Latest news with #CamDavies
National Post
24-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
'It's not great': Alberta independence movement takes hit in Olds byelection
OTTAWA — David Parker, the founder of conservative activist group Take Back Alberta, said on Monday morning that, by the end of the day, Albertans would know the strength of the province's budding independence movement. Article content 'It's not great,' he tweeted shortly before midnight, as the the last of the results trickled in from Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Article content Article content The rural Alberta riding, one of three up for grabs in Monday's provincial byelection, was closely watched for a potential separatist breakthrough. Article content Article content In the end, the two pro-independence candidates on the ballot took home a respectable 19 per cent of the vote, but fell short of both major parties. Article content According to preliminary results, the UCP's Tara Sawyer won easily with 61 per cent of the vote with NDP candidate Bev Toews taking home 20 per cent, edging out Republican Party of Alberta leader Cam Davies by 365 votes. Davies told the National Post that the third-place finish won't break his spirits. Article content 'I see a lot of talking heads and pundits and pollsters that are all quite vigorously calling for us to pack it in. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news for them, but we're just getting started,' said Davies. Article content Davies, who favours Alberta becoming an independent constitutional republic, concedes that the Alberta Republicans' name and red colours may have tethered it too closely to U.S. President Donald Trump. Article content '(The branding) certainly did cause questions about what we were,' said Davies Article content 'Did it leave an opening for others to spread misinformation? Absolutely it did.' Article content Davies pushed back against assertions throughout the campaign that he wants Alberta to enter the U.S. as the 51st state, a claim he flatly denies. Article content Davies, who lives in south Red Deer, said he'll be running in the next provincial election but hasn't decided which riding he'll run in. Article content Wildrose Loyalty Coalition candidate Bill Tufts finished well behind the top three with just over one per cent of the vote. Article content Most of the riding overlaps with Olds-Didsbury, where pro-independence candidate Gordon Kesler won a surprise byelection victory in 1982, becoming the only separatist to ever sit in Alberta's legislature. Article content Jeff Rath, a lawyer with the pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project, said that the easy UCP win was a testament to party leader and Premier Danielle Smith's continued popularity with the party's grassroots.
Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Farage inspires rural Canadians to demand independence from Carney
It doesn't get much more Canadian than an ice hockey watch party at a sports bar in Olds, a small town in the middle of rural Alberta that could not be further from the political elites who run the country from the Far East. Cam Davies, the leader of the recently renamed Republican Party of Alberta, slaps backs and shakes hands as he signs up new supporters for the cause of independence, even among those keeping one eye on the biggest game of the season. 'Alberta has a very different mindset. We are a unique culture, farming, ranching, oil and gas sector, mining, forestry,' he says, sipping on a Diet Pepsi and explaining why the province is different to the rest of Canada. 'The people who settled Alberta at the turn of the century left the safety and security of downtown Montreal and Toronto embracing literally nothing. They embraced the risk. They embraced the opportunity in pursuit of freedom and a better life for their families.' 'I'd like to toast that man' The province has long felt unfairly treated by leaders in the capital Ottawa. Its oil and gas fields make it a key contributor to the national economy but those industries have chafed against new environmental regulations. Now, the Republican Party of Alberta, buoyed by Nigel Farage 's success at breaking through an older party's monopoly on rightwing voters, is pursuing its goal of splitting from Canada with renewed enthusiasm. Hopes of a more friendly government were dashed in April when the Liberal Party came from behind to win its fourth general election in a row. But Mark Carney's arrival as prime minister triggered a surge in interest in independence as the only way to improve Alberta's prosperity. The Liberal leader may have done more than any other politician in recent history to promote the cause runs the local joke. 'I'd like to toast that man,' says Miles Myers, who is Mr Davies' campaign manager. The separatists face their first test on Monday when voters go to the polls in a provincial by-election. 'So focused on woke ideologies' Mr Davies is running to represent the riding of Olds-Didsbury-Hills (an area the size of Belgium, he says) in the Alberta legislature. He is an unlikely standard bearer for an independent Alberta at a time when tensions with the US are running high over Donald Trump's plan to make Canada his 51st state. The 34-year-old politician is a joint US-Canadian citizen, and he spent four years in the US Marines. He says he and his friends looked at joining the Canadian army. 'Under Justin Trudeau, they were, they were so focused on woke ideologies, gender quotas, tampons in the men's room,' he says. 'We have the same problem in Canada as the UK' After four years of service, he is now a full-time politician. Earlier this year he left the United Conservative Party, which runs Alberta, to join the Republicans, which had recently changed its name from the Buffalo Party. Victory here, he explains, would be the first step towards a referendum on breaking away, much like the UK's Brexit vote. 'We have the same problem in Canada as the UK had with a bunch of brainless socialists and spineless conservatives,' he said. 'What we want to make sure happens is that we have a successful referendum, and there's no five years of foot-dragging like what it took for Brexit. Rip the Band Aid off, get it done.' Behind him, the big TV screens show the Edmonton Oilers (about two hours up the road) going two early goals down in their Stanley Cup final game against the Florida Panthers. 'We are being taxed to death' The atmosphere in the bar is muted, in part because this is Calgary Flame territory (an hour down the road), explains Richard Lefaivre, who has one eye on the action. He has signed up Mr Davies' campaign and bought a $20 hat, emblazoned with a map of Alberta and an 'R' for Republicans. 'We work hard and we are being taxed to death,' he said. One of the key issues in the general election was a cost of living crisis that has sent house prices spiralling beyond the reach of young people. Pierre Polievre, the Conservative leader, presented himself as the candidate of change but eventually lost to Mr Carney, who it turned out was just enough of a change from his Liberal predecessor Mr Trudeau to eke out a narrow victory. Danielle Smith, Alberta's premier, is pushing Ottawa for legislative reform and infrastructure projects, such as an oil pipeline, to boost the province's economy and mute calls for separatism. 'Give Mark Carney a chance' She has offered a referendum if a petition gathers enough support. But Mr Davis and his supporters say she has not gone far enough and is giving Mr Carney too much credit. 'You have a Conservative government here in Alberta that wants to give Mark Carney a chance,' he said. 'And my message to folks is Mark Carney wrote the book on how to be a socialist. Trudeau just read it.' The hated Mr Trudeau may have been dumped out of power, runs the argument, but his replacement is much cleverer and much more dangerous. Their argument faces an uphill battle. Analysts suggest Ms Smith's United Conservative Party is the favorite to win the seat. 'Our voters are enthusiastic' For Mr Davies, the campaign is about demonstrating a growing movement. 'We started at zero,' he says. 'What I can tell you is that our voters are enthusiastic.' Even if they are not always totally on the same page. 'I'm hoping Carney says something about us becoming the 51st state,' Sue Carney, who describes herself as a farm wife, says with a broad smile in contrast to the anxious grimaces she triggers among the party officials at the table beside her. 'Anything is better than what we have got.'
CBC
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
How voters in rural conservative heartland wrestle with Alberta separatism
Cam Davies asked the audience in the Three Hills community hall for a show of hands: who believes Alberta should give Prime Minister Mark Carney a chance to provide for their province. Among the approximately 150 people at this pro-independence event, one hand went up. "There's always one," remarked Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, to scattered laughter. The event in this central Alberta town of about 3,000 was pitched as a lecture series on the upsides of Alberta separation, but doubled as a campaign rally for Davies, running in the upcoming provincial byelection in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Electing a separatist here, attendees were told, would send a message to the federal and provincial governments. Gord Kesler was there to testify to that — he'd grabbed headlines 43 years ago for winning a provincial seat for another separatist party, during another stretch of heated anti-Ottawa mood. "I'd love to brand you all freedom warriors," Kesler said, asking how many in the crowd would vote for Davies. Most hands went up, but some noticeably stayed down. Part of that may reflect geographical reality. Some in the hall, including a local separatist and the town mayor, said they only recognized around one-quarter or fewer of the audience as Three Hills residents. Several attendees visited from an hour's drive or more away — places like Calgary, or Ponoka County, or Westlock. Three Hills resident Mike Litke and his partner paid $20 each for Republican ballcaps — his in camouflage, hers in tan — and believe Alberta would be freer and better off if the province became its own republic. They'd travelled elsewhere before for separatist gatherings, but this was their first in their hometown. Almost the first time they've heard the topic come up in Three Hills. "I haven't heard separation mentioned in this town at all," Litke said. But if you talk to people in and around Three Hills, they've thought plenty about Alberta's place within Canada. You will hear how they hold out hope for a better deal (and a pipeline or two) from Carney, and how that big option to leave will wind up being more tempting if nothing changes. CBC Calgary and the Front Burner podcast ventured to Three Hills because it's in Alberta's political crosshairs like no other place. Residents vote not only in next Monday's provincial byelection, but also in the coming weeks in the federal Conservative stronghold of Battle River–Crowfoot, where the MP resigned this week so Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can secure a seat after losing his own riding in Ottawa in the federal election. Alberta independence may become its own ballot question here next year if a looming petition drive is successful in triggering a provincial referendum. With support for separatism running below 30 per cent throughout Alberta and much lower in Calgary and Edmonton, activists will have to run up the numbers in places like Three Hills if they want Alberta out of Canada. Like many other residents in the area, realtor Donald MacDonald uses marital analogies to describe the strained relationship between Alberta and Canada. "In any marriage, there comes points in time where people do not feel respected, where we lose every sense of trust, and where things are dictated to you, where people vote with their feet," said MacDonald, who won a 1992 provincial byelection in Three Hills for a more conservative version of the Alberta Liberals. "So, my hope, my prayer, is that we are able to resolve things. There is a reality that people get pushed too far and they say, 'Enough is enough.'" Personally, MacDonald isn't there, certainly not yet. His dad served Canada in the Second World War, and he considers himself patriotic. But he's convinced the status quo isn't working, and supports Premier Danielle Smith's push to demand Ottawa clear the way for new energy corridors to export more of Alberta's oil and gas. "The separatist parties that are driving a wedge here, trying to drive a wedge right now, that we're gonna change all this overnight, that's naive," MacDonald said. "Any kind of change is a process. It's going to take time." Ray Wildeman, the mayor of Three Hills, said he met Davies at a vintage car show downtown this month. He warned the separatist candidate he doesn't want to throw Canada into the crusher, "in the hopes it's going to be reshaped into some grand new design." The mayor recalled Davies' response: Ottawa built the crusher. Wildeman has perused the rosy financial pictures that separation advocates paint of a standalone Alberta that avoids equalization and federal taxes, and wishes more of them understood like he does how government and bureaucracies really work. "That's what I see for an independent Alberta, a lot of frantic scurrying around trying to recreate what we already have in place," the mayor said. He thinks most people in his town see it the way he does. "They see confusion, they see chaos, are they going to see more dollars in their pocket? Maybe in the short term." Even having a red Republican Party lawn sign for Davies wasn't necessarily a clear indication somebody was separatist. Pat Elliott, who works in the kitchen of the town's century-old bible college, said she agreed to let a polite door-knocker put it in the front yard outside her mobile home. She supported some of the party's ideas, like fighting for a better federal relationship, but insisted: "No, I am definitely not a separatist. "I have a daughter that lives in P.E.I.," Elliott said. "Is she going to be needing a passport to come and see me? Or do I need one to go visit her? I should hope not." Sonja Farrell is ready to take Alberta out of Canada, and sort out the consequences later. She moved from Ontario two decades ago to attend bible college in Three Hills, and found work in the town post office. When Canada Post mandated she wear a medical mask during the COVID pandemic, that was a sign to Farrell that Canada was headed in the wrong direction. She was at the independence event, serving up coffee and cookies from the community hall's kitchen. Her vision of Alberta separatism is less economically centred than others. "To me I see Alberta being a bit of a beachhead, a place where we can keep that last refuge of freedom or at least start it so that there is freedom in Canada because I think that freedom is going to be a thing of the past." Frustrations with the pandemic laws seem to have lit a fire for many independence backers. Litke said he'd been a support driver for the Freedom Convoy activists in Coutts, Alta., and wore a "resistance" sweatshirt with a tattered Canadian flag emblem in memory of the convoy. Jacquie Bargholz said she began attending speaker events during COVID, events that sometimes flouted gathering limits. Some of those same speakers were advocating separatism this month in Three Hills, and she drove from Sundre, more than one hour to the west, to hear them again. She wore a "More Alberta, Less Ottawa" sweatshirt she picked up at a UCP convention in 2023, though her stance has now evolved to "No Ottawa." "We can be an independent province. Back then I didn't think that," Bargholz explained. "I thought we were strong, we're going to stand up for ourselves within Canada. I don't think it can happen any more." Her adult son Ryan Bargholz joined her in Three Hills. "It's time for us to stand up for ourselves and be on our own, make decisions with our own money and not spend it on Ottawa and Quebec and their happiness." The mix of locals and visitors at the independence rally was dwarfed by a crowd that gathered earlier that week for a town hall with Premier Smith and Tara Sawyer, the grain farmer running for the UCP in the riding. In front of more than 300 in the bible college's chapel, Sawyer appeared to warn about Davies's party without naming it. "Some forces are trying to divide us and split the [conservative] vote," she said. "We cannot let that happen." That event's main draw was the premier, and attendees had many questions for Smith, on everything from health policy and education to wind power and Smith's appointment of Sawyer as a candidate. Fourteen questions in all — and none concerned separation. In an interview, Davies called Three Hills his "toughest area in the whole riding," and said separatism gets more support in other towns. While some UCP insiders quietly doubt his assertion, there were noticeably more Republican party signs on lawns in the town of Didsbury, a 45-minute drive to the west, than in Three Hills when the CBC news crews rolled through last week. A Janet Brown Opinion Research survey last month found that 38 per cent of rural Albertans would vote yes to separate in a referendum, compared to 28 per cent in the province overall. MacDonald, when told CBC News hadn't found as many determined separatists as polls suggest exist in small towns, suggested a trip to Three Hills's agricultural outskirts. At Harold Bayes's cattle feedlot, the third-generation farmer offered more marriage analogies. "If we can't get from a contemptuous relationship to a collaborative relationship, at some point and time, the final separation happens, right?" Bayes said at his dining room table. He feels if there isn't change, especially movement on interprovincial pipelines, "I'd be out the door." Bayes said he'd likely sign a petition demanding a secession referendum, to "bring the thing to a head" and make the federal government pay attention. The idea of having Poilievre as his riding's MP after the next byelection doesn't move Bayes much. "It's not like I would think there's a great big perk coming to our constituency just because he's the leader of the Opposition, right?" Keith Doerksen, his grain farmer friend, said he's getting close to the "enough is enough" point as well. "There's lots of us with one foot out the door, but we're just waiting for some leadership, federal leadership, to show which way we're going to go." But Doerksen also believes that Alberta would never separate. Become more autonomous within confederation perhaps, but not leave entirely. "What's to be gained by creating your own landlocked country?" he asks. At the entry gates to his cattle farm, Bayes keeps up a Canadian flag and an ultramarine Alberta flag. He'd just replaced both that day, after the old ones had been tattered in the wind. He's asked if he gives any thought to only keeping the blue one. Not at all, Bayes said. "I still live in Canada."
