Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley says she’s seeking to attract “conservative” voters who aren’t sold on Danielle Smith.
At a press conference in Calgary on Thursday, Notley claimed to have heard from scores of Albertans who voted Conservative all their life but can’t bring themselves to vote for the United Conservative Party’s new leader.
She said she’s seeking to attract voters who feel like the UCP has abandoned the values of conservatives and “who are looking at Danielle Smith and thinking that she doesn’t represent you or your priorities.”
“You have every right to be concerned about the positions that my opponent has taken on a number of fronts,” she said.
According to the Alberta NDP leader, conservatives have said Smith is a “risky” choice who’s spent too much time in her career “ tearing down healthcare, tearing down science but also tearing down public healthcare.”
“All those things make people very worried about whether they can really count on her leadership,” she said. And again, those are from long standing conservatives.”
Notley made the comments after weeks of banning conservative media outlets from NDP media availabilities. She had private security remove The Counter Signal editor-in-chief Keean Bexte and Rebel News reporter Alex Dhaliwal from an April 17 press conference.
True North reporter Andrew Lawton waited on Notley’s call to ask a question on Thursday, but was not granted one, even while some reporters were given two questions.
The Alberta NDP refused to respond to media inquiries from True North, and have barred both True North and the Western Standard from receiving their media releases.
Meanwhile, Notley has been attacking Smith for her lack of media appearances because the premier has a policy of one question per reporter and no follow ups.
“If Danielle Smith can’t handle questions, she can’t handle the job,” Notley wrote on Twitter. “It’s that simple.”
