Do you think you know Alberta politics? Well, let’s see if you do.
As a change of pace, I present to you this little quiz to point out the sometimes wonky nature of Alberta politics. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Alberta politics is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma that has been stuffed in a sack and tossed into the North Saskatchewan River.
I call this quiz “Who said it: UCP or NDP?” I’ll present a quote, and you’ll try to figure out where it came from: the United Conservative Party or the New Democratic Party. Answers at the bottom (no peeking).
1. “We are in what I would describe as a crisis right now, in that we have a federal government about to move forward on legislation that has wide-ranging consequences, particularly to the people of Alberta.”
2. “Let’s be very clear: We’re not going to be endorsing production cuts. We think we can reach emissions reductions through other means.”
3. “The simple fact is this: CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) works.”
4. “I wish that carbon capture was as perfect as they think it is.”
5. “We want the private sector to step in with new natural gas generation, with new nuclear generation, but if they don’t, we’ll need to step in.”
6. “Right now, the system gets in the way of healthcare delivery. It is complex and uncoordinated, resulting in unacceptable wait times, service disruptions and problems accessing primary care, like family doctors.”
Alberta politics: a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma that’s been stuffed in a sack and tossed into the North Saskatchewan.
Answers:
1. NDP leader Rachel Notley (Jan 13, 2023). This quote from Notley, spoken in the lead-up to last year’s provincial election, sounds like something Premier Danielle Smith would say. Notley was talking about the federal “just transition” plan to help energy workers shift into “green” jobs as economies move away from fossil fuels. Notley has had to walk a precarious line between acknowledging the reality of the energy transition while not looking like an anti-oil activist—all the while not giving an inch to the UCP. Here is the other half of that quote: “And we are in that crisis position because of the incompetence and chaos and conflict that is constantly being generated by the UCP government.”
2. Notley again (May 13, 2023). The NDP has a complicated relationship to the idea of an emissions cap on the oil sands, at one time endorsing the idea, when they were in government, but ultimately backing away from the policy. They know that even Albertans sympathetic to many of the NDP’s socially progressive ideas get nervous if they think the NDP will undermine the provincial economy. This nervousness arguably helped the UCP win the 2023 election.
3. Premier Smith (Nov 28, 2023). Yes, this one is obvious. Smith has been a big booster of investing millions, and potentially billions, of tax dollars in carbon capture technology, where emissions are pumped underground. It’s a way to allow the continued use of fossil fuels, most notably as part of Smith’s ambitions for a blue hydrogen industry in Alberta, in which natural gas is turned into hydrogen with CO2 as a byproduct. The federal government is also a supporter, proving there are a few issues where Alberta and the federal government get along.
4. Premier Smith again (Sep 2, 2023). Hmm. While Smith is a loud proponent for carbon capture as a way to reduce emissions for a proposed blue hydrogen industry, she’s something of an opponent when it comes to using it as a way for the feds to get the province to a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 (by pumping emissions from natural-gas-burning power plants underground). Smith says she’s being realistic about the technology. You could also say she’s being a hypocrite.
5. Premier Smith (Nov 28, 2023). In one of the more eye-opening quotes from Smith last year (and that’s saying a lot), the premier said the government would be willing to become a player in the electricity market, possibly going as far as building small nuclear power plants. This is just one more tactic from Smith in her fight with Ottawa over its clean energy regulations. Setting up a Crown corporation to intervene in the market is not something you’d expect from a free-enterprise politician. But it’s difficult to pigeonhole Smith as anything other than a populist with situational ideologies.
6. UCP government website. In what sounds like an NDP dig at Smith’s mismanagement of the healthcare system, the government’s own website points to obvious problems with the system. It’s part of the government’s strategy to convince Albertans that it all needs to be blown up and revamped as outlined in Smith’s dramatic plan last November.
How’d you do? Get all 6? Good for you!
Fewer than 6? Don’t feel bad. It just means you’re looking for logic in the illogic of Alberta politics.
Graham Thomson is a political analyst, member of the Legislature Press Gallery and former Edmonton Journal political columnist.
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