If nothing else, Danielle Smith is a disruptor

opinion

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has made multiple attempts at challenging the norm in Canadian politics.

Every so often a Canadian politician comes along and decides he or she is ready to challenge the orthodoxy. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas, who insisted that universal, publicly funded medical care was possible in Canada, despite strong opposition from health care providers, which culminated in a doctors’ strike.

In the 1980s and 1990s, it was NDP MP Svend Robinson, who introduced a private member’s bill to legalize same-sex marriage years before it would actually become law (he was also the first openly gay MP). And roughly 10 years ago, it was then-Conservative leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier, who centred his candidacy on a pledge to