Lethbridge-East MLA Neudorf endorses Danielle Smith in UCP leadership race

Neudorf said, “In the outcome and the aftermath of that mistake, they have three choices typically, in my opinion. They can either quit and give up and go find something else to do, which is fine, maybe they’re called to something else.”

He continued, “They can turn bitter and angry and attack the person that won or whatever and in doing so, mistakenly become the villain, or three, they can count the cost of what that failure meant, they can weigh the consequences, they can gain humility and what often happens is they develop a very deep drive and focus on what they want to accomplish.”

“That is the reason that I’m standing here today [July 26, 2022] wanting to endorse Danielle Smith, because I believe she went through that,” Neudorf stated.

He added, “I really appreciate the walk that Danielle has had over the past six or seven years, the humility that she’s gained, the perspective. She has developed a fulsome platform, she has vision and direction and I believe she is learning humility, how to listen and work with all of us.”

DANIELLE SMITH

Danielle Smith showed appreciation for Neudorf’s endorsement and said, “at the end, this [the Alberta UCP] is going to be one big happy family because it’s all hands on deck to make sure we defeat Rachel Notley [and the Alberta NDP].”

“I feel like this is going to be a unifying campaign. That’s how I’m running it because I’ve got absolute respect for everybody else in this race.”

She believes that “the problem with Alberta is that we have not asserted ourselves and our rights under the Constitution.”

Smith said Alberta needs to be treated “just like Quebec” by the federal government.

“If we’re going to be treated just like Quebec, we need to stop acting like a junior player, we need to start acting like a senior partner,” Smith told LNN.

She said, “We need to take control of our own income tax collection, our own CPP, our own EI, our own immigration, make sure that we have our own provincial police and once we have those things in place, I think we can re-establish our relationship with Canada on the grounds that it’s supposed to be established on.”

Smith continued, “I think that the way they’ve [the federal government] been treating us has been disrespectful and I think that if we assert ourselves, then we’ll be treated with the same kind of respect Quebec gets.”

COUTTS BLOCKADE AND CANCER COMMENTS

She addressed the Coutts border blockade this past winter and believes those who participated were respectful and got their point across.

Smith said, “They tried to keep a lane open as long as they could so that they could have the free flow of traffic, and then when things took a turn and guns showed up, they dismantled it and I think that that was a very responsible way for them to conduct themselves.”

She added, “They certainly got what we wanted them to get which was a reversal on the [COVID-19] mandates in Alberta…I don’t think we would have returned to normal as quickly as we did if they hadn’t taken the action that they did.”

“I’m sorry that there’s a few folks that may have taken it a little bit too far, but it doesn’t discredit the entire movement.”

Danielle Smith in Lethbridge on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

Last week, Smith came under fire for comments she made about cancer treatments while interviewing a naturopath on her podcast. She insinuated that people can control cancer as long as it’s before a stage-four diagnosis. Smith aimed to clarify her comments when speaking with LNN.

She said everyone has their own cancer story.

“My mother-in-law got diagnosed with ovarian cancer and only survived three months and part of the reason when she went in for chemotherapy, that they had to stop this year; her nutrition was so poor that she kept getting secondary infections. They told me and my husband that if they’d known how malnourished she was, they would have taken a different approach.”

“What happens with complementary medicine, especially medical practitioners who focus more on nutrition and exercise and healthy living, is it’s a compliment to traditional medicine, and that was the whole purpose of that hour-long interview, is that we’ve gotta have both, we want to have the best patient outcomes and clearly, when you start getting into the later stages of cancer, you must use conventional medicine,” Smith told LNN.

She added, “My intention was to make sure that nobody felt that you should not look at the traditional conventional medicine of radiation and chemotherapy and surgery, especially in those later stages, so I think I was taken out of context and misconstrued. That’s what my opponents will do, but my intentions were just to make sure that people understood that there is a whole range of options available.”

UCP LEADERSHIP DEBATE

Smith will be taking part in the first UCP leadership debate on Wednesday, July 27 in Medicine Hat.

She said, “I’m hoping that it’s a robust exchange of ideas because we’re going to have a lot of platform proposals that come forward that as a caucus, we’re going to have to work together so I’m just looking forward to seeing all of the other candidates and hearing what it is they’re proposing.”

The debate is set to take place from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

by Justin Goulet with files from Drew Stremick

Lethbridge-East MLA Neudorf endorses Danielle Smith in UCP leadership race

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