Premier Danielle Smith says she has 'very strong mandate' to implement the UCP agenda

In one of her first interviews since leading the United Conservative Party to a majority government in Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith said she takes the margins of popular vote in Monday's election — 52 per cent for the UCP, 44 per cent for the NDP — as a clear mandate.

"I think that says that people took all of the aspects into consideration and what they decided is they like the UCP agenda," Smith told CBC's Power & Politics.

Some of that agenda is likely to be challenging in the weeks and months to come, especially when it comes to working with the federal government on climate policy, as Smith acknowledged.

The agenda will be spearheaded by a diminished UCP caucus — with 49 seats projected to the NDP's 38, pending recounts — that won the closest election in Alberta's modern history.

During the campaign, some of Smith's more contentious policy ideas — the Sovereignty Act among them — were pushed to the side. 

But Smith said she believes people now understand she's serious about "defending our jurisdiction."

"I have lots of ways that I can do it. It's just one other tool in the toolbox, and I'm very hopeful that the prime minister won't come through with aggressive legislation against us like an emissions cap that's unachievable," Smith said.

WATCH | Smith explains how she'd approach her prior policy ideas now that she's won:

Addressing supporters at an Edmonton hotel after conceding the election, Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley said had she won, she would have committed to do everything to "move past division and to govern for the vast majority of Albertans, to be practical and pragmatic and to listen to all voices."

"So I am asking [Smith] to remember the majority of Albertans tonight and to commit to a government that prioritizes the need and aspirations of all Albertans," Notley said.

In April, the UCP released an "aspirational" plan to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2050. But the party noted it aimed to do so "without compromising affordable, reliable and secure energy."

Her first call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took place Tuesday, and Smith said she raised her frustration with federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault during that conversation.

"They [know] that there's a hard line when it comes to anything that will damage our economy, that we are not going to 'just transition' our oil and natural gas workers out of out of jobs," she said. "We are not going to pursue a net-zero power grid by 2035."

Canada has a goal for a national net-zero electricity grid by 2035. In addition to Smith, it also recently caught the ire of Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who called it "impossible" and "unaffordable." Guilbeault said Moe hadn't "even seen what the regulations will entail and what kind of flexibility mechanisms there will be."