MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council looks forward to working with Danielle Smith, newly elected UCP leader and premier-designate, on issues of interest to ratepayers in the municipality, says reeve Angela Aabers.
“Our council values the democratic process of electing a new UCP leader and premier,” said Aalbers. “We look forward to working with the newly elected premier and cabinet for the betterment of our ratepayers.”
Smith was elected as the UCP leader and premier-designate on Oct. 6 following a leadership campaign triggered by the resignation of Jason Kenney. She is set to be sworn in today as Alberta's 19th premier.
Smith defeated candidates Travis Toews, Brian Jean, Leela Aheer, Todd Loewen, Rajan Sawhney, and Rebecca Schulz.
Town of Olds Mayor Judy Dahl says she is confident the town will be able to work with Smith on helping meet the needs of the municipality.
“We will give her some time to settle before we decide to contact her,” Dahl said. “There’s no blocks to anything; we are all elected for a purpose.”
Asked if there are particular issues or concerns the town will want to address with Smith, Dahl said, “We collectively have not discussed that. I’m sure that we will have some topics on our plate that we will want to review. We will collectively sit down with our CAO and all of council to discuss that.”
Dahl noted that she has worked successfully with Smith in the past when Smith was head of the Wildrose Party.
Olds-Didsdbury-Three Hills UCP MLA Nathan Cooper says he hopes Smith will work to address concerns in the constituency.
“Obviously the cost of living is impacting everyone and people are looking to find ways to alleviate some of those pressures and I was pleased to hear Danielle talk about all those things in her (acceptance) speech,” said Cooper.
“I think there are lot of issues that have been important to constituents in terms of Alberta’s role in Confederation but beyond that I hear a lot about the importance of health-care reform as well a strong and robust economy.”
Asked if he thinks Smith can address inflation and cost of living concerns before the next election, he said, “I think that we as a team have a number of months in order to set out a vision for the province that includes issues around affordability. We need to make sure that we don’t turn this economy, which is really starting to show a lot of signs of strength, over to the NDP.”
Cooper will retain his position as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly following Smith’s election as premier.
“The speakership is for the term of the legislature,” he said.
Jason Nixon, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre UCP MLA and minister of Finance, was not immediately available for an interview. However, he did provide a statement to the Albertan: “We will be united behind her (Smith) to continue to build our economy, fight inflation and push back against Ottawa. Alberta’s best days are ahead and Alberta will be as prosperous as ever.”
During a press conference on Friday, NDP leader Rachel Notley said Smith must wait for the 2023 provincial election before undertaking major policy initiatives.
Asked for his final comments on Jason Kenney’s term as premier, MLA Cooper said, “I think the premier needs to be thanked for his service. Obviously there were many challenges that placated the premier over the last number of years, but I think history will record the policy of the Jason Kenney government as strong.”
