Brooks-Medicine Hat Byelection Set for Nov. 8, Smith to Run in Bid for Seat in Legislature

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds her first press conference in Edmonton on Oct. 11, 2022. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

Danielle Smith, who has just been sworn in as Alberta’s premier, will prepare to run in a byelection in Brooks-Medicine Hat, which has now been scheduled for Nov. 8.

On Oct. 11, Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer Glen Resler announced the byelection would take place on Nov. 8 to elect a member to the Legislative Assembly.

“Appointments have been made for the returning officer and election clerk in Brooks-Medicine Hat and they are ready to conduct voting in the electoral division,” said Resler.

Candidate nominations are open until Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.

UCP MLA in the riding Michaela Frey resigned on Oct. 7.

Frey is backing Smith to run for her seat, posting on Twitter: “Brooks-Medicine Hat deserves a leader with principle and someone who will always fight to make our voices heard. Danielle Smith will bring profile to an area of the province, and its people, that deserve a spotlight. I couldn’t be more honoured to support her.”

For most of her leadership race, Smith maintained that she would run in her home riding of Livingstone-Macleod, a district held by UCP MLA Roger Reid, who won in 2019 with 70 percent of the vote.

Smith had said she wouldn’t call a byelection in Calgary-Elbow.

Opposition NDP leader Rachel Notley said on Twitter on Oct. 11, “The new Premier can make all the lame procedural arguments she wants ... I believe the reason she refuses to call a byelection in Calgary-Elbow is because she fears NDP candidate Samir Kayande will win there and give the constituents there the representation they deserve!”

During an Oct. 8 press conference in Brooks-Medicine Hat, when Smith announced she would be running in the by-election, she explained why she did not want to run in Calgary-Elbow, saying, “Rather than have a rolling series of byelections, we may as well just stick with the convention of having the adjacent MLA take care of the issues in the riding and we'll stick with the fixed election date of May 29.”

When questioned about running in a riding so far away from where she lives, Smith responded, “People will have seen from when I was leader before—as well as the kind of campaign that I have run—I’m prepared to travel a lot, and be in communities a lot, and do town halls a lot, and reach out a lot … I have that work ethic that people will be able to have full access to me. I will be advocating for their issues.”

Smith said she plans to spend lots of time in Brooks-Medicine Hat, and her first priority is fixing Highway 3.

“It’s quite dangerous. When you look at the amount of traffic that we have on there—with big industrial developments, as well as manufactured homes, trying to compete with farmer equipment and farm machinery, especially in harvest—it has caused tragedies, and we have to make sure that that is corrected.”

As premier, Smith will have to try and unify her party and deliver on campaign promises like her sovereignty act before the provincial election in May 2023.

The sovereignty act she proposes will give Alberta the same type of autonomy as Quebec, governing as a nation within a nation.

Some areas Smith says need improvement under the sovereignty act are enabling the province to circumvent Bill C-69, termed by conservative parties as the “no new pipelines law,” and opposing federal cuts to fertilizer use, federal mandatory vaccination policies, and federal firearms ownership regulations.

Rachel Emmanuel and Lee Harding contributed to this article.