{"id":779058,"date":"2026-07-04T04:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779058\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:20:20","slug":"you-suuuuuck-smith-gets-cheers-and-jeers-riding-in-calgary-stampede-parade-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779058\/","title":{"rendered":"‘You suuuuuck!’: Smith gets cheers and jeers riding in Calgary Stampede parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, centre, waves to the during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh – The Canadian Press <\/p>\n

CALGARY \u2014 The Calgary Stampede parade turned into a pseudo-referendum on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Friday, as she heard both cheers and jeers while riding shotgun on a wagon clip-clopping through the city’s sun-baked downtown. <\/p>\n

“We love you, Danielle!” some yelled as Smith, in a red cowboy hat and blue jeans, waved from the box seat of a horse-drawn cart with other United Conservative Party legislature members. <\/p>\n

Some in the crowd pointed at her and chanted her name, drawing out the two syllables: “Dan-yell! Dan-yell!” <\/p>\n

Many waved back at the premier as she passed by. Cowboy hats and boots were abundant \u2014 almost a dress code. <\/p>\n

Along with the Stampede staple “Yahoo!” were scattered boos for Smith. <\/p>\n

One man along the route shouted: “Danielle suuuuucks!” Another responded, “So do you, sir.” <\/p>\n

Smith has promised to support Confederation as the province barrels toward an Oct. 19 referendum on whether it’s time to kick-start the process for a binding vote on quitting Canada, which she announced in May. <\/p>\n

“Ca-na-da! Ca-na-da!” some chanted as Smith rode past. <\/p>\n

<\/a> Crowds wave during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh <\/p>\n

In the province’s separation debate, Smith has been viewed both as an arsonist and a firefighter, standing up for a united country while simultaneously validating a movement to dismember it. <\/p>\n

It’s been a divisive issue, leading to a threats, abuse and the cancellation of a parade in the town Sundre earlier this summer over a float of Alberta flags viewed as a separatist stalking horse. <\/p>\n

Smith has said separation is a real issue in Alberta, arguing that with hundreds of thousands signing petitions about it, the province needs to put the issue to bed with a vote. <\/p>\n

Parade watcher Darrell Siemens, who cheered for Smith in the parade, agreed. <\/p>\n

“I like that she’s just standing up for what she feels,” said Siemens. <\/p>\n

“The citizens of Alberta deserve to hear from both sides of the whole debate about separation or not separation and allow both sides to have a voice.” <\/p>\n

Nicky Currie was among those who booed the premier. <\/p>\n

“I think she is an absolute disgrace for Albertans, I think she’s doing an absolutely terrible job of governing in Alberta. I think she’s obviously a separatist,” Currie said. <\/p>\n

<\/a> Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, centre, rides a wagon during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh <\/p>\n

Smith has enjoyed strong poll support in her term, though those numbers have slipped a bit during the separation debate. <\/p>\n

On Thursday, she announced alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney what she calls a major nation-unifying project \u2013 a proposed new bitumen pipeline to the west coast. <\/p>\n

When asked about her thoughts on the proposed new pipeline, parade attendee Andrea Byrns replied, “Drill, baby, drill.” <\/p>\n

“I was born and raised Calgarian, and I think (Smith) really gets to the root of what the heart of Albertans really want,” Byrns added. <\/p>\n

“I grew up in more of a conservative oil and gas household, and I just think she has very realistic views that I align with very well.” <\/p>\n

The parade fires the starter’s pistol on 10 days of rodeo, midway rides, concerts and parties. The Stampede is also a major summer meet-and-greet for politicians and stakeholders at barbecues and pancake breakfasts. <\/p>\n

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said a lot of deals get done during Stampede and, when it comes to politicians, they tend to leave their agendas at the door. <\/p>\n

“It is probably the world’s premier politician petting zoo,” Farkas said. <\/p>\n

<\/a> Parade marshals Mikael Kingsbury, left, and Courtney Sarault ride horses during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh <\/p>\n

National pride was embodied in Friday’s parade marshals: Olympic medallists Mikael Kingsbury, a Quebec-born moguls skier, and Courtney Sarault, a short-track speedskater from Moncton, N.B. <\/p>\n

Both received training before saddling up to lead the 90-minute parade, learning that while the rider is in the saddle, the horse sets the pace. <\/p>\n

“We maybe had 30 minutes, 45 minutes with the horse,” said Sarault. <\/p>\n

“We were good. By the end I was trying to go faster, but (the horse) was like, ‘Nope. You’re only walking,'” she said with a laugh. <\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026. <\/p>\n

Dayne Patterson and Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, centre, waves to the during the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Friday, July 3,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,275986,48,53105,944],"class_list":["post-779058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-stampede-parade","tag-canada","tag-danielle-smith","tag-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779058","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=779058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}