One week into her new position as Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith now has seven months remaining before she must lead the United Conservative Party (UCP) into the next provincial election.
Critics and supporters of Smith have all been quick to outline some of the things they would like to see the new premier do, and not do, in the coming weeks and months.
Smith will not, of course, be able to please everyone in the short time she has available before having to face Alberta voters in the next general election.
Yet, how she acts during the months leading up to the May 2023 election will be closely scrutinized by voters, including in this district.
At the provincial level, a broad coalition of stakeholders made up of the United Nurses of Alberta, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Alberta Federation of Labour and others is calling on Smith to take action to reverse what they are calling ‘Premier Kenney’s failed experiments in privatization’.
“Albertans are suffering through the worst affordability crisis in a generation and now is the time to reverse course and massively reinvest in the public interest,” the coalition says.
“We want Premier Smith to come to the table, listen to the voices of Albertans, and understand that now is the time to reinvest in people, not create more chaos in our public institutions.”
On the other hand, many of Smith’s UCP supporters will be calling on her to focus her attention on fulfilling her pledge to fight the federal Liberals, and in particular moving forward with her controversial Alberta Sovereignty Act.
Whether Premier Smith can fight Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on one hand while at the same time solving the cost of living crisis facing many, many Alberta families and businesses remains to be seen.
What is known is that now that she has the Alberta premiership she wanted, Premier Danielle Smith is about to find out exactly what a tough job leading this great province can be.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
