Danielle Smith, big government’s unlikely fan – Atin Ito News

May 7 2024

Alberta’s premier sure has proposed a lot of Crown corporations and new spending initiatives for someone known as an advocate for a limited conservative government.

Alberta’s premier: a conservative with a vision for more Crown agencies, spending and provincial control.

Her answer wasn’t typical fare from a conservative politician, let alone one with a libertarian symbol tattooed on her arm. Smith replied with a strong defence of government intervention.

“This is why people elect governments: To do the things that they can’t do in the private sector, and that includes building massive new infrastructure that connects cities and requires this kind of major investment,” Smith told reporters.

Never mind that Canada’s founding passenger rail service was privately run, or that the construction consortium that pitched an Edmonton-Calgary high-speed line said they’d do it as a private-sector investment.