She said, she said
Being a public figure can be a real benefit, unless you're a public figure for saying absurdly stupid things.
This week in AB
Polling says healthcare top of mind in Calgary; affordability, economy close behind
Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Polling doesn’t tell us what will happen in two months, it tells us what is happening when people were asked a question about a subject they might not have been considering beforehand.
With that being said, getting someone thinking about they would react to a given situation is a decent indicator of how they will act, and offers an opportunity to influence the stated outcome (by the bye, it’s a really informative technique to identify strengths and weaknesses when talking to your kids about situational peer pressure).
Knowing that Calgary voters are saying today that healthcare is their number one issue allows political parties to respond to that issue.
For months, the NDP has been running an ad that has some teeth; it includes Danielle Smith asking whether the government/health services really need to be one hundred percent responsible for the cost of seeing your family doctor. Then the ad takes it one step further and claims the UCP will make you pay to see your family doctor.
The claim is so specific that it allowed Smith to respond to it directly on April 11 with a giant prop healthcare card and a “public health guarantee” that the UCP will never ask Albertans to pay out of pocket for seeing their family doctor or medical services they need.
Poof — question asked and answered — with a “guarantee”.
But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me. ~ Tommy Boy (1995)
All snark aside, using Smith’s own voice is powerful but they should have kept the attack to Smith’s credibility. “Can you trust Danielle Smith with your healthcare?”
The easy answer to any question that places “trust” and “Danielle ‘I can offer a good price on my mother for power’ Smith” in the same sentence is “no”.
The answer to “the UCP will make you pay to see your family doctor” is “nope, here’s our guarantee” and the point is moot.
That’s only part of the issue, though.
With “economy” so close behind healthcare, I see a 2012 redux as a distinct possibility — and not the “Danielle Smith is her own worst enemy” one.
Rather, the one that shows the opposition leading in the polls and you can almost taste the momentum, but three days before the election there’s a shift and people decide to stick with the devil they know.
In this case, deciding the economy is actually more important and place their ‘X’ beside the UCP candidate instead.
That is all to say that there is no stopping between now and election day.
Speaking of which…
Women of ABPoli podcast is back!
It’s been a while, yes — I’ve been otherwise occupied — but we are back Thursday each week with your 2023 Alberta election coverage.
Lindsay Amantea is a corporate lawyer in Calgary and a longtime campaign volunteer, Kathleen Smith is your go-to for the straight goods, and Deirdre walks a fine line between funny-haha and a direct hit to your funny bone that makes you want to cry-laugh and swear at the same time.
We’re here for you.
Alberta Premier subject of ethics investigation
Photo credit: Global News
Smith has been both honest and circumspect regarding potential interference in the justice system.
Attempting to make sense of her imprecise language — aka, electioneering/making promises she has no intention of keeping — is a trial in itself.
How do you hold someone accountable for lying to maintain support from a fringe minority that apparently has the power to make said liar premier, if indeed it was a lie to placate a fringe minority who demonstrated their power to make her premier?
Frankly, I don’t think she was lying about it, because she feels really strongly that she should be able to wave a magic premier wand and save people from accountability for their actions, but it’s the best excuse possible under the circumstances of an ethics investigation.
She has pointed to the fact that she campaigned on the intent to interfere on behalf of those charged with COVID-related offences. This is true, if ill-conceived and illegal.
Smith has said the Ministry of Justice created a PowerPoint to educate her on the powers and limitations of a premier when it came to “clemency” or “amnesty”, and the independence of the judicial system from political interference. Also probably true, if embarrassing AF.
She claimed on multiple occasions that she had contacted prosecutors, been in contact with prosecutors, or “I can ask our prosecutors is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction and is it in the public interest and I assure you, I have asked them that almost weekly ever since I got started here”. Uh-huh.
Smith admitted to having a phone conversation with Pawlowski regarding COVID-related charges.
I took issue with this depiction of Artur Pawlowski’s charges when I listened to his phone call with Danielle Smith. I did not think the charges against him, which are under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, could be considered “Covid-related”.
However, I have a great group of smart people who push back (annoyingly at times) and offer good insights.
Pawlowski wouldn’t have been in Coutts if not for the protest that was blocking the border crossing, and there would not have been a protest at the border if not for the vaccine mandate for travel, and the vaccine mandate for travel would not have been in place if not for governments having to act in the public interest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fine — it’s a distant relative but a mostly-direct descendant.
A number of people in Alberta were at least sympathetic to some infractions of COVID restrictions; gathering limits, masking at private events, etc.
Until the recording of Smith and Pawlowski gained wider publicity — Pawlowski had recorded the call and posted it publicly on his YouTube channel where it remained personal bragging rights for two months before the NDs got hold of it — it is fair to assume that most people thought she was referring to the mild infractions of rules that are no longer in place, rather than an event that was generally viewed as petulant, costly, and, as it turned out, dangerous.
Smith initially tried to justify the call by saying she campaigned on interfering on behalf of COVID rule breakers. Obviously the brain trust saw Smith’s continued commentary as detrimental and gave her an out: threaten a law suit and shut up already.
She gave it a go for a day or two, even repeating the crafted response “on the advice of counsel, I will not be commenting further”. Obviously, it’s difficult to go against something you truly believe is your privilege because the “no comment” strategy didn’t last.
“I don’t think anybody gets into this business to hurt people. People get into this business because they want to help people. Sometimes we’re not perfect in how we communicate.” ~ Danielle Smith, ostensibly referring to “this business” of, ahem, “public service” - 04/11/2023
Within days, Smith decided to tell a different story on the Saturday radio show Your Province. YOUR Premier., and then justified the call with what she now says she thought “was a conversation between two party leaders”.
This week, we learned that the Ethics Commissioner has accepted the complaint made by the NDP and will investigate whether the premier has abused her office.
Smith is now back to “no comment” as the investigation proceeds, the result of which is not expected until after the election, and since the investigation has begun there is no reason for the press to keep asking, taking the issue completely off the table before the writ even drops and voters start paying closer attention.
And another legitimate attack simply evaporates.
Final thoughts
I hope Substack and Twitter get over their pissing match soon because I can no longer link tweets in the newsletter and I’m not impressed. Instead, here’s some articles from other Alberta Substacks I follow.