Category: Alberta
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Smith misrepresents reasons for moratorium, dismisses layoff concerns
We recently wrote about the UCP’s surprise moratorium on new renewable energy developments. There are more developments since then. ‘AUC and AESO asked for it – after we told them we were doing it’ Firstly, Smith misrepresented the reasons for the moratorium, claiming that the only reason they did it was because the Alberta Utilities…
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UCP Moratorium on Renewable Energy Projects
Last week, the UCP introduced a moratorium on the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approving new solar or wind projects, in an unexpected move that is attracting widespread criticism. The initial justification when announcing the freeze was that they had concerns over: Utilities Minister and Deputy Minister Nathan Neudorf acknowledged that the moratorium had been imposed…
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Health Minister Op-Ed Misleads About AHS
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange published an op-ed in the Edmonton Journal yesterday, claiming that “AHS is shouldering a burden it was not intended to carry”, because it “has evolved beyond its original acute-care hospital system mandate.” This logic, to Minister LaGrange (and her boss), justifies their plan to shrink AHS and decentralize Alberta’s healthcare system,…
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Family Doctors Start Charging; UCP Propagandists Double Down
Leading up to the last election, the NDP made a lot of noise about a long history of Danielle Smith supporting privatization of healthcare, leading the UCP to make some pretty firm guarantees about healthcare, and to accuse the NDP of “lying” about their healthcare plans. “The UCP is committed, to all Albertans, that under…
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Smith Returns to the Unpopular Policies She Couldn’t Win an Election On
During her leadership campaign last year, Smith ran on a number of policies to increase Provincial autonomy, right out of the “Free Alberta Strategy”, including a Provincial police force, a Provincial tax collection agency, and withdrawing from CPP to replace it with a Provincial version. These ideas were generally not popular. The costs of a…
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Danielle Smith Poses with Man Wearing “Straight Pride” Shirt
In recent years, there’s a pattern of controversies involving Conservative politicians having their picture taken with people who represent some pretty tawdry views – such as Pierre Poilievre shaking hands with Jeremy Mackenzie. Often, the response is to the effect that politicians take lots of photos with lots of members of the public and can’t…
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Minister of Justice Misrepresents the Ethics Commissioner
Readers may recall the Ethics Commissioner’s report that found that Danielle Smith breached the Conflict of Interest Act by seeking to intervene in Artur Pawlowski’s prosecution. Yesterday, the NDP sent a letter to the RCMP asking them to investigate whether Smith’s conduct may have violated various sections of the Criminal Code, as well – reflecting,…
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For Sale: One Premier’s Restaurant
On June 11, 2023, the Premier Tweeted a “Fun fact” that she and her husband own a restaurant in High River, with a photo of her supposedly washing dishes because the dishwasher broke down. Some people suggested that elements of her attire, like open-toed sandals, were inappropriate for a restaurant kitchen, and/or implied that the…
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Censorship Gate: The Premier Cries Wolf
On June 14, Smith posted a rant on Twitter and Instagram, asserting that her Facebook account had been “banned” from posting content for “a few days”, and complaining about “Big tech and government censorship”. Incidentally, Instagram is owned by the same parent company as Facebook, ‘Meta’. Several journalists reached out to Meta for a comment,…
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Smith Calls Net-Zero Unachievable
In her first media scrum since the election, Danielle Smith said she thinks that Justin Trudeau’s emissions target of net-zero by 2035 is unachievable. She promised to ‘defend Alberta’s jurisdiction’, arguing that Alberta is entitled to develop its natural resources without interference from Ottawa, and that she may invoke the Sovereignty Act to do so.…
What Did Danielle Smith Do Now? 