Saturday, November 02, 2024

UCP not right wing enough for Take Back Alberta

The United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta is having its annual general meeting in Red Deer, among reports that the party is anything but united.

Specifically, the meeting will be voting on whether Premier Danielle Smith, who has been at the helm of the UCP since October 2022, is fit to continue leading the party. Ms. Smith is regarded by the rest of Canada as a rabid right-wing hawk, but most of the grievances against her leadership seem to be coming from the RIGHT of her party, particularly groupings like Take Back Alberta and the 1905 Committee that helped get her elected in the first place.

Take Back Alberta seems still to be hung up on opposition to COVID-19 restrictions - remember those? - although they also claim to be exercised by "freedom, accountability and healthcare choices" in some vague, general way. For some reason, many of them feel that, for all Smith's radical and extreme legislative agenda over the last couple of years, she has been something of a "disappointment" to Take Back Alberta. Which is a scary  thought.

These people would not be out of place in Texas or Wyoming. They seem very out of place in Canada.

UPDATE

In the end, Smith won a resounding 91.5% of the UCP vote, so I guess she's right-wing enough after all. Not exactly the "stern message" her right flank was thinking of...

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