Danielle Smith running against locals in Brooks-Medicine Hat
Posted Oct 11, 2022 10:51 am.
Last Updated Oct 12, 2022 7:19 am.
Danielle Smith may have won the United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership race, however, she’s still looking to win a seat in the Alberta Legislature.
Smith announced she would run for MLA over the long weekend, foregoing the urban riding of Calgary-Elbow in favour of the rural riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat.
She’ll have to compete with two locals, one of whom is the former Mayor of Brooks, and the other, a teacher in Medicine Hat’s education system for more than a decade.
Barry Morishita, Alberta Party MLA candidate for Brooks-Medicine Hat, is also the leader of the Alberta Party. Morishita was the Mayor of Brooks for five years and calls Smith an outsider.
“Issues are likely to be lost because one — if the premier was successful — she doesn’t live here. She doesn’t know the issues individually here in the communities of Brooks, and in the northern part of Medicine Hat, Red Cliff, Duchess, Bassano, Rolling Hills, all of those places. She doesn’t know them, I do,” Morishita said.
He adds Smith appears to be underestimating the difficulty of winning a race to become an MLA.
“She’s here because she wants an easy seat in the legislature, she wants to get there without any problems. I think the people of Medicine Hat/Brooks both deserve a little more respect than that, I think they deserve a representative that truly represents their issues and their needs,” Morishita said. “I’m going to be working hard to prove that I can do that job.”
Former Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey previously told CityNews it would be good for the riding to have a high-profile MLA such as Smith to represent it. Morishita doesn’t disagree, however, he says it’s not enough to shine a spotlight on the region — whoever wins has to put in the work.
“I think people are tired of the swing from right to left and left to right. I think what they’re looking for, is they’re looking for people who represent them,” Morishita said.
“People want less drama, they want less fighting, they want less divisiveness. You know, we can’t have that unless we’re willing to talk about the issues that affect Brooks-Medicine Hat, and I think that should be the focus of the campaign.”
Gwendoline Dirk, NDP MLA candidate for Brooks-Medicine Hat, taught at Medicine Hat College for 13 years.
Dirk says she’s been campaigning in the riding even before she was nominated as the NDP candidate in June. She says she has been involved in local issues for “quite some time,” while the UCP “seems to be worried about themselves.”
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Dirk says she can’t speculate on whether Smith will do well in the riding, however, from what she hears going from door to door, folks appear to want someone who is familiar with local issues.
“They’re looking for a government representative, who number one — like myself — will be in the community. I’m part of the community, I attend all the community functions… I’m everywhere in the community, and I think they want some representation here,” Dirk said.
She adds several people in Brooks-Medicine Hat are concerned about healthcare and the rising cost of living, and want someone who will represent them instead of worrying about political strife.
“We also are a very stable government, I think people are tired of the drama, and the instability, and the infighting [of the UCP],” Dirk said.
Former MLA and UCP cabinet minister Doug Schweitzer resigned from the Calgary-Elbow riding in September. Since his departure, neighbouring MLAs have helped to fill the gap.
Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams says there’s an element of contradiction in Smith choosing not to run in Calgary-Elbow.
“It looks quite hypocritical and it doesn’t send a signal of strength or confidence to Albertans who are asking questions about a number of policy promises that she made during the leadership campaign,” Williams said.
Williams adds her choice may affect her success and popularity in Calgary in the future.
“She needs Calgary seats if she’s going to win the next election, and this sends — I think — a really poor signal early in the game,” Williams said.
The Calgary-Elbow riding will remain vacant until the next provincial election, set for May 2023.
Meanwhile, Smith says she wanted to run in a rural riding because she says those communities didn’t have their voices heard during the pandemic, and that rural issues need better representation at the highest level of government.
Addressing concerns that she doesn’t live in the riding Saturday, she says she is willing to travel a lot and has a good work ethic. She adds issues in that area are the same as in the constituency she lives in.
Smith lives in High River, just outside of Calgary. Pundits had previously wondered whether she would seek the vacant seat of Calgary-Elbow.
—With files from Courtney Theriault, Tate Laycraft, and The Canadian Press
