The Alberta UCP constituency association (CA) in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills voted almost unanimously to trigger a prompt leadership review of Premier Jason Kenney..The party currently has a review scheduled for late 2022, but that could be within six months of the next election, and for UCP CA President Robert Smith, that’s not good enough..By a vote of 27-1, the CA’s board voted to send a letter to the party on Friday demanding a review before that as soon as possible, but before next March, said Smith.. Screen-Shot-2021-09-17-at-12.53.08-PMOlds-Didbury-Three Hills motion .“We would love for it to happen tomorrow,” Smith said in an interview with the Western Standard..“In talking to people, mainly rural people, it’s fair to say we have no confidence in the premier.”.While the letter was sent on the heels of controversial new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions introduced by Kenney—including the imposition of a vaccine passport—Smith stressed the letter wasn’t as a result of that, but had been brewing for months..But he said those restrictions could help the momentum to reach the mark of 22 ridings needed to spark a leadership review..Smith said he gets a sense in talking to other constituency association leaders “critical mass of 22 ridings could have been reached now..“I feel confident in saying that target can now be met. I’m surprised it hasn’t been met before,” he said.. WS EXCLUSIVE: UCP vice-president calls for emergency meeting to initiate leadership reviewClockwise, Jason Nixon, Tyler Shandro, Jason Kenney, Travis Toews, and an unidentified guest on the rooftop patio of the “Sky Palace” .One of the biggest concerns for the board was when the infamous pictures were published of Kenney holding an outdoor dinner on the balcony of the “Sky Palace” in contravention of the government’s of laws, regulations, and guidelines..“The entitlement and the double standard incensed the board,” said Smith, adding his board members were also disturbed by the government’s handling the new curriculum for schools..“We had teachers on the board who said educators weren’t even consulted on the issue,” said Smith..He added the government’s handling of contract talks between doctors and nurses was also a problem for the board..“It was mishandled. There were betters ways to handle it than what was done.”.Government committees, such as the one on agriculture, were ignored when they tried to approach the government with ideas, Smith said..They were just ignored, not listened to, perhaps ghosted.”.In April, a UCP MLA told the Western Standard they are “100% certain” Kenney will be the subject of an early party leadership review..“Caucus is in total chaos,” said the MLA, who spoke with the Western Standard on the condition of anonymity..The Western Standard reported earlier there are at least eight ridings now on board for a review..Even earlier this week there were signs of dissension with the UCP Caucus..During a tense meeting of caucus Tuesday, three MLAs told Kenney they had “no confidence” in his continued premiership of the province and leadership of the party, multiple sources told the Western Standard..Sources inside of the caucus told the Western Standard the emergency meeting saw sharp polarization around the issues of putting the province under another lockdown, a potential mandatory vaccine passport, and firing healthcare workers who do not agree to be vaccinated..According to the MLAs who attended the caucus meeting, three MLAs openly told Kenney they had “no confidence” in him, and that several others implied as much using softer language..The sources all gave the same three names, but none of the three MLAs responded to request for comment or confirmation from the Western Standard..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
