Liberal MP criticizes Smith’s chemtrail comments as ‘simply bonkers’

Danielle Smith says she was simply sharing what she heard when she answered a question about chemtrails over Alberta.

The premier’s office released a statement to clarify her comments after video surfaced of Smith at a UCP townhall over the weekend where she seemed to suggest the U.S. government could be spraying chemtrails over the province.

“Another person told me, if anyone is doing it, it’s the U.S. Department of Defense,” Smith said in the clip posted by several users on X.

Her office is now saying she does not actually believe that.

“The premier was simply sharing what she has heard from some folks over the summer on this issue,” said a spokesperson in a statement to CityNews. “She was not saying she believed the U.S. was using chemtrails in Alberta.”

Edmonton Liberal MP and cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault focused on her comments while speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, criticizing the premier for “not doing her job,” and instead stoking fears for Alberta residents.

“It’s simply bonkers,” he said. “I think it’s becoming increasingly obvious that premier Smith is using her office to peddle conspiracy theories.”

The premier’s office says the government looked into the issue of chemtrails after hearing concerns from Albertans, and say they found no evidence of them occurring in the province.

It is a long-held conspiracy theory that condensation trails of exhaust behind planes are actually chemicals being sprayed by governments, or other nefarious forces.

Experts, including health law professor Timothy Caulfield with the University of Alberta, have dismissed the theory as baseless.

“In this age of misinformation, in this age where conspiracy theories are having a detrimental impact on democracies around the world, it’s just horrifying to see a political leader not simply and explicitly correct the conspiracy theory,” Caulfield said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, in an email to CityNews, say they do not know what Smith was talking about, adding “you’d have to ask her what she meant.”

With files from The Canadian Press