Don Braid: Premier Danielle Smith introduces herself, a little early
Danielle Smith #DanielleSmith
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Of course, she hasn’t won yet. But Smith has so convinced the province of her inevitability that her news conference was exactly like the one leaders usually hold after they win
Author of the article:
Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:
Oct 03, 2022 • 3 days ago • 4 minute read • 16 Comments 
UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith speaks to the media via a Zoom call days before the leadership vote. Screen capture photo Article content
Welcome, Premier Danielle Smith. The new provincial leader introduced herself to reporters in a long Zoom session Monday, speaking not just to her party but to her caucus and the public beyond.
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Of course, she hasn’t won yet. The UCP leadership votes will be counted Thursday.
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But Smith has so convinced the province of her inevitability that her news conference was exactly like the one leaders usually hold after they win.
Nothing can change the result now, whatever it is. The final ballots to be counted had to be received by 5 p.m. Monday.
Some members will still get to vote Thursday during a four-hour window at five in-person stations around the province.
But the vast bulk of votes are already in. Smith’s campaign team thinks it’s all over but for the coronation.
And so, this new presumptive (presumptuous?) premier offers news.
She will not call a snap election to seek approval for the Sovereignty Act, even though it would represent a sea-change in dealings with Ottawa, based on the support of, say, 60,000 members of her party.
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Smith says she will already have what amounts to a mandate from the equalization referendum, views expressed at the Fair Deal panel, what she’s heard on the campaign trail, and the mere fact that she won.
She argued that governments routinely change policy in response to circumstances — look at Ottawa during the pandemic, for instance — so she has a right to respond with new policy and let the voters decide whether they like it on election day, next May 29.
Danielle Smith fires campaign’s phone operators after ‘racist’ remarks 
‘Fairy tales:’ UCP leadership hopefuls show united front against Smith’s Sovereignty Act 
Notley: The Sovereignty Act is a dangerous distraction that threatens Alberta’s future “The public is not at all impressed” by early elections, Smith said, pointing to what happened to PC Premier Jim Prentice in 2015 after she and 11 Wildrose MLAs joined his caucus, thereby helping him lose to the NDP.
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“Obviously, I made some pretty crucial errors of judgment at that time,” she said, adding that she’s “very self-reflective.” Her conclusion is she was just a little early on the conservative unity front.
The Sovereignty Act would not be the first thing she does, despite the widespread impression that she would produce it on Day 1.
That wouldn’t happen until after she wins a byelection, possibly in Livingstone-Macleod riding. (Smith is the only UCP candidate who isn’t a member of the legislature.)
“If I was elected I would look at an early opportunity to introduce it (the Sovereignty Act) myself,” she said. Meanwhile, the caucus would work out wording that has wide agreement.
A byelection couldn’t be held until at least six weeks after Thursday’s vote count. Smith’s campaign has already confirmed that the legislature opening would be delayed into November.
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One of her key audiences Monday was the pesky, fractious UCP caucus that did so much to bring down Premier Jason Kenney.
She said UCP MLAs would decide the order in which new measures are presented. Nothing would actually go forward, she implied, without very strong caucus support.
MLAs who felt excluded by the Kenney regime will love that promise but will react sharply if Smith breaks it.
Several cabinet ministers will remain even if they were loyal to Kenney. Smith feels they’ve done a brilliant job overall. She heaped special praise on Health Minister Jason Copping for last week’s pay deal with doctors.
Asked if she would axe that agreement (a real fear among some doctors), she said it has her full support and will herald a new era of co-operation.
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First up will be a 30-day review of AHS, help for children’s mental health following the pandemic, and changing the Alberta Human Rights Act to prevent discrimination against people who choose not to be vaccinated.
Smith also said, “I am 100 per cent committed to the principle of the Canada Health Act” — meaning, presumably, that she would not tinker with the single-payer system for procedures already covered.
But she will press ahead with her plan for personal health accounts to help people pay for services that aren’t covered.
Smith placed heavy emphasis on measures to support children’s mental health and reverse learning shortfalls, which she feels were severely damaged during the pandemic.
It was all very specific, just the thing you’d expect to hear from a real premier.
If Travis Toews or Brian Jean wins on Thursday — and who knows? — nobody will be more startled than Danielle Smith.
Altogether, it was a very premier-like performance.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
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