By Anushka Yadav, The Pointer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In 2021, a year before she would become Premier, Danielle Smith described on a podcast for the Alberta Enterprise Group, which lobbies on behalf of the oil industry, how she came to work for the organization. 

She had been recruited by a large organization that lobbies for the cattle production industry and said she liked their approach because “they recruited people from the energy sector; in fact, our chair was an oilman.” 

At the time, Smith was aggressively lobbying the provincial government on behalf of the Alberta Enterprise Group, trying to convince politicians that part of a proposed $20 billion taxpayer-funded incentive program should see money handed over to oil companies which would encourage them to clean up old abandoned wells, which they had failed to look after.

In 2023, a year after becoming Premier, Smith was widely accused of being in a conflict when, after working as a lobbyist for the oil sector and aggressively trying to convince Alberta politicians it was a good deal for the province, she pushed the giveaway to the industry through.