Federal Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner will not run for the UCP leadership and Alberta premiership..In a lengthy Substack post, the Calgary-Nose Hill MP said she received significant support for her potential UCP leadership bid..But as she was doing the final preparation to launch her campaign, she said she identified a serious concern — the significant hurt and uncertainty in the UCP caucus team..The next United Conservative Party leader will have less than a year to address it before Alberta's provincial election, Rempel Garner said. .“In running for leader I would want to put team development at the heart of the time I spent in the role,” she wrote..“But in this I also have to consider that even if I won this leadership contest, I might not get the chance to try.”.The federal MP said she’s on the outside of the UCP caucus and doesn't know where all the sore spots are from the events of the last couple of years. .As well, Rempel Garner said no one she's spoken to feels there's a simple policy vision that could inspire the team to easily overcome the division in a short period..“It can be done, but the caucus would immediately have to come together under a leader and be able to work together in good faith to make it so,” she wrote..On this, she said "the jury was already out for me" when she read a news article on Tuesday that confirmed her concerns "as it pertains to me.”.On Tuesday, the Western Standard reported the UCP’s Leadership Election Committee decided to grant federal Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner an exemption to enter the party’s leadership race, even as MLAs warned it sets a “dangerous precedent.”.READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: UCP clears Rempel to seek leadership as MLAs backing rivals move to disqualify her.Rempel Garner required the waiver because she didn't meet a requirement to have a membership for six months prior to the race. Her membership lapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she didn't realize until she went to register to vote in Premier Jason Kenney's leadership review, she said in her Substack. .Under contest rules, the LEC is required to consult with MLAs before granting an exemption, which they did so on Monday night. Thirteen of 17 MLAs who spoke on the call advised against the waiver, with comments that "the rules are the rules" and Rempel Garner “knows the game” and should therefore know better. .Of the 13 MLAs who spoke against the exemption, eight have endorsed UCP leadership candidates Travis Toews. One has endorsed UCP leadership candidate Rebecca Shulz..Rempel Garner said senior members, including people who she’s had decades long and close friendships with, participated in an attempt to "scuttle something minor the rules allowed for. ".“And while the waiver was granted, and I didn’t take any of this stuff to heart, my suspicions about what I’d be in for from caucus if I became leader were validated.”.READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: UCP MLAs to discuss allowing Rempel Garner to run for leadership.There are great candidates for the UCP, but the issues within the party are real, she said..The federal politician said she made her stance public "not to cause trouble," but to be transparent. She also said she wants to ensure there's no speculation about her decision..“And, bluntly put, I’m concerned about what would happen if I stepped in as leader under the present internal UCP caucus dynamic, especially considering we would need to govern while preparing for a rapidly approaching general election.".Rempel Garner's bid has been heavily anticipated since the Western Standard first reported earlier this month she was considering a run..UCP members will elect a new leader and premier on October 6.
