At a press conference on Nov. 28, Smith said she personally contacted the Wood Buffalo 2023 Arctic Winter Games, a biennial sport and cultural event for youth that will take place in January in Northern Alberta. She said they “wanted $1.2 million from us to support their effort, and they were discriminating against the athletes telling them they had to be vaccinated [for COVID].”
Smith said she “asked them if they would reconsider their vaccination policy in light of new evidence. And they did.”
In a Nov. 18 news release, the Arctic Games confirmed they had revoked a policy on mandatory COVID-19 shots “to align with current public health advice.” They will no longer require athletes, coaches, managers, mission staff and others to have shots to be part of the games.
Smith said she had also asked one of her ministers to call a film set that was reportedly discriminating against unvaccinated hairdressers.
“I’m quite prepared to make those phone calls and have my ministers make those phone calls if there’s other examples,” she said.
A reporter at the press conference asked Smith whether the government will withhold funding to organizations that want to uphold their own vaccine mandates.
“What if this is a business that doesn’t receive any government funding? What will you do then?” the reporter said.
“I'll still call them and ask them if they would reconsider their policy,” answered Smith.
Alberta’s official opposition, the NDP, was critical of Smith’s position, with NDP Justice Critic Irfan Sabirsaying it was “deeply troubling.”
“In other words, Alberta is calling–to intimidate you,” he told CTV News on Nov. 28.
Legislation
The provincial legislature reopens today for its fall sitting and closes again on Dec. 22 for Christmas break.In an email update sent to UCP members today, Smith outlined plans for “protecting the rights and liberties of Albertans,“ as it relates to ”personal health decisions,” in the choice to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The premier said that the government had already started “by strongly encouraging Alberta employers and event organizers to drop any remaining Covid-19 vaccine mandates for employees and event participants, and have prohibited masking mandates for children in school.”
Smith said caucus discussions had been held and the government decided that “only amending one piece of legislation—the Alberta Human Rights Act—would not by itself adequately protect the rights and freedoms of Albertans going forward.”
“Just trying to change one piece of one act was not going to solve the problem that we encountered over this past two and a half years,” she said. “I want to make sure that when we come through with a new pandemic planning proposal and a new pandemic plan that we’re addressing all of the problems that we saw in existing legislation.”
“We must get this right,” she said, adding that further details of the planned process for the review would be announced soon. In the meantime, Smith invited people to contact their MLA if they encountered cases of discrimination based on medical status.
Contrary to some media reports that said Smith was reversing an earlier promise to change legislation to protect unvaccinated people from discrimination based on their health status, Smith said there would be a full review and potential changes to several pieces of provincial legislation, but it would take more time.
On her first day as Premier, Smith had said unvaccinated Albertans were “the most discriminated group she had seen in her lifetime.” She said she intended to “underline the mistreatment of individuals who chose not to be vaccinated and were punished by not being able to work, travel or, in some cases, see loved ones. “
