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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has asked members to accept the result of the referendum, warning that an internal civil war over separation would sink the party ahead of next year’s provincial election.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appears to have fended off a leadership challenge and is looking to smother discord within her United Conservative Party by requiring those seeking a seat on its provincial board to pledge they will respect the majority vote against holding a separation referendum.
In an e-mail sent to UCP members on Tuesday evening, party president Rob Smith said at least 65 of the 87 constituency associations have passed motions in support of the Premier, whose authority has been questioned by pockets of the party’s membership following last week’s referendum and ahead of next year’s provincial election. At least 22 associations would need to vote in favour of a leadership review in order to force one.
“There will be NO UCP leadership review before our next general election,” wrote Mr. Smith, who holds no relation to the Premier. He went on to assert that Ms. Smith will be the leader for the foreseeable future.
With possibility of a leadership review set aside, Ms. Smith confirmed the UCP is now requiring those wishing to serve on its 18-seat provincial board to pledge that they will respect the result of last week’s referendum on separation.
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The requirement is contained in a mandatory declaration form that candidates applying to run for the party board must complete ahead of the UCP’s annual general meeting in late November.
The declaration asks candidates to agree they “recognize, respect, and will abide by the majority decision made by Albertans on Question #10 of the 26/10/19 referendum,” referring to the ballot question that asked residents whether they wish to remain in Canada or have a second, binding secession vote.
The pledge is the first evidence that Ms. Smith and the UCP are taking steps to prevent separatist agitators from attempting to control the party apparatus.
Factions within the independence movement have threatened to take over the party’s governance structures in the wake of the Oct. 19 vote, in which roughly 75 per cent of Albertans rejected the prospect of a future independence referendum.
Ms. Smith has asked members to accept the result, warning that an internal civil war over separation would sink the party ahead of next year’s provincial election. Those wishing to turn the party into a vehicle for separation would not have a home in the UCP, she said.
She had been unclear, however, about what measures she was willing to take to snuff out the separatist fire.
Asked on Tuesday at an unrelated news conference about the new declaration requirement for board candidates, Ms. Smith said: “If you’re going to be a member of our party, you have to accept what Albertans told us.”
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Some separatist leaders have angled to take control of the party board at the UCP AGM beginning Nov. 27 in Calgary, where certain positions will be up for grabs. Ms. Smith recently said the party had sold roughly 6,900 tickets to its AGM, which would break the party’s attendance record when nearly 6,100 party members showed up in Red Deer two years ago to reassert the Premier’s leadership.
The latest bid to defy her call for party unity and challenge her leadership happened on Monday night, when the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul UCP constituency association in northern Alberta narrowly voted in favour of a leadership review. It was the fourth association to do so in the past two months.
Prominent separatist leader Mitch Sylvestre, who’s been vocal about his bid to stack the UCP board with pro-independence allies, is the association’s president.
The upcoming AGM and board elections are now the more pressing issues for Ms. Smith as advocates like Mr. Sylvestre push for like-minded members to vote for pro-independence candidates.
Ms. Smith reiterated her position that promoting separation is an incompatible position for those who speak on behalf of the UCP.
“If anyone wants to advocate for independence, we are not an independence party. That’s contrary to what Albertans told us,” she said.
“There’s lots of range for people to be able to advocate on policy, but just not that.”
Even so, people who emerged as prominent independence advocates are applying for board seats, indicating they support the Premier’s direction.
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Chris Scott, a cafe owner in Mirror, Alta., spent the summer roving the province in a camper van holding town halls on independence. He is applying to run for a board seat as the UCP’s Central Alberta director and agrees with the pledge
“I have no problem doing that,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Scott said that while he still believes independence is “the only way to achieve the sovereignty Alberta needs,” the referendum result was decisive. For now, he said he’s content pursuing provincial autonomy within Canada, mirroring Ms. Smith’s pursuit of finding ways Alberta can wrest greater control over its affairs.
“This is an opportunity where both sides can set the nationhood thing aside for now and focus on the sovereignty things that we should be doing if we’re ever to prepare to be a nation anyhow,” Mr. Scott said.
Jason Lavigne, a podcaster who promoted the pro-independence camp during the referendum, also said he was pleased to sign the pledge. He’s putting his name forward to run for a board seat as vice-president of policy and governance.
“I was probably one of the first to respond in the affirmative,” he said.
Mr. Lavigne said pockets of the UCP membership have viewed the pledge as a “purity test or a gag order.”
He views it differently.
“What the party is asking for is, on a policy and governance level, to head in the same direction, which is to respect the will of Albertans.”
With a report from Carrie Tait