Premier Smith squares off with tense crowd at heated Alberta Next panel in Edmonton
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The premier didn't answer yes or no each time of asking during Thursday night's Alberta Next consultation, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Edmonton's west end.
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Volunteers in Lukaszuk's camp have been working to collect signatures from Albertans who affirm that they want to remain in Canada, as a foil to planned referendum questions about the future of the province in the country.
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And, to close what was the most heated and divisive of Alberta Next meetings so far, she spoke about her admiration for Quebec, its 32 international trade offices, its ability to control immigration and its power to opt out of federal programs.
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'What is the difference today? The difference today is that we're bigger. Maybe we couldn't have had this conversation when we had a million and a half population. Maybe we couldn't have even had it when we had three million population. Maybe we couldn't have had it when we were only generating $20 billion in revenue. Well, maybe we can have it now that we're generating $75 billion of revenue (per year).'
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As the Alberta Next panel walked into the conference room at, they were greeted by applause. The Treaty 6 acknowledgment was cheered. And there was a loud roar when Smith was introduced. The panel sat at a head table that had six Alberta flags posted behind it, with no Canadian flags in sight.
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It would have been easy to assume that the third stop on the Alberta Next province-wide tour was going to be partisan slam-dunk for the premier. But, it was anything but. Within minutes, the tensions in the room were at a boiling point, with boos and cheers competing with each other no matter the political bias of the speaker from the 700 in attendance.
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When Smith opened proceedings by saying 'when Edmonton speaks, we listen,' there was laughter from a large section of the audience.
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Alberta Next is a panel that is seeking opinions on a number of topics when it comes to the province's relationship with the feds. There were six topics on the table: equalization payments, the notion of an Alberta pension plan, the possible formation of a provincial police force, amending the constitution, greater provincial control over immigration and giving the province the power to collect all personal income taxes, bypassing the Canada Revenue Agency.
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