Alberta Election 2023 live: Ethics probe finds Smith broke rules | Smith shuns candidate over LGBTQ+ comments | Leaders debate tonight

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What’s happening now

• Danielle Smith and Rachel Notley shared the stage with one another during Thursday night’s leader debate, where both party leaders traded barbs with one another.
• The United Conservative Party has released the costing of its platform, which touts no tax hikes and budget surpluses over the next four years.
• This comes as an Alberta business group expressed grave concerns over the NDP’s proposed increase to the general corporate tax rate. Using a corporate income tax hike to help balance Alberta’s books is arguably the NDP’s biggest gamble of the campaign, according to experts.
• Danielle Smith says a party candidate who compared transgender students in schools to feces in food wouldn’t sit in the UCP caucus if elected.
• Alberta’s ethic commissioner has found Premier Danielle Smith contravened conflict of interest laws by discussing the case of Coutts border protester Artur Pawlowski with Justice Minister Tyler Shandro.
• The party leaders’ debate is today. With the race continuing to be tight, “a small effect can be decisive. The stakes are high and it’s potentially important,” said one expert.
• During a debate in Medicine Hat on Wednesday night, Danielle Smith said it’s time to ‘depoliticize’ LGBTQ issues.
• The UCP has railed against the NDP’s economic record, charging that the party presided over the loss of 183,000 jobs. But are those claims true?

8:30 p.m.

Alberta election 2023: Smith focuses on public safety, Notley targets trust in leaders debate

United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith stuck to her party’s messaging on lower taxes and tough-on crime policy while attempting to fend off attacks on her record and judgment from New Democratic Party Leader Rachel Notely at Thursday night’s Alberta leaders debate.

The two leaders shared the stage in the televised event that came with less than two weeks until the May 29 election day and head of Tuesday’s opening of advanced voting.

Read more.

2:55 p.m.

UCP touts surpluses without tax hikes as cost of its campaign promises released

The United Conservative Party says its elections promises will lead to more than $3 billion in surpluses over the next four years, it said Thursday as it released the full costing of its pledges.

The UCP also said its program would balance the books without the need for increased taxes, taking aim at the Alberta NDP’s recent costing exercise, which proposed an increase to the corporate tax rate from eight to 11 per cent.

“Unlike the NDP, our fully costed platform won’t shut the door on job creators or investors,” said UCP Leader Danielle Smith in a written statement. “The UCP platform will continue to grow and diversify our economy while keeping taxes low for families and entrepreneurs.”

12:40 p.m.

Voters split between Danielle Smith and Rachel Notley: survey

With a little more than a week to go until election day and advance voting to begin Monday, there appears to be no obvious favourite when it comes to the leaders of the two major parties and their performance on big issues, a public opinion poll has found.

UCP Leader Danielle Smith is seen as a good manager of Alberta’s energy sector and the economy, while NDP Leader Rachel Notley is perceived as a champion for health care and for honest, ethical leadership, according to survey results released Thursday by the Angus Reid Institute.

Both leaders and parties are tied when it comes to respondents’ view of their vision overall.

11:50 a.m.

Chambers of commerce raise alarm over NDP’s proposed increase to corporate tax rate

The Alberta Chambers of Commerce are expressing concern over the Alberta NDP’s plans to raise the general corporate tax rate.

The increase, listed in the party’s cost breakdowns for their election platform, would not benefit any Albertan, the business group warned Thursday.

“In 2015, the corporate tax rate was raised from 10 to 12 per cent on the presumption it would result in increased tax revenues for the province — it did not,” said the Chambers in a release.

“Corporate tax revenues shrunk under the higher rate. Business investment and average weekly earnings also declined.

“Starting in 2019, the corporate tax rate was reduced incrementally to the current eight per cent in 2020. It’s made a difference. Corporate tax revenues have been growing since 2019, as have business investment and average weekly earnings.”

A competitive corporate tax rate attracts business investment, leading to more business activity and more jobs, the business group argued.

The NDP’s planned elimination of the small business tax would not offset the consequences of increase the general corporate taxes, it added.

11:35 a.m.

‘Vile analogy’: Smith says Jennifer Johnson won’t sit in UCP caucus if she wins

United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith says a party candidate who compared transgender students in schools to feces in food wouldn’t sit in her caucus if elected on May 29.

“The UCP candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka, Jennifer Johnson, used offensive language and a vile analogy when speaking about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for which she has apologized,” Smith said in a statement Thursday.

“I have informed Ms. Johnson that should she win a seat as the UCP candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka, she will not sit as a member of the United Conservative caucus in the legislature.”

Read more.

Also see: Braid: Danielle Smith tells the poop-cookie candidate she won’t be in UCP caucus

10:15 a.m.

Ethics probe finds Smith’s conversations with justice minister over Artur Pawlowski case were ‘unacceptable’

Premier Danielle Smith’s conversations with Justice Minister Tyler Shandro concerning the court case of Coutts border blockader Artur Pawlowski were inappropriate, says the province’s ethics czar.

Although there was no evidence of anyone in Smith’s office communicating with Crown prosecutors about the case, Smith’s interactions with Shandro constituted “an improper attempt to influence the independence of the legal system,” wrote Alberta Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler in a report released Thursday.

“Minister Shandro must have felt considerable pressure and concern for his tenure as Minister as a result of the call,” Trussler wrote, but added Shandro “stood his ground in defending the independence of the Crown Prosecution Service and its right to be free from political interference.”

The ethics commissioner also rebuked Smith for speaking with Pawlowski about his ongoing court case during a phone call with him.

See our news story and read the full report below.

7:10 a.m.

Smith says time to ‘depoliticize’ LGBTQ issues during Medicine Hat debate

MEDICINE HAT — UCP Leader Danielle Smith said it’s time to depoliticize LGBTQ rights on the same day her party came under fire for a candidate’s comments on transgender children.

She faced off Wednesday night in a candidates debate against the NDP’s Gwendoline Dirk and Alberta Party Leader Barry Morishita, both of whom are running against her in the southeastern constituency of Brooks-Medicine Hat.

“There’s a lot of young kids who are struggling with their identity and their sexuality who need the adults to be supportive of them as they work their way through that journey,” she told the crowd of about 250 people, a few of whom groaned when the question was asked.

“We have to depoliticize these issues. These issues are very personal family issues and every family has a loved one that they support, every single one of us have family members who are struggling with gender identity or coming to terms with their sexuality and we need to give 100 per cent support to them and we need to depoliticize this.”

Read more.

May 17

Alberta UCP candidate apologizes for comparing transgender students to feces in food

A United Conservative Party candidate who compared transgender children in schools to having feces in food says she is sorry, plans to learn from it and is staying on to run in the May 29 Alberta election.

“I apologize for the way I discussed these issues in September of 2022,” Jennifer Johnson said in a statement Wednesday.

Johnson is running to enter the legislature for the first time as a candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka.

Read more.

May 17

Impacts of NDP corporate tax debatable, still may be political hit in Calgary: experts

A promise to balance the books on the back of a corporate income tax hike with the election’s big battleground being corporate Calgary is arguably the NDP’s biggest gamble of their campaign.

On Tuesday, NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the party, if elected, would increase the corporate income tax rate from eight per cent to 11 per cent, one day after announcing a planned elimination of the provincial small business tax.

The UCP has called it a “job-killing strategy.”

Duane Bratt, a political science professor from Mount Royal University, said perception of the proposed increase depends on whether the observer is someone in a corner office or the mailroom. However, the memory of the previous Notley government increasing the corporate rate to 12 per cent as Calgary’s downtown core was emptying out persists.

Read more.

May 17

Cardston residents to consider allowing ‘limited alcohol sales’ in plebiscite

Prohibition ended in Alberta in 1923, but some small communities across the province chose to stay dry even after alcohol sales became legal.

A century later, Cardston will re-evaluate that decision, with its residents heading to the polls on May 29 for a non-binding plebiscite on bringing liquor into the primarily Mormon town of 3,454 people about 25 kilometres north of the Montana border.

Read more.

May 17

Fact check: Are UCP claims on NDP government’s economic record accurate?

The UCP has dedicated multiple news conferences this week to railing against the NDP’s economic record, and has charged throughout the campaign that the party presided over the loss of 183,000 jobs and the migration of tens of thousands of Albertans to other provinces. But are those claims true?

Reporter Jason Herring asked University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe for his take.

Read more.

May 17

Danielle Smith, Rachel Notley set to square off in leaders debate Thursday evening

The leaders of Alberta’s contending political parties are set to square off for a debate Thursday night, in a televised showdown that comes amid tightening polls, and with less than two weeks remaining in the 28-day campaign.

UCP Leader Danielle Smith and NDP Leader Rachel Notley will be the sole participants in the 2023 Alberta Provincial Leaders Debate. Both candidates have taken part in a leaders debate before, Smith with the Wildrose Party in 2012 and Notley in 2015 and 2019 for the NDP.

The hour-long debate will be broadcast on TV and radio as well as on Postmedia platforms via a live stream.

Read more.

May 17

NDP vows to review private health-care contracts and promises to further improve EMS response

In the wake of a Parkland Institute report suggesting the UCP’s outsourcing of surgeries to more private surgical facilities diverted resources away from public hospitals and reduced provincial surgical volumes, NDP candidate for Edmonton Centre David Shepherd said Wednesday his party would review private health-care contracts inked under the UCP, but stopped short of promising to reverse them.

“We will take a look at what we have available. During our time in government, we did not close a single privately owned or operated facility. We did not cancel any contracts. We worked with the system that was in place, and made further investments to increase access to care. That is the intention of an Alberta NDP government,” he said, adding the NDP would also review the province’s contract with Dynalife to ensure the lab testing services company is living up to its terms.

Shepherd was speaking in Edmonton about the NDP’s health plan and announced the party would add 16 community paramedic units, including eight in Calgary and Edmonton, and eight units in rural communities. Shepherd said the party’s plan to offer $10,000 in signing bonuses and incentives for health-care workers would result in more paramedic hires.

“The UCP have created Band-Aid solutions, but what we need is a comprehensive long-term sustainable plan, and that’s what we will deliver,” said Shepherd. He promised the NDP would keep the provincial EMS advisory committee, created under the UCP, and task it with finding ways to keep paramedics close to home and responding to local calls.

Over four years, the NDP estimated new community paramedic units will support an estimated 18,000 visits for Albertans and result in $20 million of avoided costs in reduced ER visits, EMS transport, and acute care stays.

UCP Leader Danielle Smith has tasked Alberta Health Services administrator Dr. John Cowell with improving paramedic wait times.

Under the UCP, the provincial health authority rolled out a 10-point plan to address pressure on EMS, including ramping up hiring and freeing up ambulance resources by diverting non-emergency calls.

Alberta’s EMS response times and capacity have improved through the start of 2023, according to AHS data.

— Lisa Johnson

May 17

Younger Alberta voters key to determining outcome of provincial election: Angus Reid public opinion poll

Voter turnout, particularly among younger electors in Calgary, could be the key to determining the outcome of Alberta’s general election on May 29.

That’s the main takeaway from the results of a survey by the Angus Reid Institute, which also found the UCP had an eight-point lead over the NDP overall but a statistical tie between the UCP and NDP for voter intentions in Calgary.

“The NDP risks being all hat no cattle should its supporters — concentrated among those under the age of 35 — fail to turn out to vote,” said a summary of the survey’s findings.

“The UCP holds a distinct demographic advantage. Its support is concentrated among those over the age of 54, a group historically more likely to vote than younger Albertans.”

The survey also found public opinion of UCP Leader Danielle Smith has worsened since the start of the campaign, while the image of NDP Leader Rachel Notley has held steady.

The poll was conducted after it was revealed Smith had previously compared Albertans who received COVID-19 vaccinations to followers of Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Here are some of the survey’s other findings:

• Respondents generally had a more favourable view of Notley as compared to Smith.
• Two-thirds of men and half of women, age 55 or older, have an unfavourable view of Notley.
• Those under age 35 are most likely to be critical of Smith.
• Overall, survey responses indicate voten intentions have not changed considerably over the course of the election campaign.

The Angus Reid survey was conducted online from May 12 to 16 among a representative randomized sample of 1,374 adult Albertans who are members of Angus Reid Forum. There are no margins of error for such surveys but as a reference, a probability sample survey would carry a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

May 17

United Conservative Party, Alberta NDP trade barbs on taxes and the cost of election promises

The United Conservative Party has seized on the Alberta NDP’s plan to raise the general corporate tax to 11 per cent, a detail contained in the NDP’s fully costed election platform.

The NDP, for its part, argues Alberta would still have the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada under its platform, which also includes provisions to eliminate tax on small businesses and forecast health budget surpluses over the next three fiscal years.

“NDP Leader Rachel Notley and her candidates show the NDP didn’t get the message Albertans gave them in 2019, and they will continue to heavily tax Albertans if elected,” the party said in a campaign message issued Wednesday.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Albertans. She’s done it before, and she will do it again,” the statement added, referencing a corporate tax hike and the introduction of a carbon tax under the previous NDP government.

The UCP went on to tout its own affordability measures, including a temporary rebate on the provincial fuel tax, changes to personal income taxes and a promise to not raise taxes should the party be re-elected and form government.

Meanwhile, the NDP attacked the UCP for not revealing the cost of their election promises.

“We have been fully transparent with Albertans about our plan to build a better future for our province. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the UCP,” said Shannon Phillips, Alberta NDP Finance critic and candidate for Lethbridge-West, in a written statement issued Wednesday.

The New Democrats argued many UCP promises made so far in the campaign have been repeats of announcements initially made during the UCP’s term, or vows lifted directly from the Alberta NDP.

“It’s flattering that the UCP took many of our ideas to attract investment and create good jobs for Albertans. The difference is that we have costed our plan, they have not,” Phillips said.

On Tuesday, the NDP’s fully costed election platform received the endorsement of former ATB chief economist Todd Hirsch.