Danielle Smith is “far-right,” a “separatist” and “destabilizing,” according to her long list of haters.
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Smith → accord → haters
Since becoming the 19th premier of Alberta in 2022, a thesaurus could be filled with the litany of labels thrown at Smith.
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thesaurus → become → Smith
The United Nurses of Alberta warned that her planned medical reforms, which the federal government is also scaremongering about, might destabilize the rotten Canadian health-care system.
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government → warn → system
By any honest measure, such a poorly functioning health-care system deserves to be destabilized.
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system → function → measure
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Alberta’s Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi vilified her decision to call a referendum on whether Alberta should pursue independence as a way to “save her political skin” (Nenshi’s approval rating sat at 35 per cent when he made the statement), and accused her of coddling separatism.
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he → vilify → separatism
The University of Waterloo’s Emmett Macfarlane, who made a name for himself on Twitter (now X) as a rational, regulated user, called her program “evil” and declared that Smith was Canada’s most dangerous politician.
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Smith → make → program
Alberta is not the ideologically pure conservative utopia that its proponents and critics make it out to be.
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it → make → that
Nevertheless, Smith has governed reliably from the right and held together the coalition that is Alberta’s United Conservative Party (UCP).
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that → govern → coalition
Regicide is always a threat to the UCP leader, and Smith came into the role following a tight leadership election in which a substantial faction backed her rival.
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faction → come → rival
However, she rode out institutional hostility and distrust among parts of the UCP’s rank-and-file to receive 91.5 per cent support in the party’s 2024 review.
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she → ride → review
That sort of stability can be considered an achievement in itself in Alberta.
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sort → consider → Alberta
On taxes, Smith has not wavered.
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Smith → waver → taxes
Last year, her government introduced an income-tax bracket of just eight per cent for the first $60,000 earned in the province, which was indexed to $61,200 this year, all while holding the line on the general corporate tax rate.
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which → introduce → rate
Smith has been a steady supporter of the energy sector, pursuing new export capacity and making a new million-barrel-per-day pipeline to the West Coast central to both her policy agenda and her bargaining position with the federal Liberal government.
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pipeline → pursue → government
If there is any failure, it is the $9.4 billion budget deficit slated for 2026–27, which should not become habitual.
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which → be → 2026–27
However, it should be noted that this makes Alberta’s provincial budgeting part of the norm in Canada rather than the exception, though that is not an excuse.
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that → note → Canada
On social policy, Smith has set her government apart from its counterparts on the nominal right-of-centre.
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Smith → set → centre
Alberta is one of the few provinces that require parental involvement if a child seeks to change his or her name or pronoun, and it permits parents to remove their children from certain parts of the school curriculum that they deem inappropriate.
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they → require → curriculum
Furthermore, medical gender transitions have been restricted for minors, and female sporting divisions have been restricted to biological girls and women.
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divisions → restrict → girls
This goes much further than other so-called conservative premiers across this country.
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This → go → country
Under Smith, the provincial government has strengthened the Alberta Bill of Rights, specifically around medical consent, vaccination, firearms and private property.
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government → strengthen → consent
Many of these items are dismissed by progressives on both the left and right as “culture war” politics, as though the culture war were not of the utmost importance, the best evidence being the vigour with which progressives themselves prosecute it.
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progressives → dismiss → it
On health care, Smith has been leading the way in Western Canada on reforms aimed at expanding the much-needed role of the private sector.
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Smith → lead → sector
If the United Nurses of Alberta calls Smith’s agenda “destabilizing,” it is hard to read that as anything but a good thing.
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it → call → thing
To be clear, the Canadian single-payer system is so dysfunctional that people are dying because of it.
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people → die → it
When it comes to federal relations and the place of Alberta within Confederation, Smith has navigated a minefield with impressive dexterity thus far.
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Smith → come → dexterity
Smith confronted Justin Trudeau’s government without hesitation when necessary and has since pivoted to negotiations with the more publicly conciliatory government of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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Smith → confront → Carney
The accords struck between Alberta and Ottawa in May saw Ottawa shelve the oil-and-gas emissions cap in exchange for reinvigorating carbon-capture initiatives.
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Ottawa → strike → initiatives
Additionally, Alberta secured a streamlined assessment deal and the categorization of another pipeline as a project in the national interest.
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Alberta → secure → interest
The October 19 vote will include a non-binding choice between remaining a province and beginning the constitutional process toward a later, binding separation referendum.
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vote → include → referendum
Smith has stated plainly that she will vote to remain.
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she → state → ?
She is not telling alienated Albertans that their grievances are imaginary or immoral, but is instead giving them a vote while making it clear that she is committed to the federalist camp.
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she → tell → camp
Canada has no greater, more powerful champion in Alberta than the premier, and this is what her critics cannot admit.
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critics → have → what
Whether it is Alberta’s First Nations chiefs, Naheed Nenshi or others, they have been repeating for months the claim that Smith is treasonous or secretly a separatist.
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Smith → repeat → claim
If she is, Smith has a funny way of showing it.
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Smith → have → it
Along with her question on separation, Smith has included other constitutional questions on the October 19 ballot, including provincial judicial appointments, Senate abolition and priority for provincial laws.
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Smith → include → laws
All of them build on the longstanding Albertan conservative ideal of a stronger Alberta within a united Canada, and in this regard, Smith has the opportunity to become a generational figure.
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Smith → build → opportunity
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