NDP Leader Rachel Notley and UCP Leader Danielle Smith Square Off in Election Debate

NDP Leader Rachel Notley (L) and UCP Leader Danielle Smith shake hands before a debate in Edmonton on May 18, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Jason Franson)

During the hour-long leaders’ debate on May 18, UCP Leader Danielle Smith touted her party’s record during her seven months in office, while NDP Leader Rachel Notley focused on the theme of trust and criticized the UCP government’s tenure.

The central topics covered in the debate between Smith, who is vying for reelection, and Notley, premier from 2015 to 2019, were affordability, health care, the economy, relations with Ottawa, and a “wild card” round taken from public submissions.

“I know you’re keen on fighting, you want to fight with Ottawa, you want to fight with the media, you want to fight, frankly, with your former self. It’s actually quite exhausting,” said Notley.

Smith countered, “Ms. Notley didn’t stand up. When [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau cancelled Northern Gateway, she didn’t stand up. When Energy East pulled the plug, she didn’t stand up. When they brought in a tanker ban off the west coast for our product, and she didn’t stand up. When the ‘no more pipelines bill’ was passed—”

At that point, Notley interrupted Smith’s time and began talking over her, which set the tone for much of the debate.

CTV News’ Erin Isfeld, one of two media moderators for the event, had initially told both leaders “not to talk over one another.”

Each time Notley interrupted Smith, Smith stopped talking until Notley ceased or the moderators invited her to speak again.

Smith had many pages of notes and took some notes during the debate, but seemed to be speaking largely without notes.  Notley also relied on notes.

Both leaders were asked, “What can government do to bring down the actual cost of utilities going forward?”

“What we absolutely have to do is find a way to reduce those costs,” said Notley. “Going forward, we have to find a way to keep those costs lower.”

Smith responded to the same question. “The first thing is that we have to build a power grid based on it being reliable and affordable, as opposed to based on ideology. We have a federal government that is propped up by the NDP that has put a war on natural gas,” she said. “Our power grid here is almost 90 percent natural gas. And yet we have a federal government that wants us to be able to be completely abated on natural gas by 2035. That is the commitment that Ms. Notley has signed on to. She wants to achieve that. That’s going to cost $52 billion and increase our power bills 40 percent.”

The YouTube chat was open to the public during the debate, with supporters for both parties sparring back and forth with comments.

Opening Remarks

With less than 12 days until election day, the rules for the debate were simple. Each leader had one minute for opening remarks, and 10 questions were asked, with both Smith and Notley offered 45 seconds to respond. After each segment, there was a brief open debate.

Smith went first with opening remarks.

“This election, Albertans have a choice between a UCP government that has lowered taxes, balanced the budget, and returned Alberta to its place as the economic powerhouse of Canada,” said Smith.

She said the province cannot afford a return to an NDP government that hiked taxes, drove out jobs and investment, “and almost bankrupted our province.” She highlighted the UCP platform of cutting personal income taxes with a new 8 percent tax bracket, continuing a freeze on fuel taxes until the end of 2023, hiring more police officers, and monitoring violent offenders out on bail with ankle bracelets.

She repeated the UCP’s promise that there will be no out-of-pocket charges for a family doctor.

Notley began her introduction by thanking firefighters and mentioning Albertans displaced by wildfires. “This election is about trust, and it’s about leadership. You know you can’t trust Danielle Smith,” said Notley.

Notley promised to create jobs and “diversify for the future.”

“I won’t raise your taxes, I will cap your bills. I won’t fund a war room, I will fund an emergency room. And I won’t ever make you pay to see a doctor. I'll protect our health care, protect our mountains, and protect your pension,” said Notley.

Each leader was asked what steps they will take to deal with the affordability crisis and the rising cost of living affecting Albertans.

Smith said the UCP provided $600 affordability payments, and offered rebates on fuel taxes and electricity to offset the federal carbon tax. She promised more going forward.

Notley said the NDP would put a cap on car insurance “and help families reduce their utilities.”

Health Care

Both leaders were asked what their creative and transformative approaches to health care would be if elected.

Smith said a UCP government will “continue to invest in health care and mental health addiction” without out-of-pocket fees to see a doctor.

The UCP leader said that when she was elected, she talked to frontline doctors, nurses, and paramedics and has already begun implementing their ideas.

“It’s working. Hospital wait times are down. EMS response times are down. We have effectively ended red alerts for EMS in both of our major cities, ambulances in rural [communities] are staying in rural and we’re reducing surgical wait times.”

Notley responded to the same question. “We’ve put forward a reasonable, practical solution,” she said.

“The answer is to get more Albertans access to a family doctor. By doing that with our costed plan, we can take the pressure off of our emergency rooms, off of our surgical wait times, off of our ambulances.”

Economy

Both leaders were asked how they would fund new spending and stay on budget while the price of oil often sits below budget projections.

Smith replied first, stating a UCP government will not shift away from petroleum products.

“We believe that we are going to reduce emissions, not that we are going to reduce oil and natural gas,” said Smith.

“With all of the exciting things that are happening with carbon capture, utilization, and storage, and all the green technology, we can continue to have a robust, vibrant oil and natural gas sector for years to come,” said Smith.

She spoke of the need to find more opportunities: “having bitumen be used more for asphalt so it reduces the amount of emissions; having LNG export, which creates a brand new stream of income for us. We know that as long as we keep our energy industry strong, we’re going to keep Alberta’s economy strong.”

“There was actually some elements of what Ms. Smith said that I actually agree with. You know, I want to create jobs producing energy, I want to create jobs upgrading our energy, and I want to create jobs reducing emissions, and reducing emissions is absolutely the focus,” responded Notley on her turn.

Both Notley and Smith were asked what specific actions their party would take to move toward net zero emissions.

“We need to come up with a made-in-Alberta plan that includes practical, achievable emissions limits, and then we need to find and incent the investment. We have to compete with the U.S. and the Inflation Reduction Act to get that investment,” said Notley.

Smith said Notley wants an emissions cap. “That needs to be very close to what the federal government is proposing. The federal government is proposing a 42 percent emissions cap reduction by 2030, which we know is a de facto production cap. And if we have a production cap, that means that we’re going to reduce the overall amount of revenues,” said Smith.

“Where do you think Justin Trudeau got the idea for Just Transition and for an emissions cap and for a carbon tax?” said Smith.

“He got it from Ms. Notley when she was premier. And she’s going to continue to implement the same kind of policies, and she’s going to walk in lockstep with Justin Trudeau on making sure that they get implemented, and that’s only going to harm our economy,” stated the UCP leader.

Education

The leaders were asked how they would address higher enrollment in schools, teacher burnout, and bigger class sizes.

“We have had so much disruption in our education system in the last three years. One of the first things I wanted to do is restore stability to the learning environment for our kids,” said Smith.

“We know one of the most difficult things that our young people are facing is social anxiety and mental health,” said the UCP leader. She said her party is spending more money on education than in its history.

“We have invested in complexity, funding for classrooms, so that school boards can decide what the best use of that is, whether hiring more teachers or having education assistants or other psychologists, and we’re going to make sure that we continue to build more schools. We’ve built or modernized 106 new schools and we’re going to keep on doing that,” said Smith.

“I have watched for four years with great alarm what the UCP has been doing to our school system,” responded Notley.

“I imagine a 6-year-old child in grade one, in a class that unfortunately has 28, 29, 31, 32 children in it. And she puts her hand up to get help. And she waits for a minute, two minutes, three minutes, and nobody comes. So she puts it down, and it happens a few more times, and she stops trying.”

“We have a plan to fix this, and I look forward to talking more about it,” said Notley.

Later in the debate, Notley said her party has “a plan to hire 4,000 teachers to try and catch up over the next four years” as well as 3,000 more educational assistants.

Both women were asked what policy they agree with from their opponent’s platform.

Notley said she agreed with the UCP’s Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation and the UCP’s expanded funding of the film and TV tax credit.

Smith said she was very proud of both UCP initiatives that Notley listed and stated that both political parties agree with primary care team practices that would see family doctors work alongside nurse practitioners and nursing aids to improve health care.

Controversy

Notley brought up the March 18 ethics commissioner report, released the same day of the debate.

The ethics commissioner found on May 18 that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith contravened a section of the Conflicts of Interest Act in her conversation with Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro, in relation to criminal charges faced by Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski following a speech he gave at the Coutts border protest in 2022.

The report also concluded there was no evidence that Smith or any staff in the premier’s office contacted prosecutors, or tried to influence Coutts and COVID-related criminal prosecutions, as CBC News had alleged in a series of articles earlier this year.

“Ms. Notley, the NDP, and the CBC lied for months, saying that I was calling Crown prosecutors and my staff were calling Crown prosecutors, and it wasn’t true. And that is what the ethics commissioner found,” responded Smith.

“I need to be able to talk to my justice minister. I’m looking forward to advice on how to be able to do that more constructively in the future. And I think that’s important for us to be able to get those kinds of rules set out,” Smith said.

In a statement on May 18, Smith said she had “always stated I wanted to find a path of amnesty for those charged with non-violent COVID-related offences and violations during the pandemic.”

During the debate, Smith noted the NDP had an MLA who hacked the health care system and was never disavowed by Notley.

Final Remarks

The debate ended with each leader offered 90 seconds for closing remarks.

Smith went first.

“I first want to say how much of an honour it’s been to be your premier for these last seven months. I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of Albertans that I meet every single day. These last three years have been difficult for all of us. And now the wildfires are testing our resolve as a people once more.

“But I know that together we will overcome every challenge we face, whether there’s a pandemic, flood, fire, or economic headwinds, we will take care of one another, and we will move our province forward to a better future.

“My commitment to each of you if reelected, is to serve you with everything I have, and to the best of my ability, however imperfect that may be at times. I will continue to focus on growing and diversifying our amazing economy, making life more affordable and our communities safer, and improving health care for all Albertans.

“And I’m carefully listening to you and my UCP caucus because whatever I may have said or thought in the past while I was on talk radio, Albertans are my bosses now. And my oath is to serve you, and no one else.

“I love this province and everything it stands for. We are a land of entrepreneurs and innovators, of pioneers and farmers, of families and communities, a place where the best and brightest come from every corner of the world to join us in building one of the greatest places on earth to live, and work, and raise a family. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And good night.

Notley then gave her closing remarks.

“Tonight, ask yourself, ‘Who do you trust to build a better future? Who will focus on the things that actually matter to you?’

“Now, Ms. Smith has spent her entire career campaigning for Albertans to pay out of pocket for basic health care. She’s also campaigned to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan, something that would create huge instability in your retirement.

“Today, she was found to have broken the law by interfering with our justice system. This is just not how our province should be run. Every day is a new drama. You just don’t need to put up with this. Enough is enough.

“So my offer to you is stable, predictable, thoughtful leadership that you can count on. It’s time to get back to the things that matter to people.

“I will make life more affordable, capping car insurance and lowering your utilities. I will support our entrepreneurial spirit by cutting to zero small business taxes and creating more jobs.

“And because I’m passionate about making sure your family has health care that you always need without paying for it, I have a balanced costed plan to make sure you get a family doctor. So that is a better future for Alberta.

“Now, you may not always agree with me, and I may not have always gotten it right. But I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. If I am premier again, I will work daily to earn your trust and to focus on your priorities. Thank you.”