Party leader and MLA Peter Guthrie announced his party's new name, "Progressive Tory Party of Alberta," on Thursday, as the former "Alberta Party" makes its second attempt rebrand attempt in under four months. "The Progressive Tory Party of Alberta officially launched today, offering Albertans a progressive conservative option rooted in fiscal responsibility, social reliability, and respect for democratic institutions," reads a statement posted on the party's website.According to Guthrie, the rebranding aims to provide an alternative conservative option alongside the UCP. "So that's right, there will be another conservative option on the ballot in the next election, one that is socially reliable, fiscally responsible, and answers to all of you," said Guthrie in a video posted on X. .The party and the UCP have been in a dispute for several months, which began when the Alberta Party attempted a rebrand in September, seeking to become the "Alberta Progressive Conservative Party."Elections Alberta never officially approved the first rebrand attempt.In November, it was revealed that the UCP was taking the Alberta Party to court over the naming rights to the term "Progressive Conservative."The first rebrand attempt was halted when the UCP caucus passed Bill 14, which requires Elections Alberta to reject a party’s request to change its name if the new name contains a distinctive word or phrase that could cause confusion with another party’s name. “Some folks out there want to confuse people into voting for them based on the name conservative,” said Justice Minister Mickey Amery when introducing the bill. “But this is not a partisan issue. Let me be clear about that.”.Restricted names listed in Bill 14 included "conservative," "advantage," "democratic," "independence," "liberal," "wild rose," and "republican."Guthrie has been vocally critical of the restrictions in Bill 14."This was a calculated move to block competition but we’re not backing down and we’re ready for what’s next," Guthrie wrote in an X post on Wednesday."We’re seeking a new name that honours our responsible, compassionate, fiscally sensible vision – one that defends Alberta through collaboration and reason, not division.""Big things ahead. Stay tuned.".When announcing the newest rebrand, Guthrie said that Elections Alberta approved the name change on Thursday.As of Thursday night, the elections office has not released a statement confirming the party's name change or updated its name in the website directory.
