BURST
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was asked twice Thursday by members of the public if she’d be willing to sign former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk’s Alberta Forever Canada petition.
The premier didn’t answer yes or no each time of asking during Thursday night’s Alberta Next consultation, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Edmonton’s west end.
Volunteers in Lukaszuk’s camp have been working to collect signatures from Albertans who affirm that they want to remain in Canada, as a foil to planned referendum questions about the future of the province in the country.
But Smith wouldn’t bite.
“There are all sorts of reasons I support sovereignty within a united Canada,” she said.
And, to close what was the most heated and divisive of Alberta Next meetings so far, she spoke about her admiration for Quebec, its 32 international trade offices, its ability to control immigration and its power to opt out of federal programs.
“And the question is, do we want to become more like Quebec in managing our own affairs?” said Smith.
“What is the difference today? The difference today is that we’re bigger. Maybe we couldn’t have had this conversation when we had a million and a half population. Maybe we couldn’t have even had it when we had three million population. Maybe we couldn’t have had it when we were only generating $20 billion in revenue. Well, maybe we can have it now that we’re generating $75 billion of revenue (per year).”
A heated evening
As the Alberta Next panel walked into the conference room, they were greeted by applause. The Treaty 6 acknowledgment was cheered. And there was a loud roar when Smith was introduced. The panel sat at a head table that had six Alberta flags posted behind it, with no Canadian flags in sight.
It would have been easy to assume that the third stop on the Alberta Next provincewide tour was going to be partisan slam-dunk for the premier. But, it was anything but. Within minutes, the tensions in the room were at a boiling point, with boos and cheers competing with each other no matter the political bias of the speaker from the 700 in attendance.
When Smith opened proceedings by saying “When Edmonton speaks, we listen,” there was laughter from a large section of the audience.
Alberta Next is a panel that is seeking opinions on a number of topics when it comes to the province’s relationship with the feds. There were six topics on the table: equalization payments, the notion of an Alberta pension plan, the possible formation of a provincial police force, amending the constitution, greater provincial control over immigration and giving the province the power to collect all personal income taxes, bypassing the Canada Revenue Agency.
And the exchanges veered away from the constitutional questions, as members of the audience exchanged barbs over health care, the government and the province’s recent decision to change its expense disclosure policy.
Despite attempts by moderator Bruce McAllister, a former Wildrose MLA, to steer the conversation away from the flashpoints, Smith addressed concerns over the province’s plan to require Albertans to pre-register for COVID vaccines and pay for the shots themselves.
She said the blame for the COVID shots lies with the feds. She said the feds “defunded” the immunization program.
“So we had to make a choice about how to best provide those services to those who needed them the most, without wasting $225 million, which is the value of COVID shots that were thrown away over the past three years,” said Smith. “It’s not bulls–t. It’s true.”
As for the expenses, she said the cabinet will be discussing the change on Tuesday. At the beginning of August, a change was made that takes away the requirement that the premier, ministers and senior staff have to disclose expenditures over $100.
Smith said she does not want to hide expenses from the public. She said the spirit of the change was to protect the privacy of officials who don’t want the public to find out what hotels they regularly frequent when on the road. She said that she does not support the erasing the expenditures from the public record, and will work to reverse that part of the decision.
Moderator McAllister fanned the flames throughout the evening, equating some of the negative commenters to toddlers who don’t get what they want. After a show-of-hands poll indicated the majority of those in the audience wanted Alberta to work with other provinces to push for changes to the federal constitution, McAllister said, “Thank you to those who are here for the right reasons.”
After several audience members questioned the motives of the Alberta Next panel, Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock Glenn van Dijken reiterated the stance that sovereignty and separation don’t mean the same thing.
“This doesn’t equate to separation, this equates to sovereignty within Canada,” he said.
This was the third of a series of Alberta Next meetings scheduled throughout the province, with more than 60,000 people tuning in to the meeting via livestream, the province estimates. The next one is set for Aug. 26 in Fort McMurray.
Protesters outside
There were about 20 protesters in the hotel parking lot, under the banner of the Alberta Civic Integrity Project, which promises to be at each and every Alberta Next event from here on in. There were also a handful of people with pro-separation banners.
“It’s really just a sham,” said Alberta Civic Integrity Project member Matilda Johnson. “She (Premier Smith) just does stuff to look like she’s getting input, but she also ignores the input when it’s given. Obviously, most people don’t agree with the idea of an Alberta pension plan, but she’s still pushing it.”
Linda Holan is a nurse who is on leave while she’s awaiting hip surgery. She stood with a group holding “Team Canada, not Smith” signs.
“This is stacked. This is not a public consultation in any way,” said Holan, who has been on a surgery waiting list since May. “It’s absolutely biased. I’ve looked at some of their videos and, as a nurse, I am sickened by what they’re doing to health care and the vulnerable population.”