Populist conservative woman to lead Alberta further to the right

Earlier this week, I told you we don't normally discuss regional/local politics. Monday's Québec election had significance beyond the borders of la Belle Province, so we made an exception. We do so again for last night's election of Danielle Smith as the new leader of Alberta's so-called United Conservative Party, and thus the new premier of Canada's most America-like province.

Alberta is Canada's version of Texas, complete with flatlands, hoodoos, rodeos, cowboys and Indians. [Plus 1000s of Ukrainians! Ed.] Like Texas, Alberta's wealth comes in petro-dollars. People proudly drive gaz-guzzling pickups and SUVs. And they dislike the eastern elites and the federal government, especially when the two are combined in a nether orifice named Trudeau.

From 1935 to 2015, Alberta was governed by conservative parties, sometimes named Social Credit, sometimes Conservative. About 15 years ago, the Conservatives started fighting amongst themselves -- as conservatives do all too often -- about who was the more conservative, and a number of splinter parties were born, including the Wildrose Party (the wildrose is Alberta's provincial flower), whom Danielle Smith ran in 2009. She rejoined the Conservative Party in 2014.

A year later, against a divided -- right and righter -- opposition the "social democratic" (read: pinko) NDP took power, under Rachel Nutley, Alberta's first female premier. In response, a confirmed bachelor named Jason Kenney, who had been a minister in Steve Harpoon's Conservative federal government, succeeded in uniting the right in a new(ish) United Conservative Party, which defeated the NDP in the 2019 election.

Alas for Mr Kenney, the UCP didn't stay united very long. Mr Kenney was seen by many for what he was -- a member of that same eastern elite. When he went along with the Trudeau government's vaccine mandates and other measures to curtail individual freedom, and failed to stand up to the Liberals' attacks on the oil and gas industry, Albertans decided they'd had enough. 

Mr Kenney resigned the leadership of the UCP this past May after receiving only 51.4% in a leadership review vote, thus setting the stage for yesterday's election. 

Danielle Smith won a fiercely-fought contest on the strength of her promise to enact an Alberta Sovereignty Act, which would allow the Alberta government to not enforce federal laws. 

Mr Kenney called the idea "nuts". The proposed act is likely unconstitutional, but it's the kind of thing that Albertans, whose grievances are valid and run deep, want their leaders to do.

It would be the legislative equivalent of the now-ubiquitous "Fuck Trudeau!" flags seen across the real Canada, outside the immigrant cities of Vancouver, Montréal and (above all) Toronto.

One can argue that Mr Socks' Liberals are not to blame for the initial crash of the oil economy, which started before they took office. However, they have worked, and are still working almost single-mindedly to undermine any recovery.

They started with the cancellation of the Northern Gateway pipeline, then introduced several anti-energy policies, including Bill C-69, which makes approving resource projects more cumbersome, a tanker ban off British Columbia;s northern coast and the hated carbon tax. 

The result has been a significant decline in the fortunes of average Albertans. Any successful Alberta politician understands what has happened in Wildrose Country, and why. The Liberals and socialists are whistling past the graveyard when they mock the more hard-edged elements of Danielle Smith's message. A slightly more moderate version of her campaign will almost certainly resonate with large numbers of  voters in the next Alberta election, due on or before 29 May 2023. The Conservative Party of Canada, under its new leader, Pierre Poilievre, will be taking notes.