United Conservative Party critics renew fight for a more robust review of Kenney's leadership
CBC
This column is an opinion from Graham Thomson, an award-winning journalist who has covered Alberta politics for more than 30 years. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
A group of United Conservative Party members are renewing their push for a provincewide vote on Premier Jason Kenney's party leadership.
Their cause might be doomed but they are not going down without a fight.
Spurred on by the Calgary-Fish Creek constituency association, they are not happy with the party's plan to have the leadership review limited to a special general meeting in Red Deer on April 9 where only party members who turn up in person can cast a ballot.
Instead, the displeased members sent a motion to party headquarters late last week asking that the review be opened up to a provincewide vote of all UCP members where they'd be able to cast ballots at special party polling stations set up in every riding – and then have those votes added to the ballots cast at Red Deer.
All of this would be supervised by an independent auditing firm.
"I'm here fighting for fundamental democratic principles," Calgary-Fish Creek MLA Richard Gotfried told CBC News in an exclusive interview Friday.
Gotfried has become a burr under Kenney's saddle over the past year by speaking out against government "hypocrisy" on pandemic restrictions and by voting against the government's Bill 81 on campaign financing.
In Kenney's decidedly conservative UCP caucus, Gotfried is one of the few admitted progressives, being in fact one of only three sitting UCP MLAs who used to be a Progressive Conservative MLA.
He supported Kenney's leadership for the PCs in 2017 and later for the UCP.
However, Gotfried, along with a majority of Albertans, have soured on Kenney's leadership during the pandemic, according to public opinion polls. Among other things, Kenney has been criticized for a top-down, autocratic style.
Gotfried says the party's leadership vote must be open to as many members as possible, not just those who can stack a one-day meeting in Red Deer.
"The whole idea is that the membership will decide and my perspective on it is if we don't have the support of the membership how are we going to move forward and win an election?," he said.
Sensitive to complaints that he is simply trying to dethrone Kenney without considering how this might damage the party, Gotfried is framing the fight not as anti-Kenney but as pro-grassroots.
Moving to Canada from Singapore meant losing close social connections for Iris Akbar, but Akbar says the gift was in finding an affirming space with friends that became like family.
Women and children staying at Regina Transition House now have access to Santa’s workshop — a safe space where mothers can choose Christmas gifts for their children.
A man from Powell River, B.C., is thankful to be alive after a stranger helped him while he was choking at a restaurant during a visit to Whistler.
When it comes to Hamilton readers' favourite library books of 2025, romance and mysteries are in close competition.
From the Detroit Lions losing to Apple iPhones that spontaneously update, Windsorites had things that bugged them this year.
Calgary emergency rooms are “in a state of critical overcapacity” ahead of the anticipated peak of flu season — and to cope with the surge and wait-room crowding, officials are urging doctors to speed up their decisions on whether to admit patients, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.
The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force.
Holiday traditions are front and centre for many people at this time of year. But one Uxbridge family's Christmas tradition goes above and beyond the standard Christmas carols or holiday party.