In 2022, Alberta positioned itself by year's end to become one of Canada’s most turbulent political environments..It may appear to some outsiders that the province has a revolving door for premiers; Alberta has had a new premier about every two years for over a decade..Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is the only recent premier to serve an entire term in office without being ousted by her own party..This year, Alberta saw former premier Jason Kenney announce his resignation in May, just three years into his first term..Most of Kenney's reign was coloured by the COVID-19 pandemic. Albertans witnessed lockdowns, masking, border restrictions vaccine passports, and an array of MLAs going towards their governing party leader, which caused a constant churn around the cabinet table. The party undid many of the NDP’s major initiatives before Kenney gained power..Despite that, some might argue Alberta is Canada’s last line of defense against the Liberal policy. Many Albertans proved this point during the Freedom Convoy, with their protests in Ottawa, ON and in Coutts, AB..In 2022, Albertans also witnessed former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith win the UCP’s leadership race. Once she became premier, Smith buckled down and got to work..During the leadership race, she made many promises, but the main one was fighting Ottawa for Albertans with her Alberta Sovereignty Act..In the first session of the Legislature, the UCP would pass seven bills to get the ball rolling..Notley said during the UCP leadership race that Smith and her sovereignty act are "political theatre."."Danielle Smith has released the details of her proposed Sovereignty Act. The details were exactly what we expected them to be, nonsense at best, disastrous at worse," Notley said in a video posted to Twitter..But Alberta has been changing in recent decades and now so-called “progressive” ideas have become more widely accepted than ever before..Twitter users were quick to defend Smith against Notley's attack in 2022.."With respect Ms. Notley, the Sovereignty Act does make sense. Alberta can continue doing the same old things, whine in slightly different monotones and get the same old results; or courageously try something new. Ms. Smith is courageously taking a new path. Many of us salute her," Twitter user Don Martin said..“Disastrous”!? Evidence, please. Those are words of fear, anger and division. We deserve better from our elected officials," another Twitter user said..Other Twitter users agreed with Notley.."Ms. Notley for sure we aren’t the same stripe and a lot of the time I certainly don’t agree with Your Politics (my opinion) but in this case, I would agree this Sovereignty Act is a Train wreck looking for a place to happen and Ms. Smith wants it to be in Alberta," retired police officer Buck Buchanan said..During recent weeks, Smith and Justice Minister Tyler Shandro shared details on legislation intended to defend Alberta’s interests and fight Ottawa against the Liberal gun grab..The Alberta government sent instructions to the RCMP to dismiss direct orders from the Canadian government to enforce its semi-automatic weapon buyback program..History was made by Alberta’s government in 2022 as it took a stand against the Liberal government's Bill C-21..The attorney general directed jurisdiction over the handling of charges under the federal Firearms Act be taken over by Alberta’s Crown prosecutors..In May 2020, the federal government passed an order-in-council to ban more than 1,500 types of firearms. The ban took effect that same day..An amnesty period allows individuals to possess banned firearms until Oct. 30, 2023. After this date, individuals may face criminal charges for possessing a banned firearm..Currently, the federal government handles cases involving the federal Firearms Act. However, provinces have the constitutional authority to handle federal criminal law charges, including charges related to the act..With resources in place and the constitutional authority to deal with these matters, Alberta Attorney General Justice Minister Tyler Shandro directed the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service to handle charges involving the Firearms Act starting Jan. 1..“As a government, we do all we can to ensure the safety of Albertans. The federal government’s firearm ban does not stop illegal guns from crossing the border and making it into the hands of criminals. Instead of targeting criminals, the ban targets law-abiding firearms owners," Smith said..Other noteworthy events since Smith took over as premier are the gas tax suspension, vans for ambulances for non-emergencies, the homeless task force for social disorder, the firing of the AHS board of directors, and of course the seven bills that were passed during the recent session just to name a few..One of those bills even granted legislative guards the right to carry firearms. As with virtually anything in life, some people agreed with the bills and some didn't agree..The NDP has been highly critical of all decisions made by Smith, but she isn’t backing down from the NDP or the Liberals in Ottawa..So, what does the year 2023 hold for Albertans?.Will we see Notley form a new government, or will Smith remain strapped in the political driver's seat? That's the million dollar question..That will be answered in just a months, when the UCP faces Notley’s NDP in a provincial election..Was 2022 enough for Smith to gain enough support to defeat the NDP?.That is the question now pondered by Albertans following politics in the province, we'll just have to wait and see.
