Premier Danielle Smith, Alberta Next panel to get feedback at third town hall

A travelling panel collecting public feedback on Alberta's grievances with Ottawa is set to make its third summer town hall stop tonight.

Premier Danielle Smith and 15 other members of her Alberta Next panel are scheduled to be in Edmonton to brainstorm with people about possible future referendum questions.

The premier has said one of the reasons for the panel is to address concerns that are inspiring separatist sentiment in the province.

Its agenda focuses on six policy ideas, including pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP.

Earlier events were held last month in Red Deer and Edmonton.

At those town halls, some Albertans offered support for the proposals, some protested at the gates and others dismissed the panel as a self-serving political exercise meant to stir up discontent and division.

It is set to host events in Fort McMurray and Lloydminster in two weeks.

The panel has also faced criticism for presenting online survey questions that left no option to disagree.

The government later added options to some survey questions. The changes were made after 32,000 people had already filled out the surveys. 

The premier’s office has said the survey results for the different versions will be separated.

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has dismissed the panel as a way for Smith to curry favour with extreme elements of her United Conservative Party to keep them from splintering off.

He's also said the government is using it to conjure up unreliable data to support things it already wants to do.

Alberta public opinion pollster Janet Brown has said the government's effort is not a polling exercise but a public engagement exercise and that changing the survey questions midstream underscores that.

She has said the survey will offer a good idea of who participated in the process but it's not a random representative sample that reflects public opinion.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol