Danielle Smith was sworn in as Premier last Tuesday and many of her comments both old and new have been generating headlines in the following days.

Last night, United Conservative Party members elected Danielle Smith as their leader on the sixth round of preferential balloting. She secured the support of 53.77 percent of party voters, and will formally assume the Premiership in the coming days.

September 30th marks the national day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day to not only reflect on historic injustices faced by the indigenous people of Canada, but also an opportunity to work towards meaningful reconciliation. At New West Public Affairs, we are committed to ongoing learning and purposeful action today, and throughout the year.

Today ​​Energy Minister Sonya Savage will lead a roundtable event in Washington D.C. bringing key U.S. state officials, industry associations and companies from the U.S. and Canada together to advance energy security alongside the global transition to net zero.

Today has been named a provincial day of mourning in recognition of Queen Elizabeth II, whose funeral was held earlier in the day in London. An outdoor ceremony in honour of Her late Majesty at the Alberta legislature at 10 a.m. and will include a 96 gun salute.

Queen Elizabeth II died September 8 at the age of 96. Prince Charles is now King Charles III and has been officially proclaimed as Head of State in Canada. Statements were issued by Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor, Premier and Speaker and books of condolence are available at provincial buildings and government centres across the province. Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday September 19, and it remains to be seen whether the day will be declared a statutory holiday in Canada.

Alberta’s first quarter fiscal update was presented last week and showed the incredible impact that high resource prices can have on the province’s bottom line. While the UCP government announced that they will be making a significant debt repayment, investing in the Heritage Fund and reindexing personal income taxes to inflation due to the $13.2 billion surplus, there was no mention of reindexing other supports for seniors or AISH.

Alberta garnered national attention in the worst possible way late last week when Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland faced harassment when leaving Grande Prairie City Hall. Rhetoric and distrust in the federal Liberal government has been ratcheted up to unprecedented levels following the COVID-19 pandemic, so-called freedom convoy and both federal CPC candidates and provincial UCP candidates fanning the flames of discontent.

A new survey from the Alberta Chamber of Commerce found that one in four business operators and almost the same number of Albertans list inflation as their top issue, beating out the previous top item of the economy, according to a new column from Chris Varcoe. Health care has risen to the second most important issue for business owners and the public at large alike in the survey.

Out of the 4 million-plus Albertans in the province, the Alberta Liberal Party was unable to find a single person willing to put their name forward to lead their party. The deadline to apply came and went on Friday, leaving the future of the party uncertain.