It came as a surprise to learn that Premier Danielle Smith had to remind the head of her own political organization who is actually in charge. In case there was any doubt: she is.
This clarification followed United Conservative Party president Rob Smith telling media that the party would not take a position on the looming referendum regarding Alberta separation. However, in her own radio interview later, the premier firmly asserted her authority.
Premier's Stance
"Let me be clear, because I do speak for our government, our caucus and our party," she said on CHQR Calgary and CHED Edmonton. "Our party had as its founding principles that we support autonomy for Alberta within a united Canada. Every one of my MLAs got elected on that."
While this spark of assertiveness is welcome, it was an inevitable side effect of the UCP scoring a series of own-goals for years. The old Progressive Conservatives stayed in power because their big tent covered a huge portion of the political spectrum in the middle and to the right. Needing to shore up their numbers after the NDP took power in 2015, the then-new United Conservatives also pitched a big tent, but theirs covers less of the middle and more on the other end.
Fringe Demands
It should be no surprise that party leaders have either had to push back against the demands of loud voices on the party's fringes, as Jason Kenney did before he quit, or mostly acquiesce to their wants and wishes, as Danielle Smith often does today. The latter can be seen through various pieces of controversial legislation that have landed on MLAs' desks over recent years, the kind of stuff you would expect from dystopian novels.
This is also true of the drive for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. The province first had to create an avenue for this because such a thing did not exist before. It was done in the name of democracy, of course, because who could possibly take a position against democracy? Then it had to ensure the rules were just right so that an independence vote could take place, even to the point of changing requirements mid-stream.
Complications
Making things more complicated was a rival successful pro-Canada petition launched by former PC deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk. Also gumming up the works were judges trying to make sure the Alberta government is actually behaving lawfully amid everything. All of this was the reason given for the convoluted, non-constitutional, non-binding referendum question this coming October that could potentially put Alberta on the path to a future explicit vote on independence.
Most interesting was how Smith has tried to frame the pro-Canada petition as part of the request for a referendum question, something she repeated on a recent edition of her call-in radio program.
