Op-Ed - Smith driving Alberta conservatives over a cliff. . . again

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith takes questions from reporters on Friday, May 22, 2026, on her address to the province she gave on the previous evening. (photo Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta)

Premier Danielle Smith’s latest perceived threat to Albertans appears to be the federal NDP’s Avi Lewis, the unelected leader of a party whose five Western Canadian MPs don’t even have official party status.

What a joke.

Especially in light of a federal Conservative Party which failed spectacularly during the last election when Pierre Poilievre turned a surefire win into a loss and dashed the hopes of Western Canadians getting a better deal from Ottawa in the process.

It’s symbolic of the upside down thinking of Smith - create a fictional narrative about a threat which doesn’t exist while failing to address the peril caused by incompetence.

And if Smith’s poll numbers continue to dip due to her foolish separation excursion which she’s dragged Albertans into, expect more such nonsense to follow.

The pile of Smith’s political excrement which she’s unnecessarily yanking Albertans through will leave its stench clinging on Alberta conservatives long after October’s separation referendum. As long as Smith remains premier, it will be an odour difficult to wash off.

Even without the sovereignty question, the idea that a premier needs to ask nine questions to provide a mandate for the last year of her term is incredulous unto itself.

It should be remembered that Smith tacked on six months to that term when she switched the fixed election date from the spring to the fall.

Whether Albertans are a fan of Jeffery Rath, Mitch Sylvester and their Alberta Prosperity Project or Official Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi and his NDP MLAs, you can’t argue when it comes to the sovereignty question, they all share a principled sincerity in their respective positions.

There is no such integrity on display regarding Alberta independence when it comes to government cabinet ministers, UCP MLAs or the party’s leadership as it dips further into moral bankruptcy.

Out of 47 UCP MLAs, there are 34 ministers, associate ministers or parliamentary secretaries which doesn’t include the speaker, deputy speaker or deputy chair of committees.

It’s a hard thing not to garner a title in this bloated government but you’d expect the price a UCP MLA would have to pay to retain their respective honourifics would be to state clearly and publicly their position on Alberta independence.

But it’s becoming clearer by the day the UCP have no honour, not when nearly half the party’s leadership committee shows up to cheer on sovereigntists on the steps of the Legislature. Not when UCP MLAs’ position on Alberta independence has to be dragged out of them if they state it at all. Not while Smith is leader of the UCP.

If the epitome of Alberta conservatism is represented by the likes of Peter Lougheed, Ralph Klein and Stephen Harper then Smith and her ilk are the flaky kooks when it comes to right-of-centre politics in the province.

No matter what the outcome of the fall referendum, there will be no winners and it’s the UCP who will bear the brunt of putting Albertans through this silliness.