Danielle Smith's lobbying record holds clues to her governing agenda, observers say

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised to focus on the concerns of everyday people after winning a seat in the legislature Tuesday, but observers say other clues to her agenda can be found in her record as a lobbyist for one of the province's most powerful business groups.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised to focus on the concerns of everyday people after winning a seat in the legislature Tuesday, but observers say other clues to her agenda can be found in her record as a lobbyist for one of the province's most powerful business groups. 

"I find this extremely useful as an indicator of what she's going to do," said Laurie Adkin, a political scientist at the University of Alberta. 

"These are her people. These are the people she worked for."

Smith first registered as a lobbyist in June 2019 for the Alberta Enterprise Group, a Calgary-based association of 100 companies of which she was also president. It represents a broad swath of the provincial economy with members ranging from oilsands giant Syncrude to the Oilers Entertainment Group, the company behind the Edmonton Oilers NHL team. It also includes firms from health care, transportation, construction, energy, law and finance. 

It refers to itself as "Alberta's most influential business organization."

Smith last renewed her lobbying status for the group in January. Ten months later, she was premier. 

"They now have their president as premier," said Adkin. "Whose premier is she?"