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Twice resurrected from political death, Danielle Smith now serves as the friendly face of MAGA-style populism in Canada as Alberta’s premier.
From her short-lived tenure as a Calgary school board trustee to her decision to blow up the Wildrose Party and her most recent re-emergence as the conspiracy-minded, separatist-adjacent premier of Alberta, Smith has always demonstrated a penchant for following the prevailing winds within the global conservative movement.
With a little help from her friends in the mainstream media and corporate world, as well as her undeniable populist charisma and talents as a communicator, Smith successfully used pandemic anxieties and a uniquely Albertan style of grievance politics to mount her seemingly improbable comeback.
In Dark Phoenix, Jeremy Appel charts how Smith has risen from the ashes in alignment with dark, authoritarian forces, who are using the spectre of U.S.-aligned Alberta separatism to restructure the state as a corporate entity, with Smith as its CEO.
From her short-lived tenure as a Calgary school board trustee to her decision to blow up the Wildrose Party and her most recent re-emergence as the conspiracy-minded, separatist-adjacent premier of Alberta, Smith has always demonstrated a penchant for following the prevailing winds within the global conservative movement.
With a little help from her friends in the mainstream media and corporate world, as well as her undeniable populist charisma and talents as a communicator, Smith successfully used pandemic anxieties and a uniquely Albertan style of grievance politics to mount her seemingly improbable comeback.
In Dark Phoenix, Jeremy Appel charts how Smith has risen from the ashes in alignment with dark, authoritarian forces, who are using the spectre of U.S.-aligned Alberta separatism to restructure the state as a corporate entity, with Smith as its CEO.
Price: $24.99
Pages: 288
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Publication Date:
10 November 2026
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781459757240
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Canadian, Political ideologies and movements, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Commentary & Opinion, Political leaders and leadership, Populism / populist ideologies and movements
Dark Phoenix is a powerful and highly engaging account that delves deeply into the intriguing story of Danielle Smith's alarming rise and consolidation of power. Jeremy Appel has done a first-rate job documenting how seamlessly and ruthlessly she has championed the interests of Big Oil, the far-right and provincial separatists, and how her street-smart political skills now pose an immense risk to Alberta — and to Canada as a whole.
Dark Phoenix presents a well-researched portrait that will likely become the standard account for anyone curious about Danielle Smith's career to date.
Not just a biography, but an incredibly detailed overview of an emergent form of authoritarian anti-politics wherein the candidate subscribes to an ideology of nothing except the acquisition of power for powers sake. Jeremy Appel is one of the best journalists working in Canada today. A necessary voice.
Like Rick Perlstein's Nixonland, Jeremy Appel uses the details of Danielle Smith's life, from the shocking and enraging to the banal and deeply hilarious, to capture a cultural and political shift in Canada. Appel reveals Smith, with her uncanny ability to project empathy and normalize extremist ideas, as a defining figure in our neo-authoritarian age; where the role of government is to enact and enforce the policies of capital, while acting as the stage for reactionary grievance theatre. A must-read for anyone interested in Canadian politics.
When encountering a politician like Danielle Smith, it's sometimes hard to truly grasp why they do the things that they do — and, more importantly, how they keep getting away with it. In Dark Phoenix, Jeremy Appel demystifies these questions. Through gripping writing and immaculate research, he paints a clear picture of what drives Smith: naked opportunism. It's a chilling tale of a woman who appears to be motivated by nothing more than her own ascent — and it's only in understanding both her thinking and the tactics she uses to achieve her goals that we can truly push back. Dark Phoenix is an important read for any anyone seeking to understand Alberta politics and its unhinged premier. It's even more essential as a case study of a kind of politician that is all too common these days.
Understanding the path Danielle Smith took to the helm of Alberta politics provides an understanding to this moment in time in Canada's political landscape. Canadians wanting to understand the politicizing of grievances in Alberta owe a debt to Appel for this in depth understanding of the political movements that led to the political division in the province, and the charming manipulation of Smith to lead the charge.
Danielle Smith has named the writer Ayn Rand as one of her heroes. But the literary figure that Smith most resembles is Lady Macbeth. Dark Phoenix reveals Smith as a figure driven entirely by ambition, opportunism, and self-preservation. She is, as Jeremy Appel writes, 'an affable conduit for the dark forces who put her into power.' Canadians should pay attention.
Dark Phoenix presents a well-researched portrait that will likely become the standard account for anyone curious about Danielle Smith's career to date.
Not just a biography, but an incredibly detailed overview of an emergent form of authoritarian anti-politics wherein the candidate subscribes to an ideology of nothing except the acquisition of power for powers sake. Jeremy Appel is one of the best journalists working in Canada today. A necessary voice.
Like Rick Perlstein's Nixonland, Jeremy Appel uses the details of Danielle Smith's life, from the shocking and enraging to the banal and deeply hilarious, to capture a cultural and political shift in Canada. Appel reveals Smith, with her uncanny ability to project empathy and normalize extremist ideas, as a defining figure in our neo-authoritarian age; where the role of government is to enact and enforce the policies of capital, while acting as the stage for reactionary grievance theatre. A must-read for anyone interested in Canadian politics.
When encountering a politician like Danielle Smith, it's sometimes hard to truly grasp why they do the things that they do — and, more importantly, how they keep getting away with it. In Dark Phoenix, Jeremy Appel demystifies these questions. Through gripping writing and immaculate research, he paints a clear picture of what drives Smith: naked opportunism. It's a chilling tale of a woman who appears to be motivated by nothing more than her own ascent — and it's only in understanding both her thinking and the tactics she uses to achieve her goals that we can truly push back. Dark Phoenix is an important read for any anyone seeking to understand Alberta politics and its unhinged premier. It's even more essential as a case study of a kind of politician that is all too common these days.
Understanding the path Danielle Smith took to the helm of Alberta politics provides an understanding to this moment in time in Canada's political landscape. Canadians wanting to understand the politicizing of grievances in Alberta owe a debt to Appel for this in depth understanding of the political movements that led to the political division in the province, and the charming manipulation of Smith to lead the charge.
Danielle Smith has named the writer Ayn Rand as one of her heroes. But the literary figure that Smith most resembles is Lady Macbeth. Dark Phoenix reveals Smith as a figure driven entirely by ambition, opportunism, and self-preservation. She is, as Jeremy Appel writes, 'an affable conduit for the dark forces who put her into power.' Canadians should pay attention.
Jeremy Appel is an independent journalist covering Alberta politics and author of Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power. He writes The Orchard newsletter on Substack, and his work has appeared in the The New York Times, Toronto Star, Canada’s National Observer, Jacobin, and The Tyee. He lives in Edmonton.
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Formative Years
- 2 Trashcan Dani
- 3 Strikebreaker
- 4 The Contrarian
- 5 Wildrose Alliance
- 6 Lake of Fire
- 7 Return to the Airwaves
- 8 The Conspiracy Theorist
- 9 The Arsonist
- 10 The Authoritarian
- Afterword
- Acknowledgements
- Image Credits
- Notes
- Index
- About the Author