ALBERTA (Rajeev Sharma): Premier Danielle Smith has pushed back against accusations that her government attempted to downplay the release of the Alberta Next report, insisting that the report’s Friday afternoon publication ahead of the Christmas holidays does not mean it is being ignored.
The report, compiled by a Smith-appointed panel, examined Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa and made several high-profile recommendations, including the creation of a provincial pension plan to replace the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the eventual establishment of a provincial police force to succeed the RCMP.
“Replacing the CPP with an Alberta plan is the most financially meaningful initiative Albertans have the right to pursue on our own,” the report states, noting that any referendum would only proceed after Albertans receive detailed information about potential benefits and risks.
Speaking on her radio show Your Province. Your Premier on Saturday, Smith addressed concerns about the report’s release timing. “Well, here we are talking about it,” she said. “I don’t want to bury it. The debate has happened. We had 22,000 comments, 800,000 people watching panels online, and 5,000 people participating in person across 10 communities.”
Smith emphasized that the recommendations are part of a long-standing conversation about Alberta’s autonomy, saying, “These big conversations about our evolving relationship with Ottawa have been very much in the backdrop for probably 30 years.”
The Alberta Next panel also suggested creating an Alberta police force to replace the RCMP when the current contract expires in 2032. The province has long questioned whether it receives adequate value from the national police service and has argued that a provincial force could increase accountability.
Opposition NDP leader Naheed Nenshi criticized the report as a “sham consultation,” arguing that millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on a process designed to justify referendums on unpopular measures. “They want to create a large asset fund under government control to invest as they see fit,” he said.
Smith acknowledged that not all Albertans support the Alberta Pension Plan. A survey conducted in June 2025 found that 63 per cent of respondents opposed the initiative. She indicated that the government will carefully review the report’s recommendations in 2026 before deciding which proposals will move forward and which may be subjected to a public vote.
Despite the criticism, Smith said Alberta Next reflects a genuine effort to engage citizens on issues of provincial autonomy and financial independence. “We have to take care of health care, education, and programs for vulnerable people, but that doesn’t stop us from exploring ways to enhance our sovereignty,” she said.
The release of the Alberta Next report marks another step in ongoing debates over the province’s role in federal programs and its relationship with Ottawa, with questions about pensions, policing, and provincial authority continuing to dominate political discourse in Alberta.
