It’s been 11 years since Danielle Smith led a party into a provincial election and both she and the electorate have changed. Just how much is up to interpretation..Smith led the Wildrose to Official Opposition status in 2012 against PC leader Alison Redford. After exiting politics in 2015, she became a talk show host to hear and express opinions freely. She emphasized certain issues in her UCP leadership campaign last year, governed under a broader mandate and now makes a different pitch to the electorate to renew power..It’s left some political observers, like Mount Royal political science professor Duane Bratt, wondering just what option Smith presents for an Albertan voter..“You have a party with the consistent policies under Kenney, and a track record under Kenney, but I'm still trying to figure out who the real Danielle Smith is,” Bratt said in an interview with the Western Standard..“Is it the Danielle Smith, ‘Let's investigate aspects of private health care,’ which she talked about for 20 years, or is it the Danielle Smith of the public health guarantee? Is the Danielle Smith fiscal conservative, or is it the party that just passed an election budget with massive spending? So it's unclear, except for maybe issues of COVID, where Smith actually lies.”.Days before the writ was dropped, Smith announcement of an agreement-in-principle for a new arena for the Calgary Flames only blurred Bratt’s vision further..“Is it the Danielle Smith who opposed as Wildrose Leader provincial funding for the Edmonton rink? Is this the radio show host who criticized the 2019 Calgary arena deal that didn't even involve provincial money? Or is this the Danielle Smith committing $330 million to an arena project on the eve of an election in Calgary?” asked Bratt. .“Is she the populist as she was in the leadership race, or is she the leader of big business? I don't know. Those are very intriguing questions.”.The $1.22 billion arena deal includes an $800 million arena and events centre for Calgary professional teams and a $52 million community rink. The City of Calgary pays $537 million, the province pays $330 million, and the ownership group for the Flames pays $356 million..Barry Cooper, University of Calgary political science professor, told the Western Standard Smith might not have cheered on the arena deal from the sidelines, but it represents a political accomplishment..“In the past, she would not have been particularly supportive of using public money. And so she said that this is not for the hockey rink, it's for infrastructure. And the infrastructure involved reconfiguring some of the roads that don't go anywhere and putting a new underpass under the CPR tracks. Well, I suppose that that is genuine infrastructure,” Cooper said..“Unlike everybody else over the past 10 years when people started yapping the Saddledome wasn't big enough for the Flames, she actually got a deal done. So she can say, well, it may not be the best deal possible, but it's a deal, and nobody else has been able to deliver..“I don't know if it's watering down her libertarianism, but it's showing at least she can accomplish something where everybody else has failed.”.The arena deal got a lukewarm response in Calgary, when a ThinkHQ poll suggested 50% support and 45% opposition. Marco Navarro-Genie, founder and president of the Haultain Research Institute, said it’s an example of pragmatism over ideology..“Danielle is committed to a particular ideological view of the world that's libertarian in most cases, but she's also very pragmatic. And I think we're seeing that pragmatism again,” he said..Navarro-Genie, who's writing a book about former Progressive Conservative Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, sees parallels between his stint as premier and Smith’s. Back then, Alberta was “swimming in money,” causing political pressure from NDP leader Grant Notley and even some conservatives to spend it..“[Lougheed] was fiscally very conservative, but he was kind of pushed off into spending money that he didn't want to spend. He had to make choices about spending on things that would last so the money wouldn't just be completely washed away,” Navarro-Genie said..“That is something going on in Edmonton right now. They're awash with money. If they start pumping it all into the Heritage Fund, they're going to get criticized that they're putting money away for tomorrow and people are hurting today.”.Navarro-Genie said the idea if one public dollar goes to Edmonton, the next dollar has to go to Calgary was present in Lougheed’s day just as it is now..“The tally of the stuff that has been spent in Edmonton recently was quite a bit higher than what had been spent in Calgary. And so I suspect that people in the premier's office were looking for places to equalize the situation,” he said..Navarro-Genie headed the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies before moving to Calgary, and said Alberta’s right-leaning tendencies attracted those of similar perspectives. He admits Alberta “is slightly less conservative, and a little bit more liberal” than in the past, especially in urban areas, and that Smith has had to adjust. .“I'm thinking about things she believed 13 years ago that she still does. They're not quite in sync with the culture as they were, so she seems a bit clunky sometimes because of that. But she's also pretty good at keeping her ear on the ground and she's already picked up quite a bit of the vibe and the feel of the province. And she's making it her own..“You can see in the campaign. The clunkiness of the beginning isn't anywhere near what we're seeing now, where she's more at ease.”.The policy expert says every Albertan has changed over the years, and it’s “unfair” to expect any less of Smith, given the passage of time and changing roles she embraced..“She's changed, but in some respects, it's not so much she's changed as that we have as a society.”
