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It's the extremists' party, Danielle Smith is just leading it
While the premier sailed through her leadership review at the Red Deer AGM, the UCP's policy resolutions revealed a deep grassroots alignment with the radical right.Jeremy Appel (The Orchard)
👀 "The Dangerous Americanization of Alberta Democracy
Danielle Smith is looking south for inspiration, ideas and laws.
Legislation such as the Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Provincial Priorities Act have garnered strong opposition, with critics highlighting threats to the constitutional division of powers and rule of law, academic freedom and Indigenous sovereignty.
Proposed changes to the #Alberta
Human Rights Act and anti-trans legislation have sparked additional concerns.
Many of these measures were left out of the UCP’s 2023 election platform, raising questions as to their origins. While much has been made about her borrowing pages from the Quebec playbook, Smith’s idealization of #Republican policy in the United States may provide additional clues as to the source of the #UCP’s policies.
In a 2023 speech,👉 Smith praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and projected Alberta as a “little bastion of freedom” in the same vein.
Policy diffusion occurs when ideas, practices or innovations spread from one government or jurisdiction to another. In January, for instance, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act, a bill that is almost identical to the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act (2022).
...represents a broader transformation toward a brand of right-wing populism that undermines liberal democratic norms by reducing local autonomy, curtailing academic freedom and concentrating authority in the political executive.
If similar moves at the federal level may be labelled the presidentialization of the prime ministership, Smith’s actions can be considered an attempt to turn her own office into that of a U.S. governor. "
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