010: Danielle Smith Your Neck of the Woods

This week we had the absolute pleasure to have a conversation with someone who’s been part of the political, business, and media spheres in Alberta. This week on Your Neck of the Woods we chatted with the President of the Alberta Enterprise Group, former Calgary radio personality, and former leader of the official opposition as leader of the Wildrose Party Danielle Smith. With so much happening at all 3 levels of government and with the state of political discourse in Canada, there was so much to cover.
Now the host of two podcasts Danielle opens up with the state of spin in journalism where it’s more important to maintain a narrative than provide balanced reporting. This has of course made new and democratized media far more prominent and important (we here at YNOTW couldn’t be happier). This led to a discussion of the messaging surrounding the pandemic which could be called muddled and misinterpreted, where the vaccine was understood to minimize spread, as opposed to prevent severe outcomes. This combined with the wartime stance many governments have continued for 2 years has contributed to the strain we’re seeing.
Of course, at some point (hopefully soon) the pandemic will end and we’ll have to reckon with the bloodied, beaten, and broken state of our public health system. We chat about solutions to capacity issues that the “stress test” COVID offered. We can’t be in our homes and live with the month-long waitlists anymore. We all agree there needs to be a shift toward preventing illness and balancing universality and choice.
The economy and environment were also major topics. An oft-ignored part of this debate is net-zero vs. zero emissions. This is a space where there’s room (especially for conservatives) to offer unique, economically sound solutions. In her role with AEG among others Danielle (and myself) are boosters of nuclear energy as the future of a thriving Albertan and Canadian sustainable energy sector. With so much innovation there’s every reason for tomorrow’s leaders and opportunities to come from Your Neck of the Woods as long as we don’t get in our own way
Check out Danielle’s podcasts and newsletter at https://www.daniellesmith.ca 
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