Danielle Smith is no Ralph Klein.

This current Alberta premier is not taking a page out of the playbook of a former Alberta premier.

She is not talking up pay cuts or layoffs or both. There is no talk of wielding an axe or slashing the bottom line or any of that fierce lingo from the battles of bygone days.

Smith is not demanding austerity and sacrifice, riling up workers so much that many thousands of them march on the legislature to confront a premier who tells them he will not blink.

No, Smith has a much easier time of it.

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Smith is offering pay raises and hiring 3,000 more teachers over three years, that’s $750 million even as the Alberta government finances are swimming in a sea of red ink.

On Monday, answering a question from your scribbler, Smith mentions the three per cent pay hike every year for four years. That’s 12 per cent.

The premier points to “market adjustments” where the vast........

© Calgary Herald