Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next panel closed out its cross-province tour on a tense note in Calgary on Monday night as the premier heard from residents with grievances directed at Ottawa and her own government.
The slightest whiff of manure hung in the air at the Equi-Plex events centre in south Calgary, a facility normally used for equestrian events, as 1,100 people gathered for a final chance to speak directly to panel members before they decide on the government’s next steps.
“There are some issues that I feel like we are getting enough of a consensus that we may be able to move on, some we may reject, and others that will have to be put to the people,” Smith said, reiterating a point she made at the most recent town hall in Grande Prairie.
The panel was created by Alberta’s UCP government earlier this year after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal election win.
Smith has pitched the exercise as an opportunity to reassess Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa, with six proposals that include taking greater control over immigration, exiting the Canada Pension Plan to create an Alberta-run plan and creating a provincial police service.
People are seen waiting in a lineup to get into the final Alberta Next town hall held in at the Equi-Plex events centre at Spruce Meadows in Calgary on Monday.
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Smith and the panel were welcomed with a standing ovation and, despite several moments of dissent from individuals, the crowd voted overwhelmingly in favour of all six of the government’s proposals.
Straw polls at earlier town halls yielded similar results.
The province is also conducting surveys, results of which haven’t been publicly released.
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After a telephone town hall this Wednesday, the panel will convene to assess which proposals will move to a referendum or be implemented without a vote.
Tempers flared on a handful of occasions at the centre.
In one instance, a male high-school student from Calgary took to the mic to criticize the government after Alberta teachers voted Monday night to reject a tentative agreement with the province. The boy’s mic was cut off 14 seconds into his question, though he continued to yell at the panel after the sound cut.
“Your parents should turn you over your knee,” said moderator Bruce McAllister.
“That’s rude. That’s rude,. No — rude,” the next audience member said to McAllister. “That is disgraceful.”
A high school student who attempted to question panel members about the provincial government’s dispute with teachers, had his mic abruptly cut off as moderator Bruce McAllister commented that the student’s parents should “turn you over their knee.”
Alberta government pool feed
At points during and after the event, audience members appeared to get into tense arguments with each other.
The sound of chairs rustling marked the beginning of several question-and-answer sections as audience members rushed to get a spot in the lines, which often stretched back 15 people.
Toward the end, the audience broke into a complete rendition of the Canadian national anthem after one person disparaged Alberta separatism.
At other points in the night, favourable references to separating from Canada elicited widespread cheers from the crowd.
Panel member Stephen Buffalo, CEO of the Indian Resource Council, dismissed notions that Alberta seeking constitutional changes is in service of separatists’ agenda.
“These six items we talked about tonight, I see a path forward, but it takes strong leadership on both sides to go down that alley,” Buffalo said.
“To talk anymore about separation, Alberta walking away, it’s like looking for a Tootsie Roll in a septic tank. It’s just not good work.”
A slide featuring an image of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those used in the the panel’s slide show criticizing how the federal government has treated Alberta.
Alberta government pool feed
There were few protesters outside the town hall before it began. A small group of four gathered near the entrance with placards while the audience filed past security and into the hall.
At the entrance to the campus where horse shows and soccer games are normally held, Jane Mcquitty stood alone near the campus entrance with a paper bag over her head with a photo of Smith’s face on it.
“This is hardly a democratic sampling of Albertans,” she said. Inside her bag was a bottle of vodka and a roll of toilet paper “in case I get too excited and pee my pants.”
The panel’s telephone town hall is scheduled for Wednesday evening.
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