{"id":69390,"date":"2025-07-17T08:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T08:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/69390\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T08:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T08:10:09","slug":"danielle-smith-faces-criticism-anger-at-edmonton-town-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/69390\/","title":{"rendered":"Danielle Smith faces criticism, anger at Edmonton town hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The event was the second of a series of town halls Premier Danielle Smith is holding across the provinceJeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

After receiving a warm welcome and widespread support just 24 hours earlier, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith<\/a> faced a more vocally critical and frustrated crowd as she and her hand-picked panel members assembled in Edmonton for the second of a series of summer town halls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sound like bratty children,\u201d said Roberta Stasyk, a resident of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., who was one of many speakers who showed up to voice their frustration.<\/p>\n

Smith launched the panel to address public concerns over Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a>\u2019s election win \u2013 concerns that have pushed some to want Alberta to separate from Confederation.<\/p>\n

The premier\u2019s staff said some 500 people attended the Edmonton town hall on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Unlike in Red Deer the night before<\/a>, at least one-third of the Edmonton crowd was there to challenge Smith and the other 15 panel members on topics like creating a provincial police force, amending the constitution, and taking greater control over immigration.<\/p>\n

Robyn Urback: Danielle Smith isn\u2019t trying to be a MAGA leader. She\u2019s trying to be the Wildrose one she once was<\/a><\/p>\n

Creating a provincial pension plan was a hot-button issue, with most of those who stood up to share their opinion saying Smith needed to drop the idea once and for all. <\/p>\n

Stasyk called it a \u201chorrible idea,\u201d while others challenged the benefits touted in a government-produced video that played before the topic was discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA much smaller jurisdiction … would make it much more liable to the ups and downs of the market, for one thing,\u201d said Hans Smit, a professor emeritus from the University of Calgary, who also asked the panel for a guarantee that a provincial pension plan wouldn\u2019t be used for ideological means.<\/p>\n

Another speaker, who only identified himself as Todd, told the panel that at the end of the day, he just wanted a pension, but he didn\u2019t trust Smith\u2019s government to manage it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can stick with the (Canadian Pension Plan), which is one of the most effective things in the world, or I can gamble with you idiots.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the majority of speakers who lined up to discuss pension plans said they wanted to maintain the status quo, a show of hands showed the majority of the crowd was in favour.<\/p>\n

The same occurred when the idea of a provincial police force came up \u2013 many spoke against it, but a show of hands had those in favour in a clear majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to have a police force that lives in our community, works with our people, and grows and works with the communities,\u201d said one supporter, Brian.<\/p>\n

The divide in the room was clear, with attendees competing at every chance to make sure their boos or cheers came out on top.<\/p>\n

While it was less of a regular occurrence than Tuesday\u2019s town hall in Red Deer, some speakers in Edmonton did use the opportunity to push for separation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlberta\u2019s grievances with Ottawa predate our becoming a province,\u201d said one speaker, Cathy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just move forward with a referendum on independence, force that constitution open, and see where those talks take us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Alberta independence supporters gathered outside, making sure those who attended saw a large \u201cAlberta Sovereignty Now\u201d banner as they walked to their cars.<\/p>\n

Also in the parking lot were two protesters, one holding a sign saying \u201cI love (U.S. President Donald) Trump<\/a>\u201d and wearing a large papier mache head that was a caricature of Smith.<\/p>\n

Back inside the Edmonton hotel ballroom where the town hall took place, Smith, at times, was forced to defend the topics her panel was assembled to discuss.<\/p>\n

One proposal, that Alberta create its own immigration permitting system and cut off immigrants not approved under the system from health care and other provincially-run services, led a speaker to ask why the premier was \u201cpunching down on immigrants.\u201d <\/p>\n

Smith quickly spoke up to say that wasn\u2019t the case, adding that her government was just trying to find a solution to high housing costs and \u201cincreasing pressure on our social programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be a reasonable amount of newcomers that are able to come here, fit into the economy, be able to be self-supporting,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is, I think, a bit high at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panel member Sumita Anand, who also serves as co-chair on Smith\u2019s council for multiculturalism, agreed with the premier, and at one point pleaded with the crowd for support on the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease instruct us to put reasonable check stops,\u201d said Anand, an executive at a Calgary-based non-profit that provides support to those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we are asking for are check stops so that we can make a better future for our children and our grandchildren here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Long, an anthropology professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton, challenged the premier, saying she and the panel were giving more \u201cfodder\u201d to issues that are already dividing Albertans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re worried about having affordable housing, why aren\u2019t we putting more policies to make landlords who own empty houses to make them come on the market?\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters in Red Deer that the premier\u2019s panel was conjuring up unreliable data to support things her government already wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a debacle. This thing is such a sham,\u201d Nenshi said.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s panel will return to Edmonton for the third of 10 in-person town halls next month, with other dates set for Fort McMurray and Lloydminster later in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The event was the second of a series of town halls Premier Danielle…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-69390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}