Fairness requires that I inform readers that Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has now come up with official talking points about that controversial golden puddy tat, said to have been bestowed upon Premier Danielle Smith by a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family.
Alert readers will recall that during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature last Thursday, NDP Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi referred to the controversial statue of the regal feline as “a giant golden cat” and wondered why the premier hadn’t declared that gift and others as required of Alberta politicians.
Monday evening, the premier’s chief of staff responded on the social media site previously known as Twitter – rather harshly as he is inclined to do – “to all those Nenshi followers who buy your tinfoil in bulk, here are the facts around your latest conspiracy theory about the now infamous cat sculpture.”
First, and most important, he said in his four-point tweet, “the cat sculpture is worth a few hundred dollars and is made of copper – not gold.”
Some responses to that point expressed a certain amount of skepticism that a Saudi prince would be so cheap as to present a keepsake made of mere copper. I would remind such skeptics that copper is practically a precious metal nowadays, as the operators of Edmonton’s and Calgary’s electrical systems are sure to confirm.
“It was gifted to the People of Alberta by the Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia who was attending the World Petroleum Conference in Calgary in 2023,” Mr. Anderson went on. So that answers one of the questions asked in my last post. Since it was given to the people of Alberta, I can see no reason why it couldn’t have been made of gold. Indeed, I would suggest it took a certain amount of brass on the part of the Saudis not to come up with something more precious than recycled electrical wiring!
I mean no disrespect when I say this. After all, as Mr. Anderson pointed out, it is (only?) displayed in the McDougall Centre out of respect of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Somewhat rudely, he accused Mr. Nenshi of having insufficient respect for the gift-giver. “As Nenshi doesn’t understand, because he never has nor will he ever be Premier, the exchange of gifts with foreign dignitaries is a regular part of international diplomacy as a gesture of friendship, economic partnership and peaceful relations,” Mr. Anderson grumped.
So there you have it, people. The matter is settled. There’s nothing to see here, so please move along.
Anyway, Ms. Smith is not available. She’s in Texas “telling Alberta’s energy story on the global stage” and doubtless hobnobbing with Republican politicians. Keep your eye on social media for confirmation.