Alberta Premier Danielle Smith garnering international attention

Less than three weeks after being sworn in as premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith is already making headlines internationally for comments she has made.

She’s been on the job for less than three weeks, but Premier Danielle Smith has already brought an international spotlight on Alberta.

Over the weekend, conservative media organization Fox News wrote an article about Smith’s support of those who broke laws during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m deeply sorry for anyone who was inappropriately subjected to discrimination as a result of their vaccine status,” Smith said Saturday, when asked when she would apologize to rule breakers.

During her campaign for leadership of the United Conservative Party, she vowed to absolve those people of fines and criminal records but there has been criticism that pardons are not within her purview.

“It was a political decision to throw out the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to put those fines in place in the first place and I think it can be a political decision to make amends and apologize for it and eliminate them,” she said in response, adding she was seeking legal advice on the matter.

Also this week, American comedian Rob Schneider tweeted that Smith is a “real leader” for her opposition to Ottawa.

Dalhousie University political scientist Lori Turnbull told Global News it has traditionally been unusual for Canadian politics to get international attention.

She believes it has become more common since January when the world watched as anti-COVID mandate protestors shut down Ottawa.