EDMONTON — The Highwood UCP constituency association board voted Thursday to call for a leadership review of Premier Danielle Smith, becoming the first of 22 associations needed to trigger a Special General Meeting. Sources familiar with the situation confirmed to the Western Standard that the association's board voted in favour of the review on Thursday, though it is not a direct call for the removal of Smith as party leader. Smith is not scheduled for a leadership review until 2027, although the party's bylaws allow for constituency associations to trigger an early review if 22 of the 87 pass a motion to do so. Alberta independence advocate and vocal Smith critic Jeffrey Rath posted about the news on X on Friday and said the motion passed 14 to 4; however, the Western Standard has not confirmed this number. The Western Standard has contacted the Highwood constituency association president, the UCP party, Highwood MLA and Minister of Affordability and Utilities RJ Sigurdson's constituency office, and Smith's office. .Thursday's vote comes after the Alberta NDP candidate Kyle Campbell defeated UCP candidate Mike Derry in the Calgary-Shaw byelection on Monday. Their victory marks only the second time in 12 elections where Calgary-Shaw residents have not voted for a conservative candidate. Many have speculated that the UCP's defeat in the riding that Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has called the "second or third" most conservative in Alberta is an indictment of Smith and the UCP government ahead of the October 2027 election. Despite the speculation, polling conducted by Abacus Data between Sept. 4 and 7 showed Smith and the UCP with 52% support, compared to 39% for the Alberta NDP. Smith's approval rating reached a tenure low at 38% in September, according to an Angus Reid Institute poll released on Tuesday. The drop comes as Albertans express frustration with how Smith has handled the Alberta independence debate. The premier has said she favours a "sovereign Alberta within a united Canada," but she has also helped pave the way for an Alberta independence question in the October referendum. Polls suggest that 58% of Albertans disapprove of how she has handled the movement. Federalists have argued that her actions show that she is not truly in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada; otherwise, she would cancel the referendum. Independence supporters, who mainly reside within the UCP's membership, have said she has turned her back on them by not calling for a binding vote. Frustration among Alberta independence supporters within the UCP has led some vocal members, including Rath, to call for Smith's removal for months. .Highwood's vote also comes after Rath and fellow Alberta independence leader Mitch Sylvestre claimed on Wednesday that someone from the premier's office previously offered them a combined $6 million in exchange for Rath no longer criticizing Smith and Sylvestre no longer pushing for independence. Rath claims the allegations, as well as the Government of Alberta's use of funds to advocate against the Alberta independence movement, were both "inflammatory factors." The individual in question is media executive Matthew Altheim, who does not work for Smith or her team. His company has a contract with the Government of Alberta's communication and public engagement department. Both Altheim and Smith's office have said the allegations are “fabricated and false.” "Meeting was brief," wrote Altheim in a statement to the Western Standard on Wednesday. "I listened to his opinions on independence, which I did not agree, and his opinions on a Alberta firearms license- which I very much agreed. Alberta should manage its own firearms program separate from Ottawa.""I shook his hand-- which was a bit too soft for a guy that wears a cowboy hat-- and that was it.".The UCP's governance manual and by-laws require the party's leader to face a review at their Annual General Meeting every three years. The party may also call for one at a special general meeting if 2/3 of the party's board pass a motion, or if 1/4 of the constituency association boards vote for one. Smith last faced a leadership review at the UCP's AGM in 2024, which she passed with 91.5% support.
