Blade: Smith’s choice looks moderate. But has she really changed?

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Dr. John Cowell, AHS’s new administrator, had an interesting response when asked about his views on vaccination and masking requirements.

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Cowell said it was a matter of either Health Minister Jason Copping or the new chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Joffe.

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“My focus is not public health. My focus is on the availability and robustness of the health system.”

If providing good health care seems to be about public health, don’t worry.

The point is that everyone in government is misled by Prime Minister Daniel Smith’s views on these issues.

AHS and Alberta Healthcare veterans Cowell and Joffe are almost certainly in line with conventional views on the benefits of mask use and widespread public vaccination.

Smith has nominated two, and they are good choices. Also, she looks milder than many expected.

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This is part of an effort to appease Albertans who are horrified by her record of challenging expert advice in many areas, especially health care.

But intellectual weirdness is part of Smith’s political DNA. Those who worked with her early in her elected career still describe how they spent hours trying to dissuade her from her latest bizarre theory.

Now she has the entire government stuck on the point of absurdity.

She does not recommend using masks. So no one else can.

Politicians have a collective spirit to words from above. They hear and obey as efficiently as a colony of ants.

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The Prime Minister says those who are concerned should wear masks. But every time she’s asked if she actually recommends masking, she doesn’t say the word.

She simply goes back to the same point – wear it however you like – as if she were advising you on your hat for the day.

But her refusal to force people to wear masks and her refusal to say they should, especially in the face of the multi-virus wave currently plaguing hospitals. Sometimes it’s a whole different thing.

Smith is only five weeks premiere. She may not yet fully understand how much power her own words hold. Many Albertans have actually listened to the Prime Minister’s message and taken it seriously.

Her refusal to recommend masks has led to a decline in mask use, and it is very likely that children in some schools will become ill. Masks can really help prevent the spread of disease. We certainly know people like Cowell and Joffe throughout their medical careers.

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But Smith’s UCP has a small but powerful central figure who thinks Musk is part of a communist conspiracy to bring us all into submission. For them, seeing a masked person is cowardly and stupid.

Smith shows them to be playful and at the same time moderate in health care.

On the financial side, her Friday speech sure to please the friendly audience at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

But her government still seems determined to introduce reforms that most Albertans don’t want.

Very few people want Alberta’s pension system. In fact, trying to actually create a system could cause people near retirement age to panic.

UCP also requires the Alberta Revenue Agency to collect provincial income tax on individuals. This means filling out two returns.

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Never mind again, did in Quebec many years ago.

Local authorities and politicians are also adamantly opposed to the Alberta Police Department’s move to replace the RCMP.

Big city dwellers still have local armies and may not care too much. But this is an expensive and complicated project. A fundamental reform of the RCMP is much more sensible.

Then the controversial Sovereignty Act will be enacted within two weeks.

At this early point, we have prime ministers who are very astute about managing the impact of their attitudes and ideas. She is very talkative and she is really friendly and likeable person.

But five weeks into her premiership, Albertans are fully entitled to ask questions. What if next spring she gets her fourth straight majority?

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

twitter: @Donblade