About two dozen United Conservative Party constituency associations are demanding a leadership review of Jason Kenney within three months.
In an announcement on Monday, several United Conservative Party constituency association presidents said a procedural threshold was recently met. They said more than 22 constituency associations passed a special motion demanding a leadership review be held before March 1, 2022.
“Therefore, having attained at least 22 constituency associations (being over one quarter) necessary as set out in section 5.7 of the party bylaws, we have met the threshold to trigger a Special General Meeting for the purpose of conducting a leadership review,” the letter from the constituency associations to party president Ryan Becker reads.
“We expect that this process will be held in accordance with the aforementioned conditions endorsed by our boards.
“We look forward to your response acknowledging receipt of this notice prior to the commencement of the AGM on Friday, Nov. 19.”
“More motions continue to come in,” said Jack Redekop, Calgary-Fish Creek constituency association president.
He said, as of Monday, more than 22 constituency associations have voted for the motion and three boards have voted against.
“Several are going to have meetings this week and they’re going to vote on it,” Redekop added.
Redekop said they are asking the leadership review be held at a special general meeting rather than an annual general meeting so that “every member of the party can vote” rather than just those attending the AGM.
READ MORE: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney faces down restive UCP caucus over COVID-19 crisis
Kenney has come under fire from members of his party, including some UCP MLAs, over decisions he has made to deal with the COVID-19 public health crisis, particularly the fourth wave.
Some have criticized him for doing too little, too late to address this summer’s onslaught of coronavirus hospitalizations in the province, while others say he has infringed on people’s individual rights with his public health measures, like the recently announced vaccine passport program.
Redekop said this push is about timing.
“Leadership reviews are actually mandated by our Constitution.
“We knew we were going to have a leadership review… We asked: what is the best timing for a leadership review for the members… the party?”
He responded that yes, having the leadership review earlier would allow the party to “get behind” a new leader or Kenney — depending on the results — before the next provincial election.
“Yes, we had some concerns with what was happening in the party and what was being legislated through COVID-19, through all of the other issues. Those were expressed personally to the leader.
“Do we have some members displeased with the leader? Of course we do. Do we have some members in support of the leader? Yes we do.”
Kenney’s next leadership review was not expected to take place until late 2022. But a leadership review has been scheduled for April, a compromise struck during a raucous caucus meeting in September.
“There are definitely boards who do not support the premier, and there are definitely boards who do support the premier,” said Samantha Steinke, constituency association president for Central Peace Notley.
“My CA board… overwhelmingly does not support the premier. But that is not the reason all boards voted on the motion.”
Steinke added that association presidents made the announcement Monday because “we have the numbers to force this special general meeting.”
Derrick Casey, constituency association president for Grande Prairie, MLA Tracy Allard’s constituency, said his board narrowly passed the motion.
“My board was split,” he said.
Casey said the reasons they voted on the motion were varied.
Kenney was asked about the leadership review motion during an unrelated news conference later Monday morning.
“We have a regular leadership review built into our party constitution, which is a good thing for accountability. I’ve always said I embrace that.
“In terms of that or other motions, that’s up to the UCP board, the party board to deal with those matters and I’m sure they’ll do so in the appropriate way.”
The premier said Alberta has witnessed “very divisive and polarized debate” on how best to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a province with a lot of freedom-loving people. One of the things I love about the province is those who want to protect their freedoms and are skeptical about government overreach. And I can understand why so many folks have felt frustrated by the public health measures we’ve had to introduce at various times to protect our health-care system here in Alberta.
“Those frustrations are being felt in my own party and caucus, there’s no secret about that,” Kenney said.
“It’s my responsibility as premier and the government’s responsibility to take responsible actions. We have done that and I do believe actually that the vast majority of folks in my party are united around our common values and goals, particularly what we were elected to do, which was to create jobs, grow the economy and get pipelines built, to stand up for a fair deal for the province.
“I’m optimistic about Alberta’s future and I believe most folks are focused on those big issues and not internal party politics.”
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said the motion is not a surprise but still significant, especially because more than 22 constituency associations passed it.
“There’s a big difference between having 15 or 16 between having 22, especially before the AGM,” Bratt said.
“There’s been grumbling for a while amongst the CAs. Kenney dislodged that in the spring by saying: ‘There will be a leadership review. It will be the fall of 2022.’ Then he got into the showdown with the caucus in September and they said: ‘Alright, I’ll move that forward to April.’ Now you have the constituency associations saying: ‘That’s not good enough. We want it in either December, January, February’… If you read the motion, they really want it in December.
“There’s reasons they’re concerned about the timing. The longer this scab continues, the worse it is for the party. They need a definitive answer one way or the other,” Bratt explained.
“I think announcing this days before the AGM is strategic,” he added. “I think who has signed it is just as significant.”
The following constituency association presidents signed the letter:
Jack Redekop, Calgary-Fish Creek
Wayne Moorhead, Edmonton-Decore
Nancy Holland, Airdrie-East
Bill Hall, Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
Samantha Steinke, Central Peace-Notley
John Kittler, Chestermere-Strathmore
Carol Vowk, Drayton Valley-Devon
Vicki Kozmack-LeFrense, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Derrick Casey, Grande Prairie
Dwight Moskalyk, Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland
Jacques Beaudin, Lacombe-Ponoka
Gordon Ferguson, Lesser Slave Lake
Conrad Van Hierden, Livingstone-Macleod
Bill Moore, Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin
Robert Smith, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
Patrick Malkin, Red Deer-South
Brendan Cavanagh, Sherwood Park
Don Hubble, Taber-Warner
The following four constituency associations have also passed the motion:
Airdrie-Cochrane
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
Calgary-North East
Calgary-Klein
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