Danielle Smith was the main target in UCP 's first debate

Danielle Smith was the target of most of her United Conservative leadership race colleagues at the party's first debate.

Many of the candidates in the Medicine Hat debate criticized Smith's proposal to bring in a bill to give Alberta the power to ignore federal laws and court rulings deemed not in its interest.

Former finance minister Travis Toews (TAVES) says Alberta must be tough with Ottawa but a plan to cancel laws is delusional and former cabinet minister Rajan Sawhney (RAW-jun SAW'-nee) says the bill would bring chaos to the economy.

Smith, the former Wildrose party leader, says her bill would pass legal muster and also defended her comments in a recent podcast that responsibility for early-stage cancer is within a patient's control.