EXCLUSIVE: UCP board quashes independence debate at coming convention

With the United Conservative Party’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) set to take place later this month in Edmonton, tensions are rising over whether the topic of Alberta’s independence should have been on the docket.Jeffrey Rath of the Alberta Prosperity Project recently called out Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP provincial board on X, saying Smith had “laid down the law” and would “not tolerate any discussion of independence” at this year’s AGM, scheduled to take place Nov. 28–30..Rath stated that during a recent meeting, the board “split on the [premier’s] motion,” and that UCP President Rob Smith cast the deciding vote in favour of quashing the discussion.“Danielle basically put forward a motion from the board saying absolutely not, and the board split evenly, 50-50. Rob Smith cast the tying vote in favour of Danielle. A lot of us are really, really unhappy,” Rath told the Western Standard.“I spoke to Rob Smith earlier this summer, and he promised us that we were going to have a debate on independence at the AGM. So, needless to say, we were all completely shocked when he flip-flopped on us and voted with Danielle to muzzle everyone at the AGM on the subject of independence.”When the Western Standard reached out to the UCP to confirm the meeting and vote had happened, Dave Prisco, director of communications, stated that the board had met to discuss the agenda for the AGM, as "it does every year."“The board decided that, in addition to the legally required portions of our AGM that include debate over our policies and procedures, providing an opportunity for members to hear from the Leader and the President, along with an open microphone for members to ask questions and make suggestions, was the best use of the limited time we have available,” Prisco said.“What our members choose to bring up is completely up to them. That’s the best way to hear directly from them.".UCP members saw through the lowbrow tactics at the AGM.Rob Smith — who is up for re-election — also confirmed to the Western Standard that the vote was tied and that he cast the deciding vote for the 20-member board (18 are eligible to vote).“The board did decide, by majority vote, that a specific sovereignty session, as I had envisioned, was probably not what the members wanted,” Smith said.“I broke the tie in favour of the members of our board that held two beliefs: one was that our AGM, in precipitating what will ultimately be a referendum on the topic of independence, involves a kind of discussion that doesn’t really fit at our AGM.”He explained his rationale, noting that the discussion of independence at a party AGM could risk politicizing what he sees as a broader grassroots movement.“There’s no question there are a pile of UCP members who are independence supporters, and there’s a lot of them on our board,” Smith said.“But if a political party gets involved, that absolutely runs the risk of undermining the movement, because the minute that a political party becomes involved and it becomes a political issue, it ceases to be grassroots... then it becomes a UCP issue, or it becomes an NDP issue.”He added that while a dedicated sovereignty session will not occur, members will still have opportunities to speak on the topic during open-mic sessions throughout the AGM.Rath said that around 4,000 people are planning to attend the meeting, and he hoped they would vote for a “100% pro-independence slate of directors.”He also endorsed Darrell Komick for UCP president, saying the party needs leadership that prioritizes Alberta’s interests.“I personally like Rob Smith; I think he's a great guy,” Rath said.“But he doesn’t have the character we need to lead the party at this point in history. Darrell is 100% Alberta first, and we want somebody who's actually Alberta first, as opposed to someone who just mouths the words.”.Kenney dismisses sovereignty push, APP’s Modry says support growing.Komick, who is Calgary-Lougheed United Conservative Party Constituency Association President, framed his candidacy as an effort to “rescue the Premier and the membership of the party and to unify it.”“I still believe that UCP is a party about exchanging ideas, talking about things, thinking freely, and making decisions that put families in Alberta first,” Komick said.“Whether you want to have [this] conversation or not, people are going to have it. Anytime we kick the can about these conversations, it just never has a good result for the members. To have credibility as a party, we need to understand that these conversations are going to happen, and they’re going to make the leadership feel awkward.”Komick suggested that a session on independence could technically have occurred before the official start of the AGM on the Friday before most of the main sessions begin.“Leadership has to answer questions on sovereignty. As conservatives, we generally agree on 80% of stuff — because we believe in families, free enterprise, fairness, charity, and accountability. We’re in a wonderful spot as a party to have the conversation.”He also highlighted past precedents for discussing hot topics at the AGM, citing the debate on the Alberta Bill of Rights last year.“That was pretty contentious. That didn’t blow the party up. The party tradition could be to take a hot topic and have an informed discussion because these topics are relevant right now — to me and to the other members.”

EXCLUSIVE: UCP board quashes independence debate at coming convention

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