Medicine Hat town hall

National Times Bureau (Rajeev Sharma) — A crowd of nearly 400 filled the Cypress Centre on Tuesday night for the Alberta Next Panel town hall, where Premier Danielle Smith received both strong applause and sharp criticism as her government outlined proposals to wrest more control from Ottawa.The two-and-a-half-hour meeting focused on six hot-button issues: federal transfers and equalization, an Alberta Pension Plan, constitutional reform, a provincial police force, immigration, and provincial tax collection. The panel suggested shifting more tax revenues to align with provincial responsibilities, drawing comparisons to Quebec’s constitutional autonomy.While Smith and panelists drew strong support on matters like…