As the United Conservative Party board prepares to meet to discuss the logistics of Premier Jason Kenney’s upcoming leadership review, a number of UCP Constituency Association presidents have set out a number of recommendations on what they would like to see happen.
In an email to constituency presidents obtained this week by Global News, UCP executive director Dustin van Vugt said the number of people who are signed up for the April 9 vote of confidence has reached almost 14,000.
Saturday was the cutoff day for new members to sign up to vote, but existing members have another three weeks to do so. The party feels it could reach 20,000 registered voters, which far exceeds the capacity of the hotel ballroom set aside in Red Deer.
In a letter to the UCP board Tuesday, 33 Constituency Association presidents laid out five recommendations for the April 9 special general meeting (SGM).
The first request is to keep the SGM in Red Deer. Earlier this week, there was discussion about the possibility of the vote being held in other cities over several days.
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“You decided Red Deer was the location and told us one site helped secure the integrity of the vote,” read the letter obtained by Global News. “We think to change this now becomes an even greater logistical difficulty to ensure volunteers exist in multiple cities.”
The presidents went on to say that changing the location now “makes us look disorganized and unprofessional.”
The group would also like to see the vote take place at the original location: the Cambridge Hotel, proposing that shuttles run from Westerner Park and Red Deer College to help with parking and capacity issues.
The presidents are also proposing that voting hours be extended to allow for 12 hours of voting: from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Other recommendations include increasing the number of volunteer scrutineers overseeing the vote, as well as managing voter lists on paper rather than on electronic forms. The presidents believe relying on any form of electronic lists “seems like a glitch waiting to happen.”
“Thank you for considering our recommendations. Please note these were achieved through consensus, with no single president opposing any of them and all supporting raising them to you,” read the letter.
On Monday, political scientist Duane Bratt said logistically, it makes sense to add venues, but the premier’s opponents don’t trust him.
“There is no trust and there’s a belief that — and I’m one of those who believe that — that it’s being made to further the best interest of Jason Kenney,” Bratt said. “There is no good will here.”
Political scientist Lori Williams said those who oppose Kenney have been recruiting for this vote on the understanding it is being held in Red Deer. She said a possible move to other cities will likely anger those who do not support Kenney’s leadership.
“I think it would have been different if they had signalled earlier and given opponents a chance to recruit on the basis of this information,” she said Tuesday. “But the fact that it wasn’t released until after the membership drive had closed, it looks like it’s trying to give an advantage to the Kenney supporters and to kneecap the opponents.”
Any changes to the voting process would have to be put to the full party executive board for ratification. The UCP board is scheduled to meet Tuesday night to discuss the logistics.
— with files from Tom Vernon, Global News and The Canadian Press.
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