{"id":749614,"date":"2026-06-20T14:17:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749614\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:17:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:17:26","slug":"nenshi-urges-smith-fire-senior-aide-over-social-media-post-criticizing-first-nations-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749614\/","title":{"rendered":"Nenshi urges Smith fire senior aide over social media post criticizing First Nations chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Leader of the Alberta NDP Naheed Nenshi speaks as First Nations chiefs, band councillors and elders gather to call on Premier Danielle Smith’s government to stomp out the push for the province to leave Canada, at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton in March.JASON FRANSON\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says Premier Danielle Smith should fire her office\u2019s executive director for posting a social media diatribe criticizing First Nations chiefs.<\/p>\n

The senior aide, Bruce McAllister, said in his Thursday post that First Nations chiefs should fix their own communities instead of accusing the premier of treason over her fall separation referendum<\/a><\/p>\n

He describes First Nations as entrenched in poverty, drugs and violence.<\/p>\n

Nenshi, speaking in Calgary on Friday, said McAllister\u2019s commentary echoes bullying behaviour from Smith and a pattern of disrespect from her United Conservatives.<\/p>\n

Nenshi said when challenged, Smith lashes out at her opponents.<\/p>\n

He said if the premier wants to send a message that she respects Albertans, she should start by firing McAllister.<\/p>\n

With Alberta set to hold separation referendum, these groups are vying to shape opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are dog whistles,\u201d says Nenshi. He described McAllister as Smith\u2019s \u201cnumber two guy,\u201d with a history of showing contempt for those who disagree with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis entire world is about making and keeping people angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nenshi questioned how the premier will succeed in her goal to build a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast when she has lost the confidence of chiefs across the province.<\/p>\n

The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs, representing First Nations across Alberta, recently voted to ask the RCMP to look into whether the Oct. 19 referendum amounts to criminal treason by Smith and her United Conservative Party.<\/p>\n

Albertans will be asked whether they want to remain in Canada or have a second, binding vote on leaving Confederation.<\/p>\n

How Alberta\u2019s First Nations should respond to the referendum on secession<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Criminal Code, treason is narrowly defined. It includes sharing sensitive information \u201cfor a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada\u201d with another state, or the use of force or violence in order to overthrow a Canadian government.<\/p>\n

The chiefs, earlier this week, said organizing the referendum is an intentional treaty violation and that Smith\u2019s government is ignoring serious risks to Canada\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Smith responded Wednesday, telling reporters that the chiefs should \u201ccheck themselves\u201d for such an inflammatory accusation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of overwrought language has no place in a democracy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In a statement Friday, Sam Blackett, a spokesperson for the premier, didn\u2019t respond directly to Nenshi\u2019s criticisms but pointed to the chief\u2019s allegation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccusing elected officials of treason is dangerous and unacceptable rhetoric that only fuels division. It must be rejected entirely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to work collaboratively on a government-to-government basis to make our communities stronger. When the treaty chiefs are ready to do that, we\u2019ll look forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAllister\u2019s post accused the chiefs of engaging in \u201cchildish nonsense\u201d and said their misaligned priorities made him wonder if they\u2019re taking orders from someone else.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged he was courting controversy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll probably take heat for saying these things but if we don\u2019t, we continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend they aren\u2019t happening,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Leader of the Alberta NDP Naheed Nenshi speaks as First Nations chiefs, band…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-749614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}