>More than three decades after Ralph Klein won his first election as premier on the slogan “He listens. He cares,” another Alberta premier has carved out a reputation for hearing Albertans’ pleas and then acting on them.
>The five-day turnaround from town hall complaint to policy bulletin may be a pronounced example of Smith’s responsiveness, but she has repeatedly demonstrated this approach to supporters, especially those in the United Conservative base.
>The premier whose government has banned vote tabulating machines, restricted health care treatments for transgender youth and — just this week — banned books with sexual content in school libraries is also the leader whose party has passed convention resolutions requesting those changes.
>At last year’s UCP annual gathering, Smith even held an “accountability session” to go over every policy resolution the party had made since her leadership, and excitedly shouted “done!” for each of the many requests she had enacted.
# Tuned in
>Many Albertans have come to understand or expect this tendency from the premier. During her bi-weekly Your Province, Your Premier radio call-in show, Smith will often ask a caller with a unique pitch to discuss it further off-air with an aide.
>At a Smith-hosted town hall in Three Hills in June, one woman travelled from 150 kilometres south along with a German doctor friend in tow who’d come to offer theories about the harms of renewable energy installations. The premier urged them to arrange a meeting with her scheduler to hear more.
>That woman showed up again weeks later at the Okotoks event, to raise alarm about solar and battery projects in the region. Smith recognized her, and recalled that her doctor associate had discussed safety issues.
>[…]
>Not everybody’s protests or questions get embraced with the same warmth.
>Several attendees at the Okotoks meeting came to criticize the Smith government’s lifting of the moratorium on new coal mining. Each time, she defended the provincial policy on mining for metallurgical (steel-making) coal.
1 Comment
>More than three decades after Ralph Klein won his first election as premier on the slogan “He listens. He cares,” another Alberta premier has carved out a reputation for hearing Albertans’ pleas and then acting on them.
>The five-day turnaround from town hall complaint to policy bulletin may be a pronounced example of Smith’s responsiveness, but she has repeatedly demonstrated this approach to supporters, especially those in the United Conservative base.
>The premier whose government has banned vote tabulating machines, restricted health care treatments for transgender youth and — just this week — banned books with sexual content in school libraries is also the leader whose party has passed convention resolutions requesting those changes.
>At last year’s UCP annual gathering, Smith even held an “accountability session” to go over every policy resolution the party had made since her leadership, and excitedly shouted “done!” for each of the many requests she had enacted.
# Tuned in
>Many Albertans have come to understand or expect this tendency from the premier. During her bi-weekly Your Province, Your Premier radio call-in show, Smith will often ask a caller with a unique pitch to discuss it further off-air with an aide.
>At a Smith-hosted town hall in Three Hills in June, one woman travelled from 150 kilometres south along with a German doctor friend in tow who’d come to offer theories about the harms of renewable energy installations. The premier urged them to arrange a meeting with her scheduler to hear more.
>That woman showed up again weeks later at the Okotoks event, to raise alarm about solar and battery projects in the region. Smith recognized her, and recalled that her doctor associate had discussed safety issues.
>[…]
>Not everybody’s protests or questions get embraced with the same warmth.
>Several attendees at the Okotoks meeting came to criticize the Smith government’s lifting of the moratorium on new coal mining. Each time, she defended the provincial policy on mining for metallurgical (steel-making) coal.
Other news:
https://nationalnewswatch.com/2025/07/13/anand-says-indo-pacific-strategy-will-have-economic-focus-but-maintain-values
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/dental-care-expansion-growing-pains-1.7583230
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