FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES –
Jan. 2, 2023 – The chief of staff to Alberta’s new premier and key advisor on the United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s addiction and recovery file, Smith spent four years on the streets of Vancouver struggling with addiction.
In the years before he hit his downturn, Smith was working in the BC Attorney General’s ministry where he developed a reputation as a “pretty effective organizer.” It wasn’t long until he was invited to join then-BC Premier Gordon Campbell’s team at the legislature.
Smith says he had a normal, good upbringing. And he drank like any high school kid did. Only when his friends stopped drinking, “I didn’t.”
