Danielle Smith, Alberta Next panel received warmly by Lethbridge crowd in latest stop

Premier Danielle Smith's Alberta Next panel faced a mostly supportive and inquisitive crowd at its latest stop Thursday night in Lethbridge as the group continues to take the public's temperature on the province's relationship with Ottawa.

While many audience members pushed back on the province's six proposals with the aim of taking greater control over immigration, policing, taxation and other issues, the crowd joined past town halls by overwhelmingly supporting the ideas in straw polls.

The town hall arrived hours after Smith expressed optimism in the federal government's new direction under Prime Minister Mark Carney following a face-to-face meeting the day before.

The panel's town halls are aimed at addressing grievances Smith says are allowing separatist sentiments to fester and the results are to inform which questions would be put to a referendum next year.

Thursday's event was the seventh of 10 in-person town halls. The back half of the provincewide tour is mostly scheduled to take place in southern Alberta over the coming weeks.

In her closing remarks in Lethbridge, Smith told the crowd of about 600 she believes Alberta should take more responsibility over its affairs.

"We're going to continue to work with our federal counterparts ... but are we at a point now where we should be taking care of more of this business? I happen to think yes," she said.

Alberta separation didn't dominate the discussion, however its mention on a handful of occasions generated enthusiastic responses from attendees.

"Albertans have ridden this roller-coaster for way too long. We want off and the only effective option left is a fair referendum on Alberta independence," said one woman, followed by a long, noisy applause from the crowd.

Another told Smith she would be suited to lead an independent Alberta.

"I think there's a chance you'd make a fine president for a new sovereign nation," said one audience member, which also received laughs and jeers. 

Smith did not respond directly to those references to independence but at times noted she has found areas of agreement with other premiers that the federal government is encroaching on their responsibilities.

Another asked her if she's concerned the panel's questions are feeding into separatist sentiments.

"That's a fair question," said Smith, who added many of the panel's proposed ideas have been implemented in Quebec. 

"You can't stomp your feet as a teenager in the basement and say, 'Why don't you respect me' to your parents. You gotta get on your own two feet sometimes. So maybe that's what we need to do, is just be standing on our own two feet and not (be) relying on Ottawa to do these things for us."

Others came with inquiries wondering how Alberta would be able to pay for taking on greater responsibilities. Others said that even though they supported the proposals, they questioned whether the federal government would be willing to co-operate with Alberta.

Smith was called on by one audience member to answer for the panel's survey questions, which some have argued are biased toward the government's positions.

"There is a bit of difficulty because we're trying to get yes-no questions, because that's the kind of question that would be put to a referendum," Smith said. She also said 12,000 written responses have been submitted to the panel.

The panel came one day after a meeting between Smith and Carney that she called a success, saying she left the meeting "more optimistic than ever" that the province's message is landing with the federal government.

"I found more common ground with the prime minister when I met with him yesterday than I have in any meeting with a prime minister," she said earlier in the day.

Carney said on Thursday an Alberta-based carbon capture and storage project could soon be added to the federal government's list of major projects set to see regulatory approvals fast-tracked.

The panel's next stop will be on Monday in Airdrie, a suburb north of Calgary, and is to travel later this month for its final two town halls in Grande Prairie and Calgary.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette