Campus Conservatives host Q&A with Premier Danielle Smith and MPs
By Alexander Howey, February 2 2026—
On Jan. 26, the Campus Conservative Association of Calgary (CCAC) held an event at UofC that was a stop for Conservative MP Jamil Jivani’s “Restore the North” campus tour.
The event featured guest speakers Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar and Premier Danielle Smith, and included a Q&A with the Premier and Jivani, respectively.
The event opened with Majumdar setting the tone for a wide-ranging conversation, starting with a discussion of major cost-of-living affecting young people, including rent prices, home ownership and groceries.
Jivani then gave a speech, beginning by answering his own question of “How do we restore the north?”
“Restoring the north would be restoring social order, getting people the help they need, and making sure that we don’t have kids that are growing up in communities where it has become almost desensitizing to see people toiling away and suffering with addiction.”
He advocated for involuntary treatment care for drug addictions instead of safe-supply services, where patients are overseen by health care practitioners with the goal of preventing overdose deaths.
In his speech, he also discussed his opposition to federal diversity initiatives and policies, and the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program, which he accused of going after law-abiding citizens.
Smith gave her speech next, where she talked about the growing Conservative movement among young people.
On housing, she discussed her opposition to rent control and caps, advocating instead for the building of more homes to combat ongoing housing shortages.
She also discussed the province’s increased role in policing and her opposition to federal restrictions on nicotine pouches, which can only be sold in pharmacies.
Jivani and Smith then opened the floor to questions from the audience.
During a question about immigration, Smith suggested that Canada’s population growth is unsustainable and that there are too many temporary foreign workers and international students.
Smith did however, admit that the Liberal government has done some recent work to “rein in the immigration system,” which cut the international student cap and caps on temporary workers.
On the topic of restricting abortion, Smith said she believes there is already consensus among caucus members and that making adoption services readily available is a goal of her administration.
To answer a question regarding protections for health care workers, Smith argued that safe-supply sites have contributed to hospital overcrowding, claiming that homeless populations are taking up beds and are using the health care system to get free access to drugs.
She additionally talked about the need to double oil and gas production in Alberta, and her desire to revoke both the single-use plastics prohibition and net-zero emissions mandate.
Following the event, the Gauntlet interviewed CCAC Co-President Josh Heuberger.
“I think that being able to hear directly from the people who represent you is a very powerful thing,” he explained.
“To have the opportunity for a totally open mic Q&A, for students to come in and ask their premier, and members of the parliament questions, I think is a really exciting and important opportunity, and something that we need to do more of.”
“Today at our event, we had people from all different political stripes attending, and they all asked different questions,” he said.
The event had nearly 200 people in attendance that night, according to Heuberger.
“I just think having that ability for that open dialogue is so important now, more than ever on campus.”
“A lot of young people sort of feel anxious and very unsure about their futures,” Heuberger explained. “People like Jamil, among others, are speaking to that issue in a way that young people are resonating with it.”
Last Summer, the U of C and Mount Royal campus Conservative clubs merged into what is now the CCAC.
“We represent a broad coalition of a variety of different kinds of students and different majors, with different backgrounds,” Heuberger explained.
“Because of this merger, we’re not only the largest conservative club in the country, we’re actually the largest partisan campus organization in the country. We have over five hundred members on both campuses.”
“I think our goal is just [to] continue doing what we’re doing: engaging with students on campus, talking about the issues that really matter, and which are front and center, and being the launchpad for people to get involved in partisan politics,” Heuberger concluded.
The club has historically been this launchpad, with Premier Smith being president of what is now the CCAC when she went to UofC herself.