RED DEER, Alta.—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith passed her leadership vote with 91.5 percent support at the UCP annual convention in Red Deer on Nov. 2.
“Our party is more united than it’s ever been,” Smith said in a speech after the results were announced, adding that she’s “truly humbled and honoured by the overwhelming support.”
United Conservative Party rules consider a vote of 50 percent or higher a pass.
Earlier in the day, Smith had asked UCP members to avoid factional conflicts to ensure the party remains “strong, unified, and boldly governing our province.”
“We are a loud and raucous and opinionated family, but we are a great family nonetheless,” she said.
In her speech, the premier said there’s been a national resurgence for conservative parties, pointing to the rise of the Conservative Party in B.C. starting with no seats in the legislature after the previous election and forming the official Opposition after the October election, as well as the rise of the federal Conservatives.
“We are seeing a rise in common-sense conservative policies and principles gaining traction and momentum right across the country,” Smith said.
She denounced “eco-extremism” and said “big government” is failing in the court of public opinion, and that the values of fiscal conservatism, free markets, and individual freedom and personal responsibility are becoming more prevalent.
Smith said her government has stood for protecting personal freedoms and parental rights, promoting low taxes, and standing up to Ottawa. She added that while there’s still much work to be done on health care, her government has already started work on having “fewer paper pushers and far more nurses and doctors.”
She said her recently tabled legislation to ban gender transition for minors is about allowing people to be adults before making a decision to permanently alter their bodies, and that she is amending the provincial Bill of Rights to ensure no future Alberta government can impose mandatory vaccination.
Leadership Vote
Ahead of the leadership vote, some groups had organized members to attend the annual general meeting in order to vote against the premier.David Parker, founder of Take Back Alberta who helped take down former Premier Jason Kenney, was one of those organizing votes against Smith. A former Smith ally, Parker had a falling-out with the premier after he made comments involving federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s wife on social media earlier this year.
“As [Smith] separated herself from me, I became more and more aware of the corruption that was going on. I think the final nail in the coffin for me was when she keeps promising things and not delivering,” Parker said in an interview.
But many others attended the convention to counter those opposing votes. This year’s event had around 6,000 attendees, a record number, with 4,633 people voting in the leadership review.
Energy Minister Brian Jean said Smith has the support of the party because “she’s listening to Albertans.”
“She’s taking action in the best interest of Albertans, and she’s standing up against Ottawa. It’s a great thing to see,” he told The Epoch Times.
UCP member Jay Hildebrand said the high number of votes that Smith received show that members were happy with the things she’s been able to deliver on.
“It sends a clear message to the premier, to the province, and to the party,” he said in an interview.
“There’s a number of things she said she was going to do that she’s delivered on, [including] the strong stance on parental rights and returning some sanity to the province.”
UCP rules require leadership reviews to occur once in a three-year period. Since the party had a leadership election in 2022 and a general election in 2023, the leadership vote was held at this year’s two-day convention, which started on Nov. 1.
Smith won the leadership race in 2022 and led the party to a majority election win against the NDP in 2023.
Former Premier Kenney decided to step down in 2022 after receiving 51.4 percent of the vote, saying it was “not adequate support to continue on as leader.”
Ahead of the vote, Smith didn’t say what threshold she was looking for to stay on, only noting that she wanted to improve on the 53.8 percent support she received in the 2022 leadership election.
Alberta’s long-time Progressive Conservative Premier Ralph Klein decided to retire early after receiving 55 percent support at his leadership review in 2006. This was lower than the 75 percent he had specified that he wanted to see to stay on as leader, and far lower than the 90 percent level of support he had received in two previous reviews.
Former premiers Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford, who both resigned before their full terms ended, each received 77 percent support in their leadership review votes in 2009 and 2013 respectively.
