Keith Gerein: What can Alberta municipalities expect from Danielle Smith?

WHEN THE TERM LIBERTARIAN IS USED IT MEANS AYN RANDISM

Opinion by Keith Gerein - Tuesday

A decade ago, I was among the Postmedia reporters covering the 2012 provincial election.

UCP Leader and incoming premier Danielle Smith.© Provided by Edmonton Journal

My assignment was the Wildrose Party, which meant I spent most of the campaign within tape recorder distance of then-party leader Danielle Smith.

Many will recall that once promising campaign turned sour in the final days when Smith refused to take action against Wildrose candidates with unsavoury views. That stance drew the ire of Alberta’s two big city mayors, including Edmonton’s Stephen Mandel, who was already livid with Smith for what he saw as unsolicited, outsider criticism of city infrastructure choices.

Though unconfirmed, my sense at the time is that a lot of the big campaign decisions — including the fatal one to defend awful candidates — were controlled by party officials, even though Smith was the one who had to go out and sell them.

But as for Smith herself, I found the 2012 version of her to be articulate, determined and hard working, with an ability to instantly switch from graciousness and humour to gut-punching criticism.

And despite occasional obtusity in defending weird Wildrose positions, I found her to be generally on the right side of reasonable.

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The question now, for current municipal leaders who have to work with her, is whether the same can be said for the 2022 version of Smith. Based on some of the proposals she intends to implement , that characterization seems more tenuous than it did a decade ago.

Of particular interest to civic leaders is Smith’s stated desire to continue efforts to replace the RCMP with a new provincial police force — a major shakeup that so far has little public support, near universal opposition from municipalities, and minimal faith in Smith’s dubious suggestion the move would be cost neutral .

The UCP leader did offer a thin olive branch on this issue Saturday, telling media she knows there is a need to get more municipalities on board. That suggests at least a token aspiration to consult.

Still, it would be wise for Edmonton-area communities to quickly ramp up discussions with the city around establishing a regional police force .

Regardless, whatever differences may exist from 2012 Smith to 2022 Smith, one consistency over the last decade is a strong streak of libertarianism. Which is an interesting lens to consider how she might approach provincial-municipal relations, and where the limits of the libertarianism might lie.

“She did talk to municipalities a lot about funding and she does have some good ideas. So I think there is some hope,” said Cathy Heron, the mayor of St. Albert and president of Alberta Municipalities.

For one thing, Smith has said she is seriously considering a long-standing plea from municipalities to keep all of the property tax they collect rather than transferring a big chunk of it, known as education property tax, to the province.

In Edmonton, this could be worth about $500 million a year , and about $800 million in Calgary.

“I know that I complain a lot about how much extra money is taken out of Alberta that goes to Ottawa and that doesn’t come back, and quite frankly, we do the same thing to our municipalities,” Smith is quoted as saying in Livewire Calgary.

For civic leaders, this potential application of libertarianism has to be tantalizing, though it may not be the windfall some might hope. There is an open question as to whether a move like this would mean the end of existing provincial infrastructure grants and other funding. Likewise, it’s fair to wonder if it could mean more provincial downloading to municipalities.

One also has to be curious whether the new premier would really be able to resist the temptation to intervene if she doesn’t like specific spending decisions. Remember the Smith of 2012 was eager to blast Edmonton for choices to redevelop the City Centre Airport and prioritize the new Royal Alberta Museum.

This is what I mean when I wonder about the limits of her libertarianism, and whether municipalities would really have autonomy if their choices conflicted with Smith’s battle against Ottawa, her view of freedom, or her opposition to certain public health measures.

Would a municipality, for example, be allowed to implement its own mask mandate?

“We talk about getting out of the way of municipalities … but my experience with provincial governments is they say that until what the municipality is doing they disagree with,” Heron said. “So I think we need some bigger conversations about legislating that autonomy.”

In this vein, respect for the big cities is another important question for the Smith tenure. This is particularly so for Edmonton, which was more often treated as a punching bag than a partner by the Kenney government. But even in Calgary, doubts now have to be raised after Smith’s decision to hold a byelection for herself in the rural southeast, while refusing to hold one in the vacant constituency of Calgary-Elbow.

The new premier could help herself by keeping current Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, who seems to have the respect of most civic leaders. As well, more balanced action to help cities with addiction, mental health and homelessness would go a long way.

“My approach to governing is always about relationships so it does scare me to hear her dislike for our prime minister … because that is not the way you get anything done in my opinion,” Heron said.

“She has talked a lot about that libertarian view but that is not the majority view in Alberta, so if she wants to be re-elected, she’s going to have to become more central, and appeal to the middle and hopefully keep the UCP together.”

kgerein@postmedia.com