Premier Smith's provincial address blames shortfalls on Ottawa

Premier Danielle Smith didn’t hold back from placing blame on Ottawa during her provincial address to Edmonton’s Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

The premier addressed around 1,000 business and community leaders saying under her leadership, Alberta’s economy is thriving.

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With nearly 200,000 people moving to Alberta, Smith calls it a “nice problem to have,” but mentions some of the problems it has caused.

She says the province is facing major challenges in housing, public safety and affordability, blaming the shortfalls on the federal government.

“The carbon tax is one of the main drivers of rising costs across the country, hitting Canadians’ wallets on everything from food and fuel to home heating,” Smith said.

On Tuesday, Smith announced the province is taking Ottawa to court over the carbon tax, specifically over exempting home heating oil in eastern Canada.

The province has several programs to help build new homes amid an affordability crisis but claims Ottawa “hasn’t been fulfilling its obligations.”

“Ideally, they would partner with us to ensure housing solutions are responsive to local needs and provincial priorities,” Smith said.

“Instead, they’ve gotten into the habit of attaching ideologically motivated strings and conditions to their funding.”

Smith spoke highly about the province's capital, saying employment in Edmonton rose five per cent last year, contributing “almost half of the province’s overall gains.” She added the city had the second-highest business growth of any major Canadian city, just behind Calgary.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan says the province is home to the lowest rate of wage growth in the country, and the highest unemployment west of Newfoundland.

He doesn’t believe the premier is governing for workers or the business community.

“This is not a province that’s performing well, in fact, quite the opposite,” McGowan said.

“Everything that I can see and certainly what I'm hearing from the working people who I represent in this province, it's not a province that's succeeding.”

'Blaming Ottawa'

NDP leader Naheed Nenshi says the premier needs to “take accountability for her own actions.”

“Right now she blames Ottawa for everything,” Nensi said at the legislature on Tuesday in response to Smith’s address.

"(Smith is) like a kid who drops their ice cream cone on the corner, crying instead of figuring out how to get a new ice cream cone,” Nenshi said.

He says Edmontonians are facing real problems around crime and unemployment, issues he believes the premier should be solving.

“They need a government that understands Edmonton, that is willing to work to help Edmonton businesses thrive and to increase the quality of life here,” Nenshi said.

The premier will be facing a leadership vote this weekend and refused to say what percentage of support she’s hoping to secure.

“The number I am most excited about is to see if we break 6,000 people coming to what will be, I think, the highest attended political event not only in Alberta, but in the entire country,” Smith said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski