The leader of a rival party to Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives says they’re scrambling to organize on the chance Smith tries to undercut them by calling a spring election.
“Time is not on the side of the UCP,” Peter Guthrie, the head of Alberta’s new Progressive Tory Party, said in an interview.
“If you look at us organizing, we’re going to be more and more impactful each and every month that goes by.
“There is the possibility that there is a spring election, and so we have to take that seriously, and we’re preparing for it.”
The next Alberta general election is slated for October 2027, but Smith has been dealing with rumours she might take voters to the polls much sooner than that.
Smith, when asked Friday to respond to Guthrie’s comments, dismissed the idea of an early election.
“Our intention is to continue to work for the next two years on the mandate that we were elected to govern on,” she said.
“We have fixed election dates for a reason, and we have four-year mandates for a reason.”
Get daily National news
When asked generally about a hastened timeline, Smith said the polling she has seen suggests her UCP would perform very well.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, asked Friday about the possibility of a spring vote, said it’s impossible to gauge given that even the deciders — the UCP — don’t know.
“They don’t have a strategy,” Nenshi told reporters in an online news conference.
“They change their mind on the daily based on how popular they think they are and whether or not they think they can survive until October 2027 (given) resignations (and) floor crossings.”
Guthrie said his Tories have a governing board in place and are working to build constituency associations, confirm candidates, raise funds and craft a policy platform.
He said there is no time to lose to create a centrist conservative alternative for voters looking for a home somewhere between Smith’s UCP and the Opposition NDP.
Guthrie is one of two former UCP members of the legislature cast off to sit across the aisle as Independents last year. Guthrie quit his cabinet post over concerns about the government’s handling of procurement and alleged corruption in health-care contracts.
Former UCP member Scott Sinclair was also booted from caucus after he threatened to vote against the government’s budget.
Just before Christmas, Guthrie announced that Elections Alberta approved the party’s new Tory name.
It came after Guthrie, Sinclair, and the Alberta Party tried last year to revive the once-dominant Progressive Conservative brand in Alberta. The UCP pushed back, saying the PC Alberta name, logo and history legally belong to it as a legacy party of the UCP.
The United Conservative Association, which operates the UCP, filed a lawsuit against both Guthrie and Sinclair as well as Lindsay Amantea, president of the Alberta Party, accusing them of conspiring to damage its party’s image and mislead the public.
None of the allegations have been tested in court. Both Guthrie and the UCP say they are working to resolve the dispute.
Government legislation passed in December banned new political parties from adopting distinctive words and phrases in their name, including the words communist, conservative, democratic, green, independent, liberal, reform, republican and wildrose.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery said it was a non-partisan change made to avoid confusing voters, and he alleged that some were trying to deceive Albertans.
But Guthrie said the true goal was obstruction. “They put a tremendous amount of hurdles in our way, in trying to stop us and slow us down.
“You have no choice but to adapt ultimately, and so we did,” said Guthrie.
He said that wasn’t the only hurdle. Recent legislative changes meant that registered Alberta political parties had to be incorporated by Jan. 1.
Guthrie said Elections Alberta granted a six-month extension, however, for his party to get the paperwork done.
Comments