No surprise that Premier Danielle Smith handily won her seat in Brooks-Medicine Hat, in the November 8th by-election. It was chosen as a safe seat, after all. But with her super-majority of 55% of all votes cast, she should not now have to put up with further sniping that her party is not behind her. As the United Conservative Party ramps up to fight an election in slightly more than six months, this is the good news it was looking for. .And that makes it's Smith's turn to drive the news, starting with a sovereignty act as soon as the legislature returns for a brief pre-Christmas sitting on November 29th. Sources confirm a draft is in an advanced stage of preparation for Cabinet consideration, and will be Bill 1..In a forthright acceptance speech, Smith accused Prime Minister Trudeau of presiding over confederation's descent into a "toxic, divisive parent-child relationship. This was never the intent nor the design of Confederation... The Sovereignty Act will be constitutional. It will provide our province the tools to push back against a federal government that continues to encroach upon provincial rights.".It's a promise-keeping play to the base, of course. And although she didn't mention it among non-specific promises of action on 'patient-centred health-care' and cost of living help, it's also understood the Smith government intends to introduce amendments to the Alberta Human Rights Act, making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of vaccination status. That will go down well, too..Her byelection victory should therefore mean a welcome change of headlines for a while at least, after a month during which Smith was variously condemned for being insufficiently pro-life, criticised for being insufficiently informed about the constitution and censured for past editorial musings in which she insufficiently reflected the views of the NDP..As for the NDP, the results are a mixed message. Candidate Gwendoline Dirk managed nearly 27% of votes cast, compared to the 18% won by her predecessor in 2019. She did well, then. n the other hand, if the NDP is supposedly surging province-wide as polls suggest, a result where the UCP gets two votes for every one earned by the NDP is not the proof Rachel Notley is looking for..Nor are the improved Alberta Party statistics anything from which Notley might draw reassurance. Former Brooks Mayor Barry Morishita took 16% of the vote (2,098) thereby more than doubling the Alberta Party's performance in 2019, and stealing non-UCP votes that Dirk (and Notley) would have liked to have..It would be a political miracle on a par with Smith's return from the political dead, if the Alberta Party won seats next year. But in Brooks-Medicine Hat the party demonstrated it can certainly give voters a non-NDP alternative to the UCP. In that transaction, it is the NDP has the most to lose..Since she won the leadership and was sworn on as premier, Smith has needed a good day. .Today, she got one. .At last.
