Danielle Smith is the premier of Alberta. After taking over as the leader of the United Conservative Party, she steered the UCP to victory over the NDP in the 2023 Alberta election.
Danielle Smith’s political career
Many thought Smith’s political career was over in 2014 when, as the leader of the now-defunct Wildrose Party, she led a mass floor crossing to the governing Progressive Conservatives.
The surprise move angered her supporters and was considered a major factor in the election of Alberta’s first NDP government. That, in turn, was a driving force in the unite the right campaign that eventually merged the PCs and the Wildrose into the current United Conservative Party.
After leaving politics, Smith soon found herself hosting a radio show and eventually heading up the Alberta Enterprise Group — a business advocacy organization which lobbied the provincial government.
Despite predictions that she’d never return to politics, Smith entered the race to become leader of the UCP in 2022 after Jason Kenney stepped aside following months of controversy and dismal polling numbers. She won the race in October 2022.
Danielle Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act
During the leadership campaign, Smith courted anger at pandemic public health policies which helped to bring down Kenney, and promised to stick it to Ottawa with her proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act that she insisted would allow the province to ignore some federal laws.
Those promises and the wave of frustration that crowned her leader of the UCP have been a source of controversy now that she’s in government.
The new premier has struggled under the weight of controversies — from claiming unproven Indigenous heritage, to her watered-down Alberta Sovereignty Act, to saying the unvaccinated face more discrimination than any other group, to her proposal to subsidize oil and gas companies to clean up their messes and a short-lived war of words over proposed federal “just transition” legislation.
Scandals, energy and trade in Smith’s Alberta
As Smith settled in and got to work, her government set about remaking Alberta to ensure oil and gas remained its most prominent industry.
The United Conservatives instituted a moratorium on new Alberta renewable energy projects for seven months and then enacted restrictive new regulations on clean energy. The Alberta government has consistently fought the federal government on climate and environmental policies, championed more coal mining, taken steps to double oil production and invoked its Critical Infrastructure Defence Act to include private facilities that collect emissions data, among others.
Smith has also been embroiled in scandals, particularly related to restructuring the health system. She faces accusations that her government pressured public servants to approve significant contracts with individuals who have close ties to the United Conservative Party and cabinet ministers.
As tensions with the United States grew, Smith took on a conciliatory tone with the Trump administration while continuing to pick fights with Ottawa. Recently, that has culminated in Smith making it easier to call referendums on Alberta separation.
Amidst it all, Smith has also introduced legislation to rewrite freedom of information laws to make it harder for citizens, and journalists, to understand how and why the provincial government is making its decisions.
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