's another way to do this, enough is enough.'".The Western Standard asked Smith if she could allay Albertans' concerns about her loyalty to the UCP in the light of her having crossed the floor from the Wildrose Party — along with eight other Wildrose MLAs — in 2015 and given that many people have questions about trust and confidence in leadership.."I have been a mainstream conservative my whole life. I joined the Progressive Conservatives back in 1992 when I was the president of the campus club at the University of Calgary and I stayed with the Progressive Conservatives until 2008."."I think in the end, Albertans recognized that — especially in this environment with the NDP polling at 44% — if we split this movement, we are not going to be successful in forming a government. So, I would hope that people would see me entering back into politics with the UCP [and it] shows my commitment to unity. I remain a vocal supporter of unity and I hope I can be that voice of unity as we go through the leadership campaign."