Former UCP MLAs aim to revive the Progressive Conservative party
'Alberta isn't far right, Alberta isn't far left,' explained Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie. 'Alberta is and always has been a progressive conservative province.'
Guthrie and Sinclair were voted out of the UCP caucus earlier this year for speaking against the party, saying they were unhappy with a party they felt was no longer serving the best interests of Albertans.
'I felt both relief and sadness,' Guthrie said. 'Relief because I no longer had to stand beside something I couldn't support, sadness because the UCP was no longer the party I joined. It wasn't the party Albertans elected'
Lesser Slave Lake MLA Scott Sinclair had a similar view, he was voted out of caucus for refusing to support the budget tabled back in March.
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'This premier has done me a great service by removing me from a UCP party I no longer recognize,' Sinclair said to those gathered. 'This new hostile version of the UCP is not the party of Lockheed or even Ralph Klein. Not even close.'
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In order to revive the party, the two MLAs need to obtain at least 8,800 signatures or have three MLAs within their ranks before Nov. 27, 2025. As of Saturday, Guthrie and Sinclair estimated they already had a few hundred signatures and said they are working behind the scenes to get more.
'Based on the overwhelming amount of positive support that we've had in the past few days, I believe we're going to be able to convert those conversations over to signatures quite quickly,' Sinclair said.
Guthrie and Sinclair want to bring discourse back to the middle of the political spectrum, a move one policy expert says could prove fruitful.
'Polling shows that most Albertans view themselves as centrist,' said Lori Williams, a professor of policy at Mount Royal University. 'This could hurt not just the UCP but also the NDP if they get any traction.'
If Sinclair and Guthrie can communicate effectively, Williams continued, they could potentially be a very painful thorn in the government's side.
'If they gain some momentum then the split will no longer be on the right, where Danielle Smith has been focusing her attention, but it might be at the centre,' said Williams, noting that Guthrie and Sinclair's concerns are similar to what brought about change in the 2015 election.
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'If you say there is corruption, if they aren't following their own rules, if they're behaving in a way that's entitled, that's what led to the demise of the Progressive Conservative Party after a 44-year dynasty.'
But former UCP board member and president Cynthia Moore told Global News that support for the government, and especially Premier Smith as leader, won't be shaken by the grumbles of the now independent MLAs.
'I think they're voices in the wind,' Moore said. 'Danielle Smith is doing a phenomenal job. Smith got 91.5 per cent in her most recent leadership review. The party has out fundraised the NDP three-to-one in Q1 of this year… The mood for her leadership is so extremely positive, and people love the fact that she's fighting for Alberta.'
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