Premier, agriculture minister host town hall in Okotoks

Alberta’s premier and agriculture minister hosted a town hall in Okotoks, drawing a mix of UCP supporters and protesters of the party’s policies.

More than 100 people attended the provincial town hall in Okotoks, Alta., on Wednesday evening.

Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson spoke for about 10 minutes before opening the floor to questions.

About 30 people immediately lined up at the microphone to ask questions, which ranged from wild horse population management and Alberta sovereignty to policing and health care.

“I just want to let the premier know that I’m just about done with the divisive politics and to get back to basics for running this province,” said attendee Rick Kruse.

Many who attended were also focused on coal mining policies and environmental impacts.

“The UCP is not listening to us. We’ve been campaigning against the Grassy Mountain coal mine,” said Mary Oxendale-Spensley.

“I want to hear from the agriculture minister about his concerns around water quality in Alberta,” said Calgarian Jenny Yeremiy.

The town hall ran from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Afterward, the premier spoke to CTV, defending her government’s decisions around coal policy.

“I think people need to understand that with the new coal policy, these were committee recommendations that came to us to make sure that we didn’t have any mountaintop removal. We don’t want to have open-pit mines, and we want to make sure we’re using the best technology to manage water,” Smith said.

Smith added that diverse energy projects will help Canada’s goal of becoming more energy-independent from the United States.

“We have to figure out how to develop resources in an environmentally sustainable way. If we want to get ourselves weaned off the Americans as our sole customer, we have to become a lot more independent. We’ve got to have a lot more opportunities to develop new markets. That’s what some of these products are going to allow us to do,” the premier said.

The event was separate from the recently announced Alberta Next Panel town halls.