Former Alberta United Conservative MLAs Looking to Revive Provincial PC Party

Two former United Conservative Party (UCP) MLAs who were removed from caucus are hoping to revive the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta to challenge Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP.

The PC Party was in power for more than 40 years in the province, losing in 2015 to the NDP under Rachel Notley. The party merged with the Wildrose Party in 2017, forming the United Conservative Party under the leadership of former federal Conservative cabinet minister and Premier Jason Kenney.

Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair announced their plans to unite and take over the PC name during a media interview on July 2.

Guthrie was expelled from the UCP caucus in April after voting for an opposition NDP motion calling for a public inquiry into procurement practices after allegations of political interference with Alberta Health Services procurement, made by former CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos. Premier Smith denies any wrongdoing.

Sinclair was voted out of the UCP caucus in March after saying he would vote against the government budget, saying he objects to the government running deficits. He also supported the NDP motion for a public inquiry.

Both MLAs say they envision the revived party as one of fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability. They made the comments during an interview on the Ryan Jespersen Show.

The duo will be starting a petition to take ownership of the Progressive Conservative name, which requires 8,900 signatures, Guthrie said.

“We believe that rebooting the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta is really going to ignite a large amount of the population who are looking for a new voice and a new vision of a party,” Guthrie told the show.

Sinclair said they were “excited” about the idea.

“The stance that both former minister Guthrie and I took were on principle and on values that we think of a lot of Albertans are missing right now, and we’ve seen a swelling of support,” Sinclair said.

He added that they’ve been talking to people who feel like they don’t have a political home right now.

He said that the political arena in Alberta has become divisive, offering only two options.

When asked her response to the announcement, Premier Smith told reporters she believed Albertans approved of the work her party was doing, as demonstrated by the level of support and voting numbers, noting her party was out-fundraising the NDP by three to one.

“Those are the measures that I am looking at, and we’ll be prepared to make our case in the next election no matter who ends up being on the ballot,” she said on July 2.

Smith also noted that there were legalities about the use of the PC name.

“Elections law makes it clear that new parties can’t use the name of the former legacy parties of the UCP, and the reason for that is to avoid confusion with voters. So we expect the law to be followed,” she told reporters at the news conference.

Smith added that it was “good for democracy” to have options.

Elections Alberta told The Epoch Times in an email that the “Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta” name was reserved. The “reserved” status expires in November.

It said the only restrictions for a party to be registered are that the party name is not in use and the acronym is not the same or similar to an existing registered party.

Elections Alberta also confirmed that the party has not submitted a registration.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the decision by Sinclair and Guthrie was “another clear sign” that Albertans were “unhappy with this current UCP government and are demanding better for our province.”

Departure

In March, the UCP caucus called its decision to expel Guthrie a difficult one, saying he had “made it clear” he does not support the government’s decision to wait on the outcome of investigations launched into the AHS procurement issue.

Smith has said her government is fully cooperating with the investigations and that she also wants to know if there was any wrongdoing, saying she has not been involved in procurement decisions.

Three investigations into the issue have been launched, one that is headed by Judge Raymond Wyant, one by the provincial auditor general, and one by RCMP.

Mentzelopoulos has also filed a lawsuit against the government saying she was fired after launching an internal investigation of the procurement processes. The government says she was let go because she “failed” to fulfill her responsibilities. It also said there was a clause in Mentzelopoulos’s employment agreement that allowed for early termination.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

When it expelled Guthrie, the UPC caucus said it was also clear that he wanted to “publicly voice his opposition” to the government over the issue.

In February, Guthrie had resigned as infrastructure minister, citing his concerns over the government’s procurement practices across all departments.

He had continued to sit as a UCP MLA.

Carolina Avendano contributed to this article.