A matter of time: Danielle Smith is putting in the hours to prevent UCP unrest

A decade ago this coming spring, Alison Redford resigned as Alberta premier, largely under the crushing weight of revelations of her profligate flight habits.

At the time, some commentary wondered why government-funded flying proved fatal to Redford but never seemed to dent former premier Ralph Klein, whose use of provincial aircraft prompted critics to dub the fleet Air Ralph. Was there some sort of gender double standard?

Sexism might always lurk in some form or another around our politics. But let's propose another factor into why high-flying felled one Tory premier and not another:

When the chips were down, Klein had a broad range of friends and allies in his caucus and party — while Redford had alienated her base and her MLA benches, and both had begun turning on her.

In fact, one of the Redford controversies centred on her tendency to take separate flights rather than travel with colleagues.

Why mention this drama in 2023? Because the opposition leader who watched that rapid collapse across the legislature aisle in 2014 is now Alberta's premier.

Years later, Danielle Smith was a radio host and pundit who watched Jason Kenney's rise and then his fall at the hands of hostile United Conservative Party members.

And by many indications, Smith has learned lessons from those predecessors' failures. She's investing serious time and energy to remain engaged with her caucus and party.

It could be a vital approach to help her keep one of Alberta's most precarious jobs — that of a conservative premier. Nobody's survived to fight a second election since Klein in 2004, so Smith's ability to keep her base content will be key to her bucking that trend.

Some of that could be simply showing up.

When the legislature sits, Smith routinely sits through the full hour of question period. Premiers in Alberta and elsewhere typically stay for the first few headliner questions and then retreat down the hall to their office for meetings — as do opposition leaders.

Smith, however, hangs in to watch her ministers parry and backbenchers join the NDP in the daily heckle-a-thon. Her MLAs have noticed, and quietly appreciate her solidarity, even if there may be a zillion other demands on the premier's time.

She'll regularly get to caucus meetings early and/or stay after they end, to hear out UCP members' ideas or local concerns.

Smith also kept her inner circle expansive, putting more than half her caucus in cabinet — including past leadership rivals Brian Jean and Rajan Sawhney, who warned gravely about her Sovereignty Act. It's tempting for leaders to hold grudges or freeze out critics, but those frozen will hold feelings too, and perhaps let them surface at inopportune times in the future.