Premier Danielle Smith touts party unity ahead of 2023 election

Alberta's new Premier Danielle Smith says the United Conservative Party is ready to fight and win the next provincial election in May 2023. 

In a keynote address at the governing party's annual general meeting on Saturday, Smith tried to rally party members who have just come through a year of division marked by a leadership review followed by the resignation of former leader and premier Jason Kenney. 

"Our team is now unified, our team is now ready to fight for Albertans," Smith said to loud cheers from at least 1,800 members who crowded into a conference hall on the Enoch Cree Nation, west of Edmonton.

"And come hell or high water, we are going to beat the NDP in 2023."

Smith was chosen leader on Oct. 6 after winning 53 per cent of the votes on the sixth ballot. Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews, who will rejoin cabinet on Monday, came second with 47 per cent of the vote. 

In her 20-minute speech, Smith outlined how her team has been transitioning into government and how MLAs bonded during a three-day caucus retreat earlier this week. 

Smith received the loudest and longest cheers from the crowd by declaring the proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act would push back against federal overreach of what she says is provincial jurisdiction. 

"When Ottawa seeks to take control of our sovereign areas of provincial jurisdiction, our UCP government will not enforce those laws or policies in this province, period," Smith said. 

Smith addressed critics who have suggested she would start softening the intent of her legislation now that she has secured the party leadership. 

"My friends, I did not campaign by saying things to win your favour and your votes only to change the channel on you later," she said. "We will get this done."

Smith said the party's priorities going into the next election include health care reform and easing the impact of inflation on Albertans. 

Smith's first ten days in office have been marked by apologies and clarifications of past controversial remarks she made on social media and in her newsletter.

During a live stream with the Western Standard on Friday, Smith criticized an agreement Alberta Health Services signed with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

In 2020, the WEF invited AHS to join the Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare. An AHS release said the coalition looked at "shaping future healthcare on the international stage."