Share this Story : Edmonton Journal Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Braid: The cat sculpture gift from Saudi Arabia is beautiful. It just isn't gold

Ten pounds of pure copper would be worth about $80. Gold would price the statue above $700,000. That’s the difference between an ordinary protocol gift and a giant scandal

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

The cat’s finally out of the bag.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters.

Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account.

Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters.

Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account.

Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

Rumours and accusations have swirled for days over whether Premier Danielle Smith accepted a solid gold cat sculpture from Saudi Arabia.

Tuesday, the premier’s office volunteered a rare photo of the beast.

Here it is, an elegant-looking thing, nicely adorned, about a foot long and six inches high.

Not a mere cat, but a leopard, it sits off to one side in the premier’s McDougall Centre office.

The statue was also pictured, somewhat blurred, in an earlier photo of the premier with Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas.

Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

That prompted a fake internet meme of a golden kitty jumping around and sitting on their laps.

So, there is a real cat figure — but is it gold?

The question matters when the premier stands accused of secretly accepting a hugely valuable gift.

The charges are false, says Smith’s office. The statue was scanned and proved to be about 95 per cent copper.

Ten pounds of pure copper would be worth about $80.

Gold would price the statue above $700,000.

That’s the difference between an ordinary protocol gift and a giant scandal.

There are some real government scandals to worry about. Turkish ibuprofen, for example.

Smith’s kitty critics are distracting even themselves.

Rob Anderson, Smith’s chief of staff, went public Tuesday, addressing “all those Nenshi followers who buy your tinfoil in bulk.

“The cat sculpture is worth a few hundred dollars and is made of copper, not gold.

Braid: Smith is all in with artificial intelligence. Does she see the creepy side?

Braid: UCP will pick a new auditor general to write explosive health spending report

Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

“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.

“It was not a personal gift to the premier and is being displayed at the McDougall Centre premier’s office out of respect for a country we are developing an important and growing trading relationship with.”

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi claimed the cat truly is gold when he attacked in the legislature Monday.

“When you get a gift, it either goes to the archives or, if you think it’s really pretty and you want to display it in your office, you have to scan it, X-ray it, look for bugs, look for listening devices.

“So, when the premier received a giant golden cat from the Saudi government, did she scan it? Did she check it out? Or did she think it was just so darn pretty that she threw it on the wall?”

As Nenshi should know, scanning is routine. It’s done for eavesdropping devices and security threats in both Calgary and Edmonton premiers’ offices.

Three provinces join Premier Danielle Smith's call for the federal government to make judicial reforms Local News

Three provinces join Premier Danielle Smith's call for the federal government to make judicial reforms

Player grades: Edmonton Oilers with rare defensive gem, beat Utah Mammoth 5-2 Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Edmonton Oilers with rare defensive gem, beat Utah Mammoth 5-2

Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

'They're not NHL championship caliber players': Legendary Oiler with hard truth about Edmonton's skill level Cult of Hockey

'They're not NHL championship caliber players': Legendary Oiler with hard truth about Edmonton's skill level

Edmonton Oilers show signs of life in choking out Utah Mammoth Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers show signs of life in choking out Utah Mammoth

Lloydminster man, 18, charged in fatal QEII shooting near Leduc Crime

Lloydminster man, 18, charged in fatal QEII shooting near Leduc

There’s no special routine for cat statues, but this one was apparently subjected to X-ray fluorescence analysis, which reveals metal content.

Protocol gifts often fall under suspicion for bugs.

Ex-premier Jason Kenney was so concerned about eavesdropping that he wouldn’t have a statue gifted by one foreign consulate in his office.

After Nenshi’s legislature attack, government house leader Joseph Schow said the cat isn’t gold and “she’s not taking it home.”

He tried to laugh it off. “I’m more of a dog person myself,” Schow said.

For the government, however, this was no longer funny. The golden cat craze was running wild, creating a damaging image of a premier on the take.

Smith was being compared to former PC premier Alison Redford, who resigned in 2014 after misusing government aircraft.

Redford booked non-existent passengers on government planes so she could fly alone — “ghost riders in the sky,” in the immortal words of former columnist Paula Simons.

She also planned to build a personal suite for her family in a government building, the so-called Sky Palace.

These were facts, firmly established by investigation.

The golden cat, by contrast, turns out to be a copper copycat.

But a golden gift is a perfect modern meme for social media. Who cares about the facts anyway?

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

X and Bluesky: @DonBraid

Share this Story : Edmonton Journal Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

© Edmonton Journal