
Alberta premier suggests Mark Carney has issues with ‘strong conservative women’
Global News
"The attitude is, 'sit down and shut up.' Well, I don't shut up, I make sure that Albertans know exactly how I feel about issues," Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded Monday to Liberal Leader Mark Carney using her as a stump speech punchline, saying Carney has issues with assertive women of opposing ideologies.
“I’ve noticed this with progressive men and how much they talk about how much they support women until they meet a strong conservative woman,” Smith said in Edmonton, responding to questions at an unrelated news conference.
“This is a pretty consistent type of approach that I’ve seen, not only from the current prime minister, but the former one as well.”
The spat is the latest chapter of acrimony between Smith and Carney, whose relationship soured almost immediately after he was sworn in last month as prime minister.
On the stump in Victoria on the weekend, Carney joked about Canadian premiers appearing on Fox News, the conservative U.S media outlet, saying it would be a “bad idea” to put Smith on the network to advocate for cross-border diplomacy.
“We’re sending (Ontario Premier) Doug Ford on to Fox News to show them that we’re not messing around up here,” Carney said.
“And we’re going to send Danielle next, we’re … well, no, maybe we won’t send Danielle,” the Liberal leader said. “No, maybe we won’t. We won’t send Danielle. We’re going to keep her. No, it was a bad idea.”
Smith’s comments hearken back to a recent speech in the legislature in which she suggested criticism of her efforts to curtail U.S. tariffs is rooted in sexism.