Danielle Smith vows not to back down on sovereignty law at UCP AGM
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Premier Danielle Smith pledged on Saturday that her UCP government would not enforce federal policies and laws « that attack our economy or violate the rights of our people, » vowing not to back down from her platform of leadership and pass the controversial Alberta Sovereignty Act.
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Addressing UCP members for the first time since being sworn in, Smith was greeted with thunderous applause at the party’s annual general meeting.
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Smith insisted that the legislation will be consistent with the constitution. Last week, one of the Prime Minister’s top advisers said the proposed law would respect Supreme Court rulings – a reversal of a fundamental policy promise to challenge the federal government.
In his speech on Saturday, Smith said work was already underway to draft the legislation. She is currently running in the Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election scheduled for November 8 and, provided she wins, she wants the Sovereignty Act ready by the time she takes her seat in the Legislative Assembly. .
« We will then introduce it and we will pass it and we will use it to push Ottawa back into its own lane every time it steps out of line and infringes on our constitutional rights. »
Smith’s speech comes after a rocky start to her term where she had to issue a ‘clarification’ after a comment about unvaccinated people being the most discriminated group she has seen in her life, followed by an apology for the remarks spent on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The prime minister called the swirling controversy a storm « raging outside our caucus », saying the UCP was working together « while the NDP and many media outlets were unloading on us incessantly ».
She underscored the importance of party unity as we approach an election year and identified four core priorities: tackling affordability in the face of inflation, focusing on jobs and economy, improving health care “in an accelerated fashion” and “standing up” to the federal government through the Sovereignty Act.
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