The Weekly Roundup - 2022 Year in Review
With another year almost in the books, we wanted to take a look back at 2022 and what happened in provincial politics. One thing you can say about Alberta politics is that it is never uneventful!
Below, you’ll find a summary of some of the top stories and themes for the year that was. So curl up with a coffee (we won’t tell if you include a bit of Baileys), and dive into some of the top stories and themes in Alberta politics in 2022.
1. Freedom Convoy
The so-called Freedom Convoy began as a protest against vaccine mandates to cross the U.S. border, and later became emblematic of deep-seated mistrust in the government establishment and their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Alberta, the Coutts border was the epicentre of the movement, where protestors erected a blockade at the border crossing calling for an end to all pandemic restrictions. Protestors in Alberta were largely critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but also Premier Jason Kenney.
Springing from the movement was Take Back Alberta, an anti-mandate organization that later played a part in first pushing Kenney to resign, and later in getting vocal mandate critic Danielle Smith elected as United Conservative Party leader. Federally, Conservative Party of Canada candidate Pierre Pollievre was able to bolster his support by making the anti-mandate crowd feel understood. It’ll be up to both Smith and Pollievre to thread the needle of continuing to make the anti-mandate crowd feel heard come election time while appealing to the broader general electorate.
2. Jason Kenney resigns
You could listen to the wind of change from the start of 2022, with growing discontent in Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership. In March, ardent Kenney critic and former Wildrose Leader Brian Jean won his by-election to serve as UCP MLA, bringing the rebellion under the dome. Later that month, the UCP switched gears from an in-person leadership review in Red Deer to a mail-in ballot following thousands signing up to vote. In early April, Danielle Smith urged party members to vote no and stated her intention to seek a nomination. When the results of the leadership review came in late May, Kenney received 51.4 per cent support and surprised the crowd gathered in Calgary by announcing that he would resign as Premier, triggering a leadership election. After 25 years of public service and as a formidable figure in Alberta and Canadian politics, Kenney resigned as MLA in late November.
3. Act Two - Danielle Smith
Who doesn’t love a do over? After leaving provincial politics following the ill-advised attempt by Smith to cross the floor in 2014 and join together the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties before their respective memberships were ready for the idea, Danielle Smith reemerged on top in Alberta politics in 2022. Smith won on the sixth and final ballot of the UCP leadership race, besting her now Finance Minister Travis Toews and the rest of the field of candidates. The former media commentator has had a rocky ride since that point, answering to her many public comments on many different topics and working to keep her caucus united in her first sitting as Premier. With her string of victories in 2022 behind her (first in winning the UCP leadership and next in securing the by-election in Brooks-Medicine Hat), Smith will now set her sights on doing something in 2023 that fell out of her grasp in 2012; winning a general election as leader of her party.
4. Sovereignty Act
Premier Smith ran her UCP leadership campaign with the promise of introducing as her first piece of legislation a Sovereignty Act to reassert Alberta’s place in Confederation. The legislation, which passed in the fall sitting of the Legislature in a short few weeks has now received Royal Assent. It has also now had its first statement of claim filed against it in the Court of King’s Bench by Onion Lake Cree Nation, stating that the legislation infringes on treaty rights. With the provincial government having 20 days to respond to the lawsuit, the legislation will continue to dominate headlines in 2023 as it plays out in the courts, and should Premier Smith choose to try to assert control by using the powers contained in the legislation to send a message to Ottawa.
5. Alberta Relaunch
We’d be remiss if we didn’t close out our look at by at 2022 by highlighting Alberta Relaunch, New West Public Affairs’ gathering of some of Canada’s brightest political minds on June 28 in Calgary. The event was hosted by New West and included Mark Carney (Vice Chair at Brookfield Asset Manager and Former Governor of the Banks of Canada and England), Lisa Raitt (Vice-Chair of Global Investment Banking at CIBC and Former Conservative Cabinet Minister), and Lisa Baiton (President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) as keynote speakers discussing Alberta’s future.