Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Opposition New Democrat Party (NDP) leader Rachel Notley debated Thursday night, with Smith warning Albertans that Notley would walk “in lockstep with Justin Trudeau.”
Smith hit on Notley multiple times for not standing up against the feds’ 2035 net neutrality agenda, which Smith has been fighting back against. Smith said the UCP’s policy is to achieve net neutrality by 2050.
“[Notley] wants to achieve the 2035 net-zero target put forward by Justin Trudeau – that’ll cost $52 billion dollars, that’ll increase your power bill by 40%, and we can’t afford to do that,” Smith said.
“Where do you think Justin Trudeau got the idea for Just Transition, and for an emissions cap, and for a carbon tax? He got it from Ms. Notley when she was Premier.”
Smith added, “She’s going to walk in lockstep with Justin Trudeau.”
Smith also brought up Notley’s record as Alberta’s Premier between 2015 – 2019, saying “she doesn’t want to run on her record because it was an absolute disaster.”
“I am running on my record – Ms. Notley is running away from hers,” Smith said.
Smith also dismissed fear-mongering allegations from the NDP about health care.
“A UCP government will not ever, ever make you pay to see a doctor,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Notley slammed Smith for “breaking the law” in relation to the conflict of interest violation the Ethics Commissioner found Smith guilty of earlier in the day.
“Having learned today that Danielle Smith broke the law, I will also protect our law, and I will never break it,” Notley said.
Notley also blamed the UCP for the province’s health care situation.
“We’ve got whole cities without access to family doctors. Just last week, we had 15-hour waits in emergency rooms all across Calgary.”
Earlier in the day, Smith was cleared of wrongdoing by the Ethics Commissioner in relation to allegations she interfered with the Crown Prosecutor Service.
Alberta’s Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler released her report on Thursday morning in the middle of the Alberta General Election, saying that Smith should not have spoken to her Justice Minister about the matter, but that the main allegations in the sensational CBC story were without merit.
