{"id":407860,"date":"2025-11-27T07:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T07:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/407860\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T07:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T07:45:13","slug":"separatism-is-off-the-agenda-at-the-alberta-united-conservative-partys-annual-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/407860\/","title":{"rendered":"Separatism is off the agenda at the Alberta United Conservative Party\u2019s annual meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addresses United Conservative Party members at 2024’s annual general meeting in Red Deer.Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Alberta<\/a> Premier Danielle Smith<\/a> will likely walk into this weekend\u2019s United Conservative Party annual convention basking in the afterglow of a new energy<\/a> accord with the federal government.<\/p>\n

But the proverbial good vibes may not last at the Edmonton gathering for a Premier who is facing growing pressure from all sides.<\/p>\n

While some critics to her left point to her plans to dramatically reshape health care by relying more heavily on a hybrid public-private model<\/a>, it has been her invocation of the notwithstanding clause \u2013 first to force striking teachers back to work<\/a>, and again to protect her legislation affecting transgender and gender-diverse residents<\/a> \u2013 that has <\/b>ruffled the most feathers. All of these decisions have led to 14 of her MLAs facing citizen-initiated recall efforts to oust them from office.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s gathering, however, will happen under a bubbling strain of separatism among the party faithful. Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump began musing about Canada becoming the 51st state a year ago, Alberta\u2019s independence movement has been galvanized.<\/p>\n

And while Ms. Smith has not disavowed the separatist movement, she remains steadfast that a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada is the best approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not a separatist party. We are not an independence party. We are a party that believes at this point in time that Alberta belongs in Canada,\u201d UCP president Rob Smith said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Andrew Coyne: Yes, the health care system is a mess, but Danielle Smith\u2019s gambit risks failure<\/a><\/p>\n

The Premier\u2019s leadership is not under the spotlight at this year\u2019s AGM. But half the UCP\u2019s board seats, including the president\u2019s, are up for election in a vote that could result in the reshaping of the party.<\/p>\n

Jeff Rath, a leader of the pro-separation Alberta Prosperity Project, said his primary goal at the convention is to help elect a board \u201c100 per cent in favour of independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people that will not be voting with the Premier to limit discussion at future AGMs or special general meetings dealing with independence,\u201d said Mr. Rath, who added that he lobbied on Ms. Smith\u2019s behalf during her leadership review last year.<\/p>\n

Until mid-October, it was expected that a panel would be held on the Friday of the AGM featuring federalist and separatist voices, and one representing the \u201csovereign Alberta within Canada\u201d model advocated for by the Premier, Mr. Smith said.<\/p>\n

The party president, who is no relation to the Premier, was <\/b>elected in 2023 with the blessing of Take Back Alberta \u2013 a network of social conservatives whose rise was largely fuelled by resentment over COVID-19 public-health measures. He championed the idea of the panel shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals secured a minority government in April.<\/p>\n

Mr. Smith said he felt after the federal election that the UCP needed \u201cto crack a pressure valve at our AGM\u201d because of a groundswell of support for separation.<\/p>\n

Alberta petition that could trigger separation referendum faces looming deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

But at a board meeting on Oct. 21, which the Premier attended by phone, Mr. Smith voted against having the panel, breaking a 7-7 tie. He said he changed his mind because party involvement in any future separation referendum would be detrimental to the independence movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do something that actually could put asunder the potential positive outcome of an independence vote \u2013 knowing that we have a significant number of members in favour of that \u2013 that was why I broke the tie the way I did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Smith also said discussing independence could scare off undecided voters in a general election. <\/p>\n

The majority governing UCP has begun preparations for a provincial election scheduled for fall 2027 at the latest; the party finalized its regional election strategies earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Independence will be an undercurrent that board candidates for party president have called the \u201celephant in the room\u201d inside the UCP, which was founded eight years ago through a merger between the Alberta Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose Party.<\/p>\n

Janet Brown, a pollster in the province, said polling she gathered in May found close to half of UCP voters support the idea of separation, and the highly engaged AGM attendees likely harbour the sentiment in even greater numbers.<\/p>\n

Campbell Clark: Even before it\u2019s made public, the Ottawa-Alberta deal is taking heat from all sides<\/a><\/p>\n

But the Premier has exhibited a knack for managing her base\u2019s expectations while appealing to swing voters, Ms. Brown said: \u201cI did not predict that she\u2019d be able to walk this tightrope as long as she has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s reception to Ms. Smith\u2019s agreement with Mr. Carney will be a major test of her ability to keep her base and the general electorate happy, she added.<\/p>\n

Ms. <\/b>Smith, when asked at a recent news conference whether she believes there\u2019s room to discuss separation at the AGM, said members will have an opportunity to ask her questions at various open-mic sessions.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s annual convention has become a can\u2019t-miss date for UCP faithful. In excess of 4,000 people have bought tickets to this year\u2019s AGM, according to party officials \u2013 second only to last year\u2019s, when more than 6,000 came out for the Premier\u2019s leadership review.<\/p>\n

While independence will be absent from the agenda, members will vote on a raft of policy resolutions, including ending public funding for third-trimester abortions, reintroducing coal-fired electricity and banning community water fluoridation. Though these resolutions are non-binding, some resolutions at past meetings were later the basis of legislation.<\/p>\n

This weekend, Mr. Smith will face Calgary-Lougheed constituency association president Darrell Komick in the vote for party president. At a UCP candidates\u2019 forum in south Calgary earlier this month, Mr. Komick said he\u2019s running because of the board\u2019s decision to kill the panel discussion on separatism.<\/p>\n

Five more Alberta UCP caucus members face recall petitions, bringing total to 14<\/a><\/p>\n

The 17-minute debate at that forum between the two presidential candidates solely revolved around Mr. Smith\u2019s vote to keep the panel discussion off the agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout having those conversations \u2026 it just kind of builds and builds and builds, and then it blows up,\u201d said Mr. Komick, who spearheaded a party event featuring vaccine-skeptical physicians and another focused on \u201cbuilding a framework for a sovereign Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his debate with Mr. Smith, Mr. Komick lamented that caucus members were not representing the grassroots, arguing that UCP MLAs appear to permit the \u201ccreep\u201d of liberal ideas once they\u2019re in government.<\/p>\n

Former UCP president Cynthia Moore said in an interview that she\u2019s nervous about this year\u2019s AGM because she believes some board candidates have an outsized view of their function.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some people who don\u2019t realize that their role is to support the leader, and that\u2019s been difficult,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Moore did not run for re-election in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing we need is a party board running around thinking they should have an opinion about what goes on in government caucus and, in some cases, contradicting the leader,\u201d she said, noting her support for the Premier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to stick to keeping the party strong, the infrastructure strong and fundraising and getting us ready for the next election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Hoven, also a former TBA acolyte and current speaker for the Prosperity Project, said many grassroots members felt the decision to nix a separation debate from the schedule has left \u201ca bad taste in people\u2019s mouths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor \u2026 a lot of the people who worked very hard to get Danielle elected, separatism is now the important issue. They see that intimately connected to their future prosperity and their future well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addresses United Conservative Party members at 2024’s annual general…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":407861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-407860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}