Brad Wall says Smith’s victory in Alberta is good for Sask. interests

Following Danielle Smith’s victory in Alberta, former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall said the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) win is good for both Saskatchewan and Western Canada.

Brad Wall, former premier of Saskatchewan, praised Danielle Smith following her election victory in Alberta. (650 CKOM file photo)

“I think what you’ll see Danielle Smith do, obviously, is continue to provide that coalition building that she has been trying to offer for the different factions which are not insignificant in the in the UCP,” Wall told Gormley on Tuesday.

Wall added that Smith will likely try to reach out to previously Conservative voters who voted for the Alberta NDP this time around, in an effort to bring them back on board.

Though the UCP won, the party lost several seats to the NDP.

Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, highlighted the fact that it was the closest election in Alberta’s history.

“That’s one part of the story but (the bigger part of the story) is the regional breakdown,” Bratt told Gormley.

“We often talk in Alberta about the three-legged stool — you need Calgary, you need Edmonton and (you need) the rest of the province.”

Alberta’s NDP swept Edmonton 20-0. In Calgary, the NDP narrowly won 14-12, but in the rest of the province the UCP was able to win 37-4.

“This is a tale of two provinces battling it out within one geographic area,” Bratt said. “It’s the first time a winning party did not win at least two of the three stools.”

Wall praised Smith’s victory speech.

“She made sure she highlighted these federal issues that are coming down the pike at Western Canada,” Wall said, specifically highlighting the federal emissions targets for power generation, which Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has pushed back against.

Wall said Smith’s controversial statements likely put UCP candidates in the unfavourable position of having to constantly answer for her. He also said Smith’s previous career as a talk show host came back to bite her during the campaign.

“I think the losses that the UCP sustained last night were mostly the result of what I’ll call Danielle Smith’s ‘greatest hits’ that they kept replaying through the campaign,” Wall said.

“I talked to UCP candidates who are sharing this frustration. How do you get on your front foot, so to speak, when you’re constantly defending what the leader might have said in a previous career? And I think the NDP did an outstanding job of sort of a water torture delivery of these Danielle Smith’s ‘greatest hits’ and kept (the UCP) off the message.”

Bratt agreed that many of Smith’s controversial statements likely had a negative impact on the UCP’s results, even though the party ultimately won. Bratt specifically referenced Smith comparing vaccinated Albertans to supporters of Adolf Hitler, as well as Smith’s ethical violation of interfering with the judicial system on behalf of pastor Artur Pawlowski.

“There are tensions,” Bratt said. “We did know that there were candidates saying ‘Vote for the party; we’ll deal with the leader after the election.’ “