Letter from Canada: New Alberta premier brings uncertainty
Danielle Smith’s proposals to take power back from Ottawa do not even have the oil and gas sector’s support
“Today marks a new beginning in the Alberta story,” said the province’s new premier, Danielle Smith, on winning the leadership race for the governing United Conservative Party in early October. “No longer will Alberta ask permission from Ottawa to be prosperous and free... we will not have our resources landlocked, or our energy phased out of existence by a virtue-signalling prime minister." Smith, who is from the libertarian wing of the UCP, campaigned on another legal challenge to the federal government’s carbon tax—despite the Supreme Court of Canada’s March 2021 decision to uphold it—and the prompt passage of a proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act (ASA) to protect the province from perceived
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