Those of us who do this for a living have noticed that there’s seldom much policy daylight between Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz and Premier Danielle Smith.So, for those who can't wait to hear what the premier tells the party faithful tomorrow at the United Conservative Party convention in Calgary, hear this: You can safely assume Smith will deliver a steroid version of what Minister Schulz told the energy forum today: the Trudeau Liberals need to get this right or "we will fight this to the end."The Government of Alberta yesterday submitted a technical analysis of the federal regulations that go with the Trudeau Liberals' Clean Energy Regulations. It falls now to Ottawa to respond. Schulz told the roughly 500 people in the Stampede's Big Four building that the federal response needed to be "better than their first cut, or we will not implement these regulations."And a cap on oil and gas? "We will not accept a cap on oil and gas. We will fight this to the very end..."She also managed expectations, promising Premier Danielle Smith “will not flinch” when it comes to dealings with Ottawa." Such is the sisterhood and anything less than a bullhorn on energy will not satisfy this crowd. Nor should it: As the premier has repeatedly said, energy is the province's job, and what the Trudeau Liberals are proposing is dangerous — it's the backup generation, probably natural gas but possibly small nuclear or even run-of-river, that Alberta has to have ready on an instant-on basis for when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, or lives will be at risk.The UCP claims that with 3,000 people signed up, this is the largest political convention in Canadian history. (Certainly, the recent huge Conservative convention in Quebec was still smaller, at 2,500.) But is the fight between Ottawa and Alberta all delegates want to hear about?While as a piece of literature this week's Speech From The Throne had all the excitement of a long drink of warm water, the fact remains that substantively it described a tremendously complete and ambitious agenda, starting with a pledge to implement no tax increases without popular approval, thus: "There will be no new taxes or increases in personal or business taxes in this province without approval by Albertans in a referendum." "I think she needs to talk about that a lot," said Alexandra Carlile, whose company AC Campaign Solutions worked on Smith's constituency campaign. "Why wouldn't she?" Why indeed, and why not also remind Albertans of Finance Minister Nathan Horner's pledge to keep fuel tax relief in place for the remainder of the year, and the creation of a new 8% flat tax for people with incomes under $60,000 a year (heaven help them, in these inflationary times.)John Williams, a member seeking a place on the party board, called the SFT a 'massive agenda' and something that would rally the membership. Certainly, they seem ready to be rallied; when Q and A sessions get a standing ovation, delegates are ready for red meat. One thing I would not expect to hear much about was the proposal for an Alberta Pension Plan. Popular support has been lukewarm at best so far and the pledge was always to take the proposal to a referendum. This would not be the place to make the case. Not that members wouldn't be for it. But the people Smith has to convince aren't in the convention hall.More work is required.But that, of course, is what politicians always promise and demand. After a boisterous return to provincial politics, Premier Smith has suffered much, endured much but is finally seeing the rewards of it all — a party in which the malcontents among the membership have been pushed to the margins, the caucus pulling in the same direction and people in general pleased with her stand for Alberta against the Trudeau Liberals. It's a very different scene from this time last year. So, a high-energy speech, plenty of holding up the Alberta Idea and yes, plenty more on keeping Ottawa's hands out of Alberta's business.
