Screengrab From Video

By Chris Brown with files from Canadian Press

Smith apologizes for comparing vaccinated Albertans with supporters of Hitler

May 8, 2023 | 3:28 PM

UCP Leader Danielle Smith is apologizing for remarks she made in 2021 in which she compared the 75 per cent of Albertans who received a COVID-19 vaccine with supporters of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

In the podcast interview – which took place on Nov. 10, 2021 – Smith references the Netflix series How to Become a Tyrant, and the first episode that features Hitler.

Smith, the UCP candidate in Brooks-Medicine Hat, recalls in the episode an academic revealing many people said they would not “have succumbed to the charms of the tyrant, somebody telling them that they have all the answers.”

“And he said ‘I guarantee you would,'” Smith continues, “and that’s the test here.”

She goes on to say “We have 75 per cent of the public who say not only hit me, but hit me harder, and keep me away from those dirty unvaxxed.”

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On Monday, Smith apologized for the comments.

“As everyone knows, I was against the use of vaccine mandates during COVID. However, the horrors of the Holocaust are without precedent, and no one should make any modern-day comparisons that minimize the experience of the Holocaust and suffering under Hitler, nor the sacrifice of our veterans,” Smith wrote

“I have always been and remain a friend to the Jewish community, Israel and our veterans, and I apologize for any offensive language used regarding this issue made while on talk radio or podcasts during my previous career.”

She ends the statement saying that COVID was a painful and divisive time for many but is thankfully now over and hopes to move on to talk about issues that currently matter to Albertans and their families.

Bernie Farber, chair of the Canadian AntiHate network, responded on social media to Smith’s video. He said those who followed science during the pandemic were not like Hitler and claiming they are minimizes and distorts the Holocaust.

At a campaign event on Monday, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley called Smith’s remarks “utterly horrifying.”

In the same video, Smith notes she and the interviewer aren’t wearing a poppy. She says it was ruined for her by politicians.

“The political leaders standing on their soapbox pretending that they care about all the things that you just talked about, pretending they understand the sacrifice and not understanding that their actions are exactly the actions that our brave men and women in uniform are fighting against,” she says.

Since becoming premier in October, Smith has been dogged by past statements, including saying people are responsible for contracting their own early-stage cancer and that the COVID unvaccinated have faced the most discrimination of any group she has seen in her lifetime.

Smith also faced questions Monday for a second video that surfaced from a speech she gave to party members at a Calgary rally Saturday in which she tips off her supporters that her government was set to announce the province would declare a state of emergency due to wildfires that have forced thousands to flee their homes.

Such a declaration allows the province to access additional funding and resources.

“I have to head off to have a press conference to declare our state of emergency,” Smith is seen telling supporters on the video, obtained by The Canadian Press.

“You guys are the first to hear about it, so you got a little bit of inside information.”

Colin Aitchison, a spokesman for Smith in her role as premier, declined to answer an emailed question on why Smith felt it was appropriate to make the announcement to supporters before telling the public at large.

“The decision was made by the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee prior to the press conference,” said Aitchison.

“Prior to the press conference, we also notified the NDP of the decision.”

Notley, speaking to reporters in Calgary, said once cabinet makes a decision, the premier can disclose it when and how she wants.

“This is more about the judgment that she is demonstrating by choosing to share it with a bunch of campaign supporters before she shares it with those Albertans who are so deeply impacted by this crisis.”

–with files from The Canadian Press