Danielle Smith, who started with a handful of supporters in the United Conservative caucus and cabinet, has seen more internal support in recent days, including some who initially pledged to support challenger Travis Toews. “Sometimes when you see people start switching allegiances, it gives you a sense of where the momentum is going,” Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams said in an interview Friday. “These are the people who want to be in the cabinet or in a position where they can work with whoever the new prime minister is. They think things are moving in that direction and they’re moving with them.” Labor Minister Kaycee Madu was the latest convert, announcing his support for Smith at a rally in Edmonton on Thursday. Earlier Thursday, former cabinet minister Devin Dreeshen said he would support Smith. Earlier in the week, Alberta Services Minister Nate Glubish switched his endorsement from Toews to Smith. Prior to that, Toews promoter Pat Rehn switched his support to Smith, joining his compatriots Devinder Toor, Peter Guthrie and Nathan Neudorf. Toews, who resigned as Treasury secretary to run in the contest, still has the lion’s share of support, with about two dozen cabinet and caucus members openly in his camp. Political scientist Duane Bratt said even so, by any measure from crowd size to polls and the fact that Smith is the focus of attacks from her opponents, she is clearly the one to beat as party members vote for next month, with results to be announced in October. 6. “It gathers the biggest crowds, we have [MLA] endorsements that are now coming her way because they see her as the number one spot,” said Bratt, also with Mount Royal University. “All the other candidates are responding to her in some way [and] some adopt the same policies. “I wonder after midnight, [when membership sales end] whether there is any soul-searching among the other candidates and whether they will quit or not.” The party says private registrations had to be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, with online subscriptions ending at midnight. These will be the only members allowed to vote in the match. Final count totals are not expected from the party for about two weeks. Smith, a former leader of the Wildrose party, grabbed headlines out of the starting gate in the contest with her proposed Alberta sovereignty act. The act, as proposed by Smith, would seek to give Alberta the right to ignore federal laws and court decisions deemed not in its best interests. Legal scholars and most of the other candidates in the race have characterized it as an outrageously inflammatory, outlandish and illegal plan that would set off a domino of economic and investment uncertainty bordering on chaos. But Bratt noted that the other two main contenders have rejected Smith’s plan while adopting versions of it. Toews has promised his government will seek to impose tariffs on goods and services or imports from certain regions to address rules and policies deemed unfair to Alberta. Brian Jean pledged to confirm that the Alberta Bill of Rights takes precedence over Section 1 of the Constitution. “It’s an attempt at the act of sovereignty by a different name,” Bratt said. Candidates Rajan Sawhney and Rebecca Schulz have been equally critical of Smith’s act of sovereignty, but in recent days have adopted more militant policies on federal relations. Schultz has promised a summit to protect provincial rights within two months of winning, while Sawhney is pledging to pursue initiatives such as a provincial pension plan and police on his own. Both Bratt and Williams said Smith did a better job of capturing and tapping into latent anger within the party’s base when it comes to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government. And they note that Alberta’s 4.5 million people could, on Oct. 6, be steered in a new direction dictated by about 40,000 UCP voters. “To me, it seems like it’s just the really driven, tough, committed and largely angry people who are driving the narrative right now,” Williams said. “They’re angry and they want to see change not just provincially but federally and they want someone who’s going to fight.”
