Danielle Smith was pumped up coming back from the conservative love-in the Alberta premier attended this past weekend in Ottawa.
Back on the home front, Smith was very clear where she stands, take it or leave it, days after saying she will make it impossible for cities to cut money deals with Ottawa unless there is a thumbs-up from her government.
Smith goes after the prime minister. Bashing Justin Trudeau is pure gold for her supporters. They love it.
And when Trudeau tells Smith to “get out the way” and let him and his crew solve the housing crisis, she just gets more support to punch back and punch hard.
Smith is mighty miffed about the Trudeau government bypassing her UCP government and cooking up a deal directly with Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Calgary city hall.
The feds have said if Calgary wants $228 million they will have to allow citywide rezoning, where fourplexes, townhouses and rowhouses could be built on any low-density residential property, including neighbourhoods where there are now only single detached homes.
Calgary city council will kick off the debate on this brainwave at city hall April 22. Next week.
Smith is not amused.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable for the federal government to come in on the basis of giving $228 million to Calgary and basically take away one of the main powers a municipality has,” says the premier on her weekend radio show.
“They are essentially rewriting the zoning laws. That’s not federal jurisdiction.”
Smith is just getting warmed up. She is against citywide rezoning big-time and when Trudeau is in the mix, well, you know where this movie is going.
“These are the kinds of strings that get attached when the federal government comes in. They’re not just here to help. They’re not just here to try to be a funding partner and deal in good faith. They’re here to get an agenda implemented.”
Smith says she doesn’t know if the citywide rezoning agenda is supported by the people and accuses the Trudeau government of “putting onerous restrictions” on the city.
The premier sure doesn’t support it.
Personally, Smith likes to live in a mixed-use area. She lives in a complex of four units.
That’s her choice.
But she realizes other people choose a different kind of neighbourhood and the premier believes they should be allowed to continue to live in such a neighbourhood.
Smith also sees there is an avalanche of outrage over citywide rezoning. We’ll see where that goes.
The premier says the city will have to suffer the pushback where disgruntled Calgarians have been gathering to air their views and, in her words, “it sounds like some of these meetings are pretty brutal.”
In Ottawa, while Smith was hanging out with her conservative pals, she made national news telling them Alberta as a whole was being given the short end of the stick by the federal government.
She told them Calgary and Edmonton cut side deals with Trudeau but almost all of the places outside the big cities have been stiffed.
This is an important statement for Smith to make because she is talking about rural Alberta, the communities outside Calgary and Edmonton, the places bringing her to a win in the UCP leadership race and a victory at the polls in the general election.
“For years Liberal governments in Ottawa with almost no representation in Alberta have been imposing their destructive agenda on Alberta taxpayers through direct funding agreements with cities and provincially regulated and funded organizations,” says the premier.
The vote on citywide rezoning next week may go right down to the wire.
It may hang on the vote of a single councillor who was expected by some to vote Yes to citywide rezoning.
It may hang on the vote of Evan Spencer, the councillor representing Calgarians down by McKenzie Towne and Cranston and Mahogany.
Spencer conducted a survey in his area.
The question. Do you approve of citywide rezoning?
The answer. No is 71 per cent. Yes is 25 per cent. Maybe is four per cent.
By the way, there is bad news for those who want Smith to ride to the rescue and lay down the law on this rezoning issue.
It’s too late in the game. Smith’s musings do not mean the province will kibosh the deal between Trudeau and the city of Calgary.
“Our intention is not to interfere retroactively with agreements,” says the premier.
“This is something Calgarians are going to have to address.
“It’s going to be up to the Calgary council to decide if the $228 million is worth essentially handing over all of their zoning-making power to the federal government.”
rbell@postmedia.com
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