UCP leadership opinion: Danielle Smith should focus on Calgary support [Video]

At the start of November, United Conservative Party members will gather in Red Deer for their annual general meeting, which will include a vote on Danielle Smith’s leadership.

The summer “BBQ circuit” scuttlebutt among the chattering class in Alberta has raised questions about how the premier will fare in November’s vote, speculating she is “moving right” on some issues to avoid a putsch by the more radical elements of her party.

And over the past few months, there has been an effort by some conservative activists to press Smith to embrace less-than-mainstream positions on issues like vaccines, gun ownership, provincial pensions and police forces and alike.

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Here is some free advice for the premier: don’t bite.

You have little to fear from November’s vote, and efforts to appease more radical (and mainly rural) segments of …