Premier Danielle Smith says there are exciting things coming for the riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat in 2026, including the Redcliff school project, emissions reductions initiatives at Big Marble Go and the expansion of export markets for JBS Foods.--CP FILE PHOTO
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
As a landmark year for Alberta politics comes to a close, MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat and Premier Danielle Smith spoke with the News to reflect on the year in policy for Medicine Hat.
Major shakeups to health care, a chaotic municipal election and changes to the energy market consisting of regulatory restructuring and a new deal with the federal government have been highlights of the year’s bold policy agenda for Smith’s riding.
Local physicians have spoken out about the province’s initiatives to expand surgical capacity through chartered facilities and allow physicians to practice concurrently in both the public and private systems. But Smith says the changes will be implemented in ways that safeguard the public system.
“We want to say, if you want to do private care, you have to guarantee that you’re going to give us the same amount of care that you are right now, so that nobody ends up getting less in the public system, but then they may be able to augment for those elective surgeries and get greater capacity and do more.”
Smith says she wants surgeons to use after hours, evenings and non-public hours to add private procedures to their workloads in the public system.
Her UCP government is committed to releasing performance data for the health system in the new year. Smith says that data will include a detailed breakdown of the type of surgeries currently performed at every AHS facility.
“We want to make sure that we maintain those levels and that they don’t drop, and then if they do, that’s a way for us to hold the physicians accountable.”
Smith says Alberta’s dual practice model, notable for allowing physicians to practice concurrently in both systems, is designed to avoid the pitfalls of the system implemented in Quebec.
Quebec’s introduction of dual practice led to more than 800 surgeons and physicians opting out of the public system. The migration of personnel to the private system created pressures that led policymakers to introduce a law requiring new doctors to spend their first five years in the public system.
The premier says these additions to the private system are only one aspect of a multi-pronged approach.
She also outlined new expansions in the public system in Medicine Hat, including an investment to add eight new ICU beds.
Recent investments announced in continuing care aim to functionally improve capacity at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, where Smith says 30 to 40 beds are currently occupied by alternate level of care patients.
Smith hopes for resurgence in natural gas despite years of decline
Last month, Smith signed a memorandum-of-understanding with Prime Minister Mark Carney laying the groundwork for an expansion of Alberta oil exports to Asian markets. Smith says she hopes the policy outlined in the MOU will enable communities in her riding to restore sufficiency in the oil and gas sector, which has been declining in profitability and output for years.
“I hope that changes,” said Smith.
Smith says past projects to connect Alberta oil and gas to Asian markets had a positive impact on Alberta oil prices. After the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion came online last year, she says the price differential separating Western Canada Select from West Texas Intermediate dropped from $30 to $8 or $9.
Data from the Canada Energy Regulator shows the impact as more tempered, but still significant. The most recent data from the provincial and national energy regulators showed the differential shrinking from an average of $18.70 USD to around $12 USD in 2025.
Smith says she hopes to see a similar narrowing for gas following the completion of the Ksi Lisims LNG export facility project, currently under review for fast-tracking under the Major Projects Office.
“I think there’s still a huge amount of opportunity in our region for the development of gas,” she said.
The City of Medicine Hat has been divesting from natural gas for years as local resources have been depleted, leaving remaining natural gas more expensive to produce.
City officials estimated a $6-million loss on gas in 2024, which they projected would increase by 2026 to $17.8 million once net income is adjusted for well-liabilities.
In recent years, the city has turned to renewables to diversify its energy portfolio.
The city is exploring the purchase of the Saamis Solar Park, which would be the largest solar power field proposed for an urban municipality in Canada.
“I don’t love solar or wind installations interfering with prime agricultural land, but there are a lot of marginal lands where you can have solar functioning,” said Smith, who has been criticized in the past for her government’s approach to renewables. “I also don’t like building expensive transmission lines for hundreds of kilometres for very small installations.”
The energy market restructuring unveiled in 2025 includes policies experts say disincentivize renewable energy, and transmission policies that discourage investment in new power projects for congested areas like Medicine Hat.
Provincial policy on municipal matters
This year, the municipal election in Medicine Hat struggled to cope with the demands of new provincial policy that banned electronic tabulators.
The city did not increase its election budget as much as other mid-sized municipalities – many comparable cities spent twice as much as their 2021 budgets on this year’s trip to the polls.
But Medicine Hat also had fewer polling stations, longer lines and a nearly 48-hour delay before mayoral results were released.
Smith says the law was passed to increase confidence in the outcome of elections.
“I guess you can argue that tabulators are very efficient, as long as there’s a clear outcome and a person wins by a large margin,” she said. “I think they can be useful. Where they’re problematic is when you end up having to do a recount because you’ve got votes of less than 50 separating the candidates.”
Despite the roadblocks in this year’s election, Smith isn’t wavering on the policy.
“I think that all levels of government will figure it out. We’re going to be doing our next provincial election the same way.”
It was a request from Smith’s government to expand service at the Mustard Seed that led to the closure of the shelter in February. Since then, the city has struggled to reach an agreement about a new permanent location for an overnight shelter facility.
“I think it’s frustrating for everyone that we don’t have a permanent home,” said Smith.
Smith says the long-term goal is to co-locate beds with other services that would enable vulnerable populations to access food and shelter in addition to identification, basic health care and substance dependency support programs. Similar facilities, called navigation centres, are operating in Calgary and Edmonton.
Smith says the province is working closely with the new council to identify a location that works for stakeholders, and she hopes to have something to announce soon.
You be her judge, Smith says
Smith is one of 23 MLAs facing a recall petition across the province. In a statement to Elections Alberta applying for the recall, the proponent of the petition claims the premier does not spend enough time in the riding and is not readily accessible to constituents.
Smith contests the characterization.
“When you elect a federal politician, the bulk of their job is in Ottawa. When you elect a provincial politician, the bulk of their job is in Edmonton. Part of the job is to balance those two things,” said Smith. “I’ll let Brooks-Medicine Hat constituents make the judgement on that.”
