Two MLAs in the United Conservative Party caucus took aim at Alberta Premier Jason Kenney Tuesday, saying they agree that they have no confidence in him and he should step down..The comments were made during a press conference for the launch of the Free Alberta Strategy Group, a new organization committed to promoting greater sovereignty for Alberta within Canada..On a public Zoom call broadcast on Facebook Live, MLAs Angela Pitt and Jason Stephan were asked “Do you have confidence in the premier right now, and should he still be in the job?” by Globe and Mail reporter James Keller..“The answer to that question is, no I don’t” said Pitt. “And I don’t think that my constituents do either, however, I think that there is a place for the grassroots to take charge of this type of decision, and that’s where it will lie for now.”.Stephan responded to the question immediately after Pitt..“My answer is somewhat similar to my colleague Angela. There’s going to be a leadership review in the spring, and that is [a] good principle of governance, and members will decide. Not me. Not Angela. But the members who elected the premier will decide whether they wish to continue as the leader, and I respect that decision, and I look forward to that happening.”.In response to a later follow-up question, Pitt said that Albertans no longer trust Kenney to govern Alberta..“I certainly can appreciate the difficult position that the premier has been in, making the very difficult decisions that he has to … I believe that we are in a spot right now where Albertans no longer trust the premier, and therefore our government. It makes it very, very difficult to run a province when the trust in the leader is highly diminished.”.When asked why she hasn’t left the UCP caucus, Pitt said the decision should be left to party members..“My constituents certainly haven’t asked me to leave this party … Many of them still [support] the United Conservative Party and the future of this province. And like I said before, I think that the membership of myself in this party, and the premier in this party, is a decision to be made by the grassroots members.”.Questions from reporters about the future of Kenney’s leadership took up much of the press conference for the launch of the Free Alberta Strategy Group (FASG), a new organization dedicated to freeing the province “from Ottawa’s overbearing control and restore self-determination for all Albertans.”.The FASG is a joint initiative between the Alberta Institute and former Airdrie MLA and lawyer Rob Anderson. Pitt succeeded Anderson as the MLA for Airdrie after the latter left politics in 2015..They will be promoting themselves across the province in various town halls, meetings with politicians and community leaders, and through various media platforms and other initiatives..The comments from Pitt and Stephan add to the list of MLAs and party members in open rebellion against Kenney’s leadership..Last week, UCP MLA Leela Aheer told the Calgary Herald’s Don Braid “The only thing that should have happened today is that the premier says he had failed and is stepping down.”.Two weeks ago, the Western Standard reported that three UCP MLAs openly expressed “no confidence” in Kenney at a caucus meeting..Multiple sources inside of the UCP caucus told the Western Standard that they would push for a formal vote of non-confidence in Kenney at a caucus meeting September 22, however, the vote was withdrawn after no secret ballot was allowed. As a compromise, Kenney pledged his support to a moved-up leadership review vote in the spring of 2023..The battle over Kenney’s leadership continues as the party expelled its vice president of policy and governance, Joel Mullan, from its board of directors at a meeting Tuesday morning..Mullan told the Western Standard after the meeting he couldn’t discuss how the group of 16 directors voted because he was still bound by teams of confidentiality..Mullan had written an open letter in the Western Standard calling for Kenney to step down..“They were upset that I had spoken out. Unfortunately, I was not surprised by what they did,” Mullan said..“The board has spent a great deal of effort to protect the leader, not to protect the party.”.Mullan said he is still weighing his options on his next step and continues to shake his head at some of the decisions Kenney has made leading Alberta into a COVID-19 crisis..“They are sailing around like a ship without a commander. They have no course of action,” said Mullan..“I do not regret my actions and am happy to be judged for my conduct by the UCP’s grassroots members. Jason Kenney’s leadership continues to be a shambles that can best be described as a drunk driver weaving back and forth across the road with little clear purpose or goal.
