The Alberta Next panel’s Calgary stop finished the town hall tour with a bang, and may have left Calgarians more divided than united.
The Alberta Next panel reached its last in-person stop in Calgary Monday evening, with some attendees expressing support for discussion points and others sharing frustrations on topics both on the agenda and off. The province-wide town hall meetings have been stopping in and around Alta. since July, and reactions have been mixed.
The panel, chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, is intended to give Albertans the chance to talk about strengthening sovereignty within Canada and discuss policies and actions for six pre-selected ideas: immigration, constitutional changes, Alberta pension plan, federal transfers and equalization, a provincial police force and tax collection.
During a town hall in Grand Prairie, the six ideas up for discussion received general praise and agreement from the public. Residents chimed in on how to take Smith’s proposals even further, like replacing the RCMP and holding more control over tax collection for citizens. Attendees at panel stops in Edmonton and Red Deer held more conflicting opinions.
Calgary’s voice
Approximately 1,000 people gathered at the Spruce Meadows Equi-Plex, leaving the venue a full house.
Calgary’s panel included Premier Smith, Rebecca Schulz, Tara Smith, Stephen Buffalo, Benny Xu, Sunita Anand, Akin Osakuade, Adam Legge, Trevor Tombe, Grant Fagerheim, Glenn van Dijken, Andrew Judson and Bruce McDonald.
Bruce McAllister served as a moderator for the entire panel and told attendees that after viewing a short video about the topic of discussion, they were welcome to come up to a designated microphone and share a question or comment within a 45-second time slot.
If citizens brought up unrelated topics, they were warned that their microphones would be muted and that the panel would move on.
Tensions rising
The panel kicked off with a discussion on equalization and transfers, where the majority of speakers from the audience agreed that Alberta should take a role in reforming federal transfers and equalization, with a few questions about intergovernmental processes along the way.
However, tension started rising after talk about a potential Alberta pension plan.
Laurel Jackson, a third-generation Albertan, shared a comment with the panel rather than a question.
“I just want to remind you, this is our money, Albertans’ money that you’re using to spend on this panel. We should be able to talk about whatever topic we want, not what your six videos are,” Jackson said.
“Survey after survey has said, ‘We don’t want an Alberta pension plan. We don’t want Alberta police. We don’t want municipal parties. But you didn’t listen then, so why should you listen now?”
Speakers continued disagreeing with the panel premise after viewing a video sharing the idea of implementing an Alberta police force in place of the RCMP. One speaker called the video “highly disrespectful.”
Shortly after, a local grade 12 student took his turn at the microphone to bring up the impending teachers’ strike and call for better education funding. His microphone was muted immediately, with McAllister jumping in as the crowd began to shout in protest.
“I know you love some chaos, but your parents should turn you over on their knee,” McAllister said in response to the student.
After a few more responses regarding a potential Alberta police force, Premier Smith circled back to the Alberta teachers’ strike to respond to the speaker and the latest deal rejection.
“We’ll have more to say at a press conference tomorrow at 12:00. We are disappointed. I mean, we have heard that the issue that teachers are experiencing is around complexity in the classroom size as well as the number of newcomers who have English as a second language, that is putting pressure on the classroom,” Smith said.
Later on, various attendees spoke out in support of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community during the discussion of constitutional changes. They were quickly muted and told to stay on topic, prompting shouts of protest from the crowd.
Additional discussion about immigration had Calgarians lining up at the microphone, but only approximately 11 attendees spoke, with five panelists contributing in response.
The Revolutionary Communist Party made an appearance, criticizing the provincial government for allegedly blaming immigrants for the high cost of living.
“I think it’s rich coming from a government that has not increased the minimum wage in the province for seven years. Alberta is soon to be the province with the lowest minimum wage in the country,” the speaker said. “The grocery monopolies are artificially increasing their prices. Real estate companies are still hoarding empty homes to speculate on the housing market. Neither of which has anything to do with immigrants.”
“Maybe you and your friends should immigrate,” McAllister said in response.
What’s next?
The panel closed out with a short section on tax collection, a short intermission when the audience broke into singing O Canada, and an open discussion on how Albertans can make sovereignty better within the province.
One final online panel is open to Albertans to join on Oct. 1, and all surveys regarding the six discussion topics are available on the Alberta Next website.
Smith said the panel is set to discuss the reaction and response from across the province and release a report at the end of October.
“Well, I’m trying to bridge the divide,” she said. “That’s what I always try to do after all the great input tonight.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the moderator was Bruce McDonald.