CORY： It's time to stop playing defensively & play offense when it comes to dealing with Ottawa
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
195.60422
Summary
Danielle Smith is running for the United Conservative Party leadership of Alberta. In this episode, I talk about her rise in popularity, her leadership campaign, and why it's time to play offense. I also talk about the dangers of playing defence, and how to move forward in the leadership race.
Transcript
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I mean, Danielle Smith's return to politics and rise in popularity
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caught many people flat-footed, including myself.
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If somebody had said two years ago that Smith was going to make a successful return
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into the political sphere, I would have laughed in their faces.
00:00:12.900
While she established herself well as a popular talk radio host,
00:00:15.640
there was no way she could overcome that breach of trust with party members
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At least I would have said that, and clearly I would have been wrong.
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I mean, Smith's floor crossing is her weakest link.
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It makes people question her judgment and loyalty to party members
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One would expect her leadership opponents to be focused on this when shooting outward,
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they're still mostly too hung up on attacking Smith's sovereignty act.
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Now, Smith came out of the gates hard in the leadership race with the proposed act
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She took the presumptive lead of the race while other candidates appeared stunned.
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They were left kind of figuring out how to, you know, try and deflate her campaign
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rather than pumping up their own, and that's where they're making a mistake.
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and it's led to her dominating the discussions.
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Opposing campaigns have found themselves in constant reactionary mode
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in response to Smith's proposals, and it's made them look weak and defensive.
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Smith is proposing taking a similar approach with Ottawa
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if she should become premier, and it clearly appeals to a large number of Albertans.
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She's signaling that she doesn't plan on waiting for the next federal incursion
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into provincial rights, and she'll be drawing a line in the sand
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And the campaigns have been flailing and trying to poke holes in Smith's proposed sovereignty act
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Kenny called it nuts as he jumped into the mix.
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Kenny spent three and a half years in the premier's office,
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Flaccid court challenges, unkept promises for things like a provincial pension plan.
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And all of it's been ineffectual in hindering federal aggression towards the West.
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I mean, Trudeau's surely got a corner of his office wallpapered
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with the angry letters sent from Premier Kenny during his time in office.
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So, Smith's approach to dealing with Ottawa may or may not succeed,
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We already know for sure and with certainty that Kenny's approach isn't going to work.
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Lost court challenges, new firearm bans, increasing carbon taxes,
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investment chill, and now a possible fertilizer ban attacking Western farmers.
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Trudeau, he knows that Kenny's a toothless tiger
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and he has nothing to fear in assaulting the West.
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It's time for not just Alberta, but all the Western provinces
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to start making autonomous changes and saying to Ottawa,
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Constantly waiting for Ottawa to throw the first punch
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and then weekly trying to counter it has failed.
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Now, Smith's offering a way to bring the battle to Ottawa on Alberta's terms.
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Make the feds respond to the province's actions rather than the other way around.
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The approach might fail, but citizens are prepared to go down fighting at this point
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and are embracing the Sovereignty Act on that basis.
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Now, candidates for the UCP leadership would be well served
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to cut back on attacking Smith and look at their own policies.
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There's a void being filled with Smith's Sovereignty Act
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and it's going to win the leadership race for her
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if the opponents can't propose a better way to deal with Ottawa.
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Every time they attack Smith, they just give her more airtime to promote her plan
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while her opponents just don't have a plan right now.
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It's not enough to just keep saying over and over her plan won't work.
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The candidates need to propose a plan then that will.
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Sitting on her heels and waiting for the next assault from Ottawa