Barely out of the gate from Monday’s election, Danielle has already stepped in it. The UCP lost 14 seats in the election (recounts pending), yielding 49 UCP seats to the NDP’s 38 – the weakest win of any party in Alberta’s history.

But, notably, among the 14 the UCP lost was Edmonton-South West, formerly held by Kaycee Madu (who, as Minister of Justice, attempted to interfere with the administration of justice, according to an investigative report by Justice Adele Kent), which was the only Edmonton seat formerly held by the UCP. The NDP swept Edmonton entirely – plus winning St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

So with a caucus with absolutely NO representation from Edmonton, Smith intends to create a ‘council’ of defeated Edmonton candidates to advise her on Edmonton issues.

Yes, that’s right, these are the candidates who UCP partisans chose to run for Edmonton seats, and to whom Edmonton’s general voting public uniformly said “No, we do NOT want you representing us in government!” Smith’s response? THESE are the folks we’re going to listen to on Edmonton’s issues.

Democracy Means Letting Edmontonians Choose Their Voice

As many people have pointed out, Edmonton has various officials who are actually elected to represent their interests, Provincially and municipally.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley tweeted that the NDP has a 20-member “Council of the Elected” happy to advise on the priorities of Edmontonians.

Less mockingly, two Edmonton City Councillors, Andrew Knack and Anne Stevenson, encouraged Smith to reach out to the existing City Council to collaborate about the needs of the community.

Mayor Sohi has been quoted as making a statement by email:

“Premier Smith is free to seek advice from her party members, but I want to be clear, they don’t have the mandate to speak on behalf of Edmontonians.”

Patronage Appointments As Loyalty Rewards?

Smith’s comments about the ‘council’ were in a radio interview, and details are limited, but if these ‘council appointments’ are in any way official roles, legal experts say they may run Smith into legal problems.

University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski thinks that it may constitute a breach of the Conflict of Interest Act, by using the power of Smith’s office to secure government funds to advance the ambitions of her partisans. That is to say, ANOTHER breach of the Conflict of Interest Act.

University of Alberta law professor Ubaka Ogbogu calls the ‘council’ a declaration of war on democratic rule, and suggests that decisions rooted in advice from the council may be open to court challenges because of the abuse of power.

Context: The UCP’s Loose Grap on Representative Democracy

Last year, in an interview with David Staples, Minister Madu bemoaned his loneliness as the only UCP MLA or Cabinet Minister in Edmonton:

“It has been a tough three years. Sometimes it has been very lonely to be the only one (in cabinet) looking after the entire interest of our capital city.“

Saying the quiet part out loud, Madu admitted what the rest of us on the outside…well, kind of knew anyways: That rural and Calgary Cabinet Ministers from the UCP, despite having Cabinet posts (and pay bumps!) requiring them to look after all of Alberta, don’t care about Edmonton.

So perhaps not so surprising that, when it comes to local Edmonton issues, Smith plans to look to unelectable partisans who Edmontonians don’t want speaking for them.

Update – June 1, 2023

In a release today, Smith’s office walked back the comments, clarifying that “[n]o decisions have been made.“