A third member of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus is now officially the target of a petition to get him recalled from his job as a member of the legislature.
Elections Alberta said in a news release Friday it has approved a signature-collecting campaign against first-term Grande Prairie legislature member Nolan Dyck.
The approval kick-starts a three-month signature collection period that, if successful, would then force a constituency-wide vote on whether Dyck keeps his seat.
In recent weeks, recall petitions have been approved against approved for backbencher Angela Pitt — in Airdrie East — and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in Calgary Bow.
The Grande Prairie resident behind the newest petition, Casey Klein, says Dyck should be recalled because he has been dismissing the concerns of his constituents and ignoring attempts to contact him.
Klein also wrote that in her application that she’s motivated in part by Dyck’s support of the UCP government using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end a provincewide teachers strike last month.
“He has consistently followed the UCP party line instead of representing our community’s concerns,” Klein wrote. “Our community needs an MLA who listens and engages respectfully with their constituents.”
Klein was not available for an interview Friday.
Dyck, in a statement to the electoral officer, argued he has been accessible to his constituents. He said he met with the petitioner in the summer and that he responded to her emails within days.
“I am fully committed to being accessible to all 46,000 constituents,” Dyck wrote.
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He added that every vote he casts in the legislature advances the priorities that he was elected on, such as lower taxes, safe communities and boosting the economy.
A spokesperson for Dyck and the UCP caucus didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Klein has until the middle of February to collect signatures equal to 60 per cent of the votes cast in the riding in the 2023 election — or just under 9,500 signatures — in order to trigger the next step.
Smith has repeatedly said the sudden burst of recall campaigns has raised concerns with her and her caucus. She said they are contemplating an amendment to the recall act to ensure it is being complied with in good faith.
Smith and those who have been targeted have said the recall process is being used for the wrong reasons, such as disagreements over government policy, when it should be saved for serious breaches of the public trust.
“I would say that the spirit of the law is not being lived up to,” Smith said told reporters Friday.
She said discussions are being had about having “additional fences built into that legislation,” but said no decisions have been made.
The recall legislation, which allows citizens to organize petition drives to initiate a process that could lead to the removing and replacing elected officials such as members of the legislature, municipal politicians and school board trustees, was first introduced in 2021 under former premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative government.
The Recall Act says if an Albertan feels the MLA in their constituency is not upholding their responsibilities, they can apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for a petition to recall that elected official.
Smith said her government likely erred when it didn’t add in those safeguards when it amended the rules around petitions earlier this year to make it easier for applicants to gather the required signatures.
“We hadn’t had any recalls that had been launched, so we weren’t aware at the time that there were some of these problems,” she said.
Besides recall campaigns, provincewide referendums have also snowballed since Smith’s government lowered the thresholds, including one on Alberta staying in Confederation and one on funding for private schools.
Alberta country music singer Corb Lund, a longtime opponent of coal mining, announced his own cause this week. He said he filed an application to start getting signatures for a potential referendum on whether Alberta should ban all new coal mining activities in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Lund says it was Smith herself who inspired him to get to work.
When asked to respond Friday, the premier said: “I’m glad I’m able to be his muse.”
“Maybe he’ll write a song about me,” she said.
“I support citizen-initiated referenda — I think it’s really important that people have their say — so the rules are out there and I’ll watch with great interest.”
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
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