OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith opened a new provincial office in Ottawa Monday and spoke to the Economic Club of Canada as part of a swing through eastern North America. She praised some parts of Justin Trudeau’s federal government and excoriated others.
Here’s what you need to know:
Why: Alberta’s Ottawa office is meant to “strengthen our relationship with partners on Parliament Hill and in other parts of Canada and will help us to stay informed on emerging decisions that impact Alberta,” Smith said. Headed by James Carpenter, it’s to be a lobbying shop, a point of contact for the media and a beachhead for Alberta ministers to make Ottawa contacts.
Building some bridges: Smith said she has a good relationship with federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, whom she called “a champion of industry all across the country.” The federal government has backed numerous Alberta industrial projects that Smith rhymed off, including Air Products’s clean-hydrogen plant, Heidelberg’s low-carbon cement factory and Dow Chemical’s petrochemical facility.
Economic development “isn’t a partisan issue,” Alberta’s Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish told The Logic in a separate conversation. “I think all Canadians agree, we want to be more innovative, we want to attract more investments into developing new technologies in Canada, and certainly we believe that in Alberta.”
Hide the hat: During a brief tour of the office, a small corner suite on the 17th floor of a building a few blocks southwest of Parliament, staffer Alex Puddifant noticed a cameraman shooting a blue baseball cap—on an otherwise bare bookshelf—embroidered with the words “More Alberta, Less Ottawa.” Puddifant tucked the cap away as soon as he could do so discreetly.
No. 1 nemesis: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, however, is “one extraordinarily ideological member of that cabinet who seems to be running the show” and Smith said she would like to see him replaced “so that we can reset our relationship.”
The premier repeatedly warned that depending on renewable sources for energy in Alberta could kill people (though she promised that a moratorium on new renewable-energy projects will end as scheduled at the end of February).
A long shadow: Smith arrived in Ottawa after promising legislation and policy changes restricting minors’ access to gender-affirming surgeries and rights to use different names or pronouns in school without parental involvement.
That prompted advocates to organize a rally for trans youth outside a reception Smith has scheduled in Ottawa this evening. Edmonton Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault, who is gay, welcomed her to the capital by saying Smith has put up “a warm fuzzy video that holds a bunch of daggers for our community.”
Next up: Smith had meetings scheduled with several federal ministers, a possible appearance before the Commons natural-resources committee (if an exchange with its chair, Liberal George Chahal, turned into anything but a social-media spat) and the reception. She has plans to continue her eastern swing in Toronto and then Washington.