A farmer protested policy at a Danielle Smith town hall. 5 days later, it was paused

Chad Anderson had travelled 90 minutes from his farm near Cremona, Alta., to bend the premier's ear, but it was starting to look futile.

He'd come to a town hall with Danielle Smith and Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson in Okotoks, an apparent rehearsal of sorts for the Alberta Next panels that kick off next week, with Smith presiding as chair.

Last week's Okotoks event was approaching its end, and a too-long lineup of attendees separated Anderson from the question microphone, all of them hoping to plant a seed in the premier's mind.

Believing he'd miss his chance, Anderson told others what he wanted to ask about — changes to a farm program that would rein in his farm's licensed but uninspected slaughtering business. They let him jump ahead in line, he recalls.

"Last year we sold 30 [head of] beef ... we've done it safely and of the highest quality," Anderson told the July 2 town hall south of Calgary.

"Last week I got an email from Alberta Ag effectively cancelling the program," he added, to scattered boos in the crowd.

Anderson listened to Sigurdson defend the government's policy change and emphasis on meat safety. But the rancher was struck by the premier sitting quietly next to her minister, glancing over with what Anderson described as a "what's going on?" look.

Five days later, on July 7, Alberta Agriculture announced that after hearing farmers' concerns, it would indefinitely pause the limits to on-farm slaughter licenses that it had just brought in.

Anderson believes he has the premier to thank for halting the change, even if he can't prove it.

"I think it was probably critical to it," he told CBC News in an interview this week.

"She cares about small business. She cares about the entrepreneurial spirit."

More than three decades after Ralph Klein won his first election as premier on the slogan "He listens. He cares," another Alberta premier has carved out a reputation for hearing Albertans' pleas and then acting on them.

The five-day turnaround from town hall complaint to policy bulletin may be a pronounced example of Smith's responsiveness, but she has repeatedly demonstrated this approach to supporters, especially those in the United Conservative base.

The premier whose government has banned vote tabulating machines, restricted health care treatments for transgender youth and — just this week — banned books with sexual content in school libraries is also the leader whose party has passed convention resolutions requesting those changes.