MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith won a seat to the legislature more than seven years after she left.
Smith defeated four opponents Tuesday to win the byelection in the constituency of Brooks-Medicine Hat, in the southeastern corner of the province.
“I just want to thank all the voters in Medicine Hat-Brooks for putting faith in me. This is more than a victory party. This is the start of something much bigger,” Smith told her cheering supporters.
“This is our declaration that Alberta is worth fighting for. And make no mistake: from what you saw from the results today, we certainly have a fight ahead of us.
“You can choose Rachel Notley and the NDP that increasingly takes their orders from Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau at the federal level, or you can choose a united, confident and energized UCP.”
Smith won by taking 54.5 per cent the votes cast. NDP candidate Gwendoline Dirk was second while Barry Morishita of the Alberta Party was third.
Bob Blayone with the Independence Party and Jeevan Mangat with the Wildrose Independence Party were a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.
Smith called the byelection shortly after she won the leadership race to replace Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader and premier on Oct. 6.
With the victory, the focus shifts back to Edmonton and the upcoming legislature sitting.
Early polls have suggested Smith has work to do to defeat the NDP and that Smith needs to focus less on grievances over COVID-19 and more on rising food and fuel costs, ambulance bottlenecks and overcrowded emergency wards.
Smith, in her speech, promised action on all those fronts.
