Alberta United Conservative Party members have brought forward several controversial policy resolutions to vote on at the annual general meeting. The Western Standard examined the 35 policy resolutions that will be debated at the Alberta UCP AGM on November 2. Some of the topics these resolutions cover are parental rights, immigration, and campus free speech. Resolutions are submitted through a UCP constituency association (CA). They can be about modifying or adding a policy to the UCP Member Policy Declaration. While the motions are non-binding, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith might follow through on adopting them. Some of the ones being voted on at the AGM have proven to be contentious, which could lead to blowback if they are passed. Here are some of the motions the Western Standard anticipates will cause controversy if passed. • The Banff-Kananaskis, Highwood, and Edmonton-McClung UCP CAs have brought forward a policy resolution to request the Alberta government ensure all hiring practices within the Alberta Public Service and Alberta Crown Corporations are based on merit, competency, and equality and that all diversity, inclusion, and equity programs and training in them be eliminated. “Currently, the Government of Alberta has a Diversity and Inclusion Policy which places significant emphasis on hiring practices based on diversity and inclusion,” said the CAs. “While it is important that a range of social identities are respected and all voices are heard in the Government of Alberta hiring practices, the goal of hiring must be to hire the most qualified individual for a position based on merit and competency regardless of race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.” The CAs said applicants should not be screened based on diversity and inclusion criteria or statements. A study found hiring practices where emphasis is based on diversity and inclusion do not promote equality, are discriminatory, cause division, and can lead to bigotry in the workplace. • To show support for sex-based rights, the Calgary-Lougheed UCP CA has submitted a resolution to protect female spaces and categories for biological females and their children. “The United Conservative Party believes that females deserve and require the safety, privacy, and dignity of spaces and categories reserved solely for them and their young children,” said the CA.“Women’s washrooms, changerooms, shelters and other female spaces are places where women are the most vulnerable — physically and psychologically.” It said the presence of males in these spaces presents a safety issue and a danger to women and girls. Men are being permitted into these spaces based on self-identification or identification as the opposite sex. • The Cardston-Siksika CA has submitted a resolution to have the Alberta government ensure minors are protected from sexually explicit performances and events that receive public funding or are held in public venues. “The primary motivation behind this policy is the protection of minors from content that may be inappropriate or harmful to their development,” said the CA. “Public indecent exposure by topless women and bottomless men have historically been unacceptable behavior and should include events with sexually explicit attire and demeanor.” Research and psychological studies suggest early exposure to sexually explicit or inappropriate content can have adverse effects on young people’s mental and emotional well-being. The CA said the policy “aims to mitigate these risks by ensuring that minors are only exposed to content that is deemed suitable for their age group; thus fostering a safe and healthy environment for their growth and development.” • The Calgary-Edgemont CA has brought forward a resolution to prohibit any consumer carbon tax or cap and trade system from being implemented in Alberta and support federal and interprovincial efforts to axe it. “Having repealed the provincial carbon tax, this policy advocacy calls for continued vigorous opposition to the federal carbon tax while supporting our federal Conservative Party efforts to ‘Axe the Tax,’” said the CA. “The Conservative Party of Canada’s ‘Axe the Tax’ campaign is an initiative aimed at abolishing the federal carbon tax.” Since 2024, the carbon tax rose 25% to $80 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent and is scheduled to increase to $170 per tonne by 2030. The CA said the carbon tax is punitive to consumers and farmers who are trying to make ends meet.• In a move mirroring the last UCP AGM, the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, Cardston-Siksika, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, and Sherwood Park CAs have requested a parental rights bill that ensures parents have the main control of their children. “If a Bill of Parental Rights is to be drafted, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that parental rights are not perceived to be subject to governmental approval or granted to us by the government, instead of their acknowledgement of this natural/God-given right,” said the CAs. “If we the people allow governments to believe they have the power to legitimize these rights in the first place, we may find these same authorities (i.e. another government) then believing that they have the power to make aspects of these very rights illegitimate.” The CAs said a mature minor doctrine has arisen and given justification to circumvent parental rights before minors reach the age of majority. In response, they said such a policy will re-establish the primacy and natural standing of parental rights and ensure governments cannot undermine the role of the family. Alberta UCP members voted to support a policy resolution to require teachers, schools, and school boards obtain parental consent for minors wanting to identify as a different gender at the AGM in November. .Alberta UCP members pass resolution demanding parental consent for gender changes .However, the resolution was not binding on the Alberta government.“Our board brought this resolution forward because the 13-year-old grandchild of one of our board members and seven of her school friends all decided they identified as the opposite sex they were born,” said an Edmonton-West Henday UCP member. • While the Alberta UCP has opposed gender ideology, the Leduc-Beaumont CA has submitted a resolution to ensure all medications, surgeries, and treatments for gender transitions are classified as elective cosmetic procedures. “These are in a realm of cosmetic surgery and costs should not be placed on all taxpayers,” said the CA. • The Calgary-Buffalo and Red Deer-South CAs have crafted a motion calling on the Alberta government to negotiate with the Canadian government to grant the province greater control over immigration and active participation in the selection and rejection process of immigrants coming in. “While Canada’s Constitution Act of 1867 gives the federal government certain powers over immigration, there are areas of shared jurisdiction with the provinces, and there are precedents for provinces creating legislation with the federal government that gives better control over who is permitted into their province, such as the Quebec-Canada Accord,” said the CAs.“As Quebec has asserted its right to define and to protect its cultural heritage and has a role in determining the total numbers of immigrants allowed into the province, Alberta is equally entitled to define and protect our own unique heritage, and we only need to assert that right to improve our quality of life.” By having more control over immigration, the CAs said it will allow Alberta to protect its share of resource royalties, maintain higher wages, preserve voting power, protect the values Albertans hold dear, and claim rights equal to those from other provinces. Rather than have what politicians and special interest groups want, they said the negotiations will serve as an active conversation about what Albertans value and hope to gain from immigration. Smith said in an exclusive interview on the Cory Morgan Show on the Western Standard in August she no longer wanted to increase population growth through higher immigration numbers and said the Canadian government needs to bring in a sensible immigration policy. .EXCLUSIVE: Smith says feds’ immigration policy unsustainable .Some of the changes she said she wants to see are those former prime minister Stephen Harper instituted such as a point system for bringing people in, newcomers matching needs of the economy, and the number of them matching with housing. “And I think what we’re seeing is that especially in Alberta, we’re beginning to feel some of the pressure with that growth, and I think that’s what people are responding to,” she said. • The Calgary-Hays CA has called on the Alberta government to distance itself from the Canadian government in as many facets as possible as a productive member of Confederation. “Furthermore, any right given to another province should be a right given to Alberta,” said the CA. “Any policy that is implemented outside of Alberta that impedes good management and government on behalf of Albertans should be challenged at a constitutional level.” • While the Alberta UCP has a policy on campus free speech, the Lacombe-Ponoka CA has submitted a resolution about modifying it to ensure universities have policies mandating they do not interfere with teaching, learning, or access. “The right to free speech and assembly does not give the right to disrupt other students’ access to learning or a post-secondary campus,” said the CA. “Recent events have seen students occupying post-secondary campuses and interfering with others’ rights to education and access to the campus.” It said this policy clarifies post-secondary institutions should guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly to all students and to learning and accessing their campuses. The Alberta government said in 2023 it will be requiring post-secondary institutions do annual free speech reporting to Advanced Education. .UPDATED: Alberta government commits to strengthening campus free speech.“It is abundantly clear that more needs to be done to ensure our institutions are adequately protecting free speech,” said former Alberta advanced education minister Demetrios Nicolaides. “Alberta’s post-secondary institutions should be bastions of free speech and academic freedom that promote critical thinking.”
