Premier Danielle Smith has only been in her position for less than three weeks, yet she has already given Alberta international attention.
Fox News, a conservative media outlet, published a report over the weekend concerning Smith’s backing of COVID-19 lawbreakers.
“I’m deeply sorry for anyone who was inappropriately subjected to discrimination as a result of their vaccine status,” Smith said Saturday, when asked when she would apologize to rule breakers.
She pledged to expunge those individuals’ debts and criminal histories when running for the United Conservative Party leadership, although it has been argued that she is not authorised to grant pardons.
In response, she said, “I think it can be a political decision to make amends, apologise for it, and eliminate them. It was a political decision to throw out the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to put those fines in place in the first place,” adding that she was getting legal advice on the subject.
Another tweet this week came from American comic Rob Schneider, who called Smith a “great leader” for standing up to Ottawa.
Dalhousie University political scientist Lori Turnbull told Global News it has traditionally been unusual for Canadian politics to get international attention.
Since the COVID mandate protests that shut down Ottawa in January, she thinks it has grown more frequent.
Turbull said, “There is a sense that there is a community, a constituency, and a movement on the right, on the far right, that involves conspiracy theories and other things, that is not kept within any national limit.
Numerous conspiracy theories centre around the World Economic Forum.
In 2020, Alberta Health Services signed a contract with the organisation to collaborate on healthcare innovation with institutions including Harvard and the Mayo Clinic.
Smith declared last week that she intended to renege on that arrangement. She steadfastly declined to comment when asked by reporters why she disapproved of the agreement and whether she agreed with the conspiracy theories about the group in the days that followed.
She actually did concede on Monday.
After being questioned by many reporters, she responded, “I guess I find it unpleasant when billionaires brag about how much control they have over political leaders as the president of that organisation has.
According to Turbull, remarks like that are sure to garner attention on a global scale, but what counts most is how Albertans, particularly those in the UCP caucus, feel about Smith.
Turnbull is unsure of whether the remarks will help or hurt after a tumultuous leadership contest and a fractured caucus under former premier Jason Kenney.
She might be the newest “sacrificial lamb” and “lady” put forward as leader only to lose the subsequent election, according to Turnbull.
The first test of that will come Nov. 8 when Smith runs for a seat in the legislature in the Brooks-Medicine Hat byelection.
The general election is thus anticipated to occur in late May 2023.
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith is getting attention from around the world.
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