(Alberta Premier Danielle Smith: CBC)
Just as many pundits expected, Alberta’s election has been a highly competitive one, both parties are essenitally tied according to the latest polls. The United Conservative Leader, Danielle Smith, is campaigning in Edmonton and Calgary as a means to defend her 60 seat majority; while ANDP Leader Notley is putting all of her efforts in Calgary where a number of seats are up for grabs by both parties.
But more than just healthy competition, this campaign cycle is looking to be highly unusual. Massive wildfires never seen before in Alberta have blazed the province since the start of May and these wildfires are looking to stay for the entire month according to experts. Approximately 30,000 Albertans have evacuated from their homes to reach safety, the Canadian Armed Forces have been called upon to support the province’s efforts to quell the fire damage, and the province has officially issued a state of emergency. May is often Alberta’s busiest wildfire season, but this season is unprecedented compared to previous years.
This comes as firefighters are critizing the UCP government on cutting $1.2 million on the province's fire prevention budget by gutting a program that included 63 firefighters stationed acrossing the provice trained to use helicopter repelling methods to quell wildfires from merging. The program also supported bringing in firefighters and supplies in needed areas quicker.
Hitler and Vaccinated Canada
Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, a surfaced video has revealed UCP Leader Danielle Smith comparing the likeness of Adolf Hitler’s followers in Nazi Germany to Canadians who had taken their COVID vaccinations.
Smith says that Hitler’s followers and those vaccinated against COVID had “succumbed to the charms of a tyrant, somebody telling them that they have all the answers.”
Smith goes further on targeting the vaccinated, she says “We have 75 percent of the public who say, ‘Not only hit me, but hit me harder, and keep me away from those dirty unvaxxed.”
In the video, Smith also says that she wouldn't wear a poppy during Remembrance Day as a protest against authority.
Prosecutory Interference
The wildfires and Hitler comments come after Leader Smith was accused of attempted interference against Alberta’s Crown prosecution.
Arthur Pawlowski - a street pastor - was charged with breaching a release order and mischief for allegedly inciting people to block public property at Coutts. Pawlowski is also charged under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act with damaging critical Albertan infrastructure.
According to a leaked phone call between Leader Smith and Pawlowski, Leader Smith told Pawlowski that she is “contacting Crown prosecutors “almost weekly” to remind them cases have to be winnable and in the public interest.”
Premier Smith denies this assertion and argues instead that her language was imprecise regarding who exactly she was contacting in Alberta’s prosecution authority. According to Smith, she was contacting Ministers and attorneys rather than the prosecutors themselves.
Several days later, CBC reported that an individual in Smith's office “sent a series of emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service challenging prosecutors' assessment and direction on cases tied to the blockade.” Thus reinstating Smith’s involvement in interfering in the outcomes of Crown prosecution to the public.
As of April 10, Premier Smith is under investigation by the Ethics Commission of Alberta on whether she interfered with the administration of justice tied to COVID-19 prosecutions.
The Smith Liability
Unfortunately for the UCP campaign, Leader Smith seems more and more of a liability to the party than an asset. And as the campaign goes on, there may be more stories coming out against the incumbent premier that further tarnish her image. If stories referencing Hitler are being ousted only a week into the election campaign, efforts from journalists, news media, and political parties to uncover more stories will accelerate as the campaign progresses.
If the United Conservatives are to win, they need to hush away Smith from the public eye as much as possible and focus entirely on campaigning and pushing for policy. The UCP cannot afford Smith’s behaviour in this campaign, they need to shift away from the party’s campaign away from ‘voting for Smith’ and instead towards voting alongside UCP party lines.
For the ANDP, Leader Notley and her supporters will be having a field day on attacking Premier Smith behaviour and the UCP. The ANDP is tied with the UCP in polls, but polls on the respective leaders indicate that Albertans trust Notley more as potential premier than Smith.
The ANDP have all the numbers going for them, it’s only a matter of campaigning hard, attacking Smith and the UCP, and ensuring policy announcements are favourable to what the public wants. For Notley and the ANDP, this is a winnable election.
Share This Post On
0 comments
Leave a comment
You need to login to leave a comment. Log-in
