Danielle Smith celebrates after being chosen as the new leader of the United Conservative Party and next Alberta premier in Calgary on Oct. 6.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Alberta’s incoming premier, Danielle Smith, is scheduled to make an announcement Saturday in Medicine Hat, where the resignation of the local United Conservative Party MLA has opened up the prospect of a by-election to allow the UCP’s new leader to secure a seat in the legislature.
Ms. Smith, who won the UCP leadership race Thursday evening and plans to be sworn in as premier next Tuesday, had a one-hour meeting with the governing caucus Friday morning in downtown Calgary. The meeting, she told reporters, largely focused on unity, which will be a key challenge. Premier Jason Kenney did not participate.
Ms. Smith’s six challengers for the UCP leadership attended and, afterward, spoke warmly about unity within party ranks. However, Travis Toews, a former finance minister who came second in the leadership vote, would not commit to running in the next provincial election.
The new leader’s former rivals offered cautious support for her proposed sovereignty act, noting that they still have to see the bill’s wording before they can be sure about whether to back it. Ms. Smith acknowledged that there is some distance between herself and her colleagues, some of whom attacked the proposal and vowed to vote against it, but said she is optimistic.
Danielle Smith is the new leader of the UCP. Her career and campaign promises so far
“I feel like everybody is really keen to pull together as a group,” she told reporters on the steps of McDougall Centre in downtown Calgary. “I really believe that caucus should be driving our agenda and our policy.”
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday pledged to collaborate with Ms. Smith, despite her harsh criticism of the federal government during the campaign.
Ms. Smith said she will announce her cabinet on Oct. 21, the day the UCP’s annual meeting kicks off in Edmonton.
Ms. Smith was the only leadership candidate without a seat in the legislature. Michaela Frey, the UCP MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, announced last week that she wouldn’t run in the next election. She resigned Friday and said she hopes Ms. Smith fills her seat and breathes “new life” into the region.
Ms. Smith said Friday morning that she would consult with the local constituency association before deciding whether to run in the riding, and late in the afternoon her campaign issued a news release that said she would be making an announcement in Medicine Hat alongside Ms. Frey on Saturday. Brooks-Medicine Hat is a safe riding for the UCP; Ms. Frey won in 2019 by a margin of more than 40 percentage points.
Ms. Smith has planned a caucus retreat for later this month, where she said UCP MLAs will get a “full briefing” on her proposed sovereignty act while “working on the final wording for it.” The policy was the cornerstone of Ms. Smith’s leadership campaign and purports to give Alberta the power to ignore federal laws the province believes intrude on its jurisdictional territory. She intends to introduce the legislation this fall.
Most of Ms. Smith’s leadership challengers rejected the proposal during the campaign, arguing it would destroy Alberta’s economy by injecting instability. Constitutional experts largely pan the idea as illegal.
Mr. Toews, speaking to reporters after Ms. Smith, said he is devoted to unity within the UCP. During the leadership campaign, he derided the sovereignty act. On Friday, he said he has “real concerns” with the way the proposal was presented by its originators, who include Rob Anderson, the chair of Ms. Smith’s transition team and incoming executive director of the premier’s office.
“My commitment now is to work with the premier-designate and caucus and cabinet, to ensure that everything we put forward as a government is the best policy possible for Albertans,” Mr. Toews said, noting that he concurs with many of the proposed act’s objectives, such as more independence for Alberta from Ottawa.
Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Ms. Smith’s victory would only usher in seven months of “more chaos, more costs and more conflict.” Ms. Notley said Ms. Smith did not have a mandate to bring in her proposed sovereignty act, which she dismissed as a distraction.
“At best, it’s a fake, another strongly worded letter to Ottawa,” said Ms. Notley. “At worst, it will destroy jobs, destroy investor confidence and stifle Alberta’s economy at a critical moment on health care.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said he is open-minded about Ms. Smith’s premiership despite her strong criticism of Ottawa. Mr. Trudeau said he intends to call Ms. Smith to tell her that “I am there to work with premiers of the provinces to deliver concretely for Alberta and indeed for all Canadians.”
Ms. Freeland, who was born and raised in Alberta, said “our government absolutely believes in an approach of positive intent.”
Ms. Smith’s leadership campaign was based on distrust of the federal government and lingering anger over COVID-19 public-health restrictions. She won the leadership with support from 53.77 per cent of valid votes cast on the final ballot, compared with Mr. Toews’s 46.23 per cent.
However, Ms. Smith won on the sixth ballot after all the other contestants were dropped from the race. After the first round of voting, for example, she had support from just 41.3 per cent of voters. Mr. Toews, meanwhile, garnered 29.4-per-cent support on the first ballot and Brian Jean collected 11 per cent.
Mr. Jean, speaking Thursday evening after Ms. Smith’s victory, said he does not plan to step away from caucus. Unifying MLAs will require effort from all of caucus, he said.
“It’s all about finding those things that bring us together instead of focusing on things that divide us,” he said.
With reports from Robert Fife in Ottawa