Alberta Premier Danielle Smith adds new restrictions on questions from journalists

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith broadened her new media-question restriction policy Saturday to limit not only questions from reporters but also from media outlets.

Smith told her Corus call-in radio show that not only are individual reporters now limited to one question at news conferences — as announced Friday — she will also accept no more than one question in total from any single news outlet at an event.

Smith reiterated she needs to put limits on questions in order to provide more answers.

"Each media outlet will get one question instead of getting two while we're in this period of the campaign because I just need to make sure that we're getting to as many people as possible," Smith said on Your Province Your Premier in response to one main question and two follow-up questions from the show's host.

"[This way] we can get to more media outlets because as we get into the election campaign, there's going to be far more interest."

Smith's chief adviser Rob Anderson confirmed the change in a statement on Twitter, saying the change would give more news outlets the chance to ask questions during the upcoming election period. 

The writ is scheduled to be dropped on May 1 for a May 29 polling day, but politicians from both sides are already effectively on the hustings, knocking on doors, making promises and criticizing one other.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley's NDP has promised to take as many questions as possible, including follow-ups. Notley says if Smith doesn't want to answer questions, she shouldn't be premier.

Reporters from larger news outlets often have more than one reporter call in or attend Smith's news conferences to ask questions on diverse topics unique to their beats or unique to stories they are working on.

They have traditionally been given a main question and a follow-up.

Follow-up questions are considered crucial to allow reporters to clarify the first answer if necessary and to hold politicians and public officials to account if they don't answer the first question but instead deliver tangentially related talking points.

Smith employed the one-question no-follow technique with reporters Friday and again with listeners on her radio show Saturday.

On Friday, Smith was asked to reconcile conflicting comments in which she speaks favourably of Calgary street pastor Art Pawlowski but also renounces his "extremist views." Pawlowski has made headlines for protest against COVID restrictions and comments related to the LGBTQ community. 

Smith said she denounces all forms of intolerance. There was no follow up.