Danielle Smith’s talent is being able to manage the multiway tug-of-war between competing wings of the Alberta conservative movement in Alberta. Those talents are clearly appreciated by the party membership: at Saturday’s United Conservative Party annual general meeting, 91.5 per cent approved of the premier in her leadership review.

As for those who would rather derail Smith in what should still be the early phase of her premiership, they’re on the margins. The minority faction of Take Back Alberta, which decried Smith’s “handling of COVID-related policies,” amounted to more of a pebble in the road than a speed bump. The same can be said for the 1905 Committee, another minority faction, named for the year Alberta joined Confederation, which has been complaining that the premier’s proposed amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights don’t go far enough.