Alberta has a new premier

By Dave Cournoyer - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38243962

Danielle Smith is the new leader of the United Conservative Party and as a result the new premier of Alberta.

It was a close race with Smith getting 53.8 percent of the vote and Travis Toews coming in second place with 46.2 percent support from voting members.

Smith will now take over from Jason Kenney who was premier since 2019.

Kenney was criticized for the way he handled the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering a leadership review back in May. While Kenney won with 51.4 percent, he stated that he had insufficient support and that he would step down as leader.

Smith entered politics in 2009.

Born in 1971 Smith attended the University of Calgary and acquired a Bachelor of Arts in English and in economics. Smith married her husband David Moretta in 2006.

Smith's central policy has been to enact what she calls the Alberta Sovereignty Act. The proposal argues for more autonomy for Alberta in Confederation and calls on the provincial legislature to make determinations on when to ignore federal legislation which infringes upon Alberta's jurisdiction.