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Alberta Politics

Anti-Abortion activists stage an “invalid takeover” of Alberta’s Social Credit Party

Jeremy Fraser Social Credit Party Alberta Leader
Jeremy Fraser

It has been a long time since Alberta’s Social Credit Party played a central role in mainstream politics in our province. This could be why little attention was paid to the Socred’s annual general meeting in January 2016, where it appears that a group of anti-abortion activists staged a takeover the party leadership.

Len Skowronski, who served as leader from 2007 until the leadership change at the AGM, described it as an “invalid takeover” executed by a group of pro-lifers. “We true Socreds hope to rectify the situation at the next AGM,” Mr. Skowronski wrote in an email to this blogger.

According to Elections Alberta documents, Jeremy Fraser is now the party leader. He previously served as the party’s first vice-president and the party’s candidate in Highwood in the 2015 election, where he earned 187 votes.

Mr. Fraser posted the following message on his Facebook page days before the AGM:

Dear Pro-Life Social Credit Party Members and Supporters,

I want to thank you for all your support of the Social Credit Party over the past year! We have made great progress in building the Pro-Life political movement in Alberta. From recruiting many emerging Pro-Life leaders who have gained valuable knowledge and skills in political leadership on our provincial board to activating lifelong Pro-Life supporters at the grassroots level, helping them engage effectively in our last provincial election.

It hasn’t always been easy, but we have made great strides in promoting Pro-Life public policy and working for a Culture of Life! Thank you!

This Saturday is our Party’s Annual General Meeting. This is a very important opportunity to forward the Pro-Life cause politically in Alberta!

We will be voting to elect a strong team of Pro-Life leaders to the Provincial Executive and Board of Directors. Registration will take place from 1:00-1:30 PM at the Capitol Hill Community Hall, 1531 21 Ave NW, Calgary from 1-4. You can register at the door, $10/person 14yrs or older. Families are welcome to bring their younger children as there will be plenty of room.

This year’s AGM will be critical. We will be voting on the current leadership of the party which could result in the election of a new Leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party. It is vital that we ensure that we vote for a Leader who stands strongly for Pro-Life principles and shares our focus on promoting them openly.

A Social Credit advertisement from Alberta's 1944 election.
A Social Credit advertisement from Alberta’s 1944 election.

Speaking to the High River Times in April 2015, Mr. Fraser was quoted as saying “I will emphasize the Pro-Life values of Albertans, making constituents and other candidates aware of the issues surrounding abortion and how they are directly relevant to provincial policy… We should de-fund abortion and fund the life affirming alternatives of crisis pregnancy support, parental support, and adoption.”

It just so happens that “Eliminate the funding of abortions” is now prominently included in the first section of the Social Credit Party 2019 election platform, which has been published on the party website.

Mr. Fraser was a volunteer for the publicity campaign to recall Highwood MLA Danielle Smith after the former Wildrose leader crossed the floor to the PCs in December 2014. Also volunteering for that campaign were conservative activists Amanda Achtman and Caitlyn Madlener, who are now contributors to Ezra Levant‘s Rebel Media website (Ms. Madlener stood behind Jason Kenney as he launched his campaign for the Progressive Conservative leadership).

Ironically for Mr. Fraser, Alberta’s only recall legislation was repealed by the Social Credit government in 1936.

The Social Credit Party formed government in Alberta from 1935 to 1971. The party last elected an MLA to the Legislature in 1979. Former Social Credit Party leader Randy Thorsteinson, who led the party to win 6.8 percent of the vote in the 1997 election and later formed the Alberta Alliance Party (now known as the Wildrose Party) recently became the leader of the newly formed Reform Party of Alberta.

A message sent to Mr. Fraser was not responded to at the time this post was published.

7 replies on “Anti-Abortion activists stage an “invalid takeover” of Alberta’s Social Credit Party”

@The Invisible Hand: I would imagine he thinks it is invalid because he lost. If Kenney wins the PC leadership I believe that you are going to see the same sort of thing happen to the Centre parties. You are going to have a lot of small c conservatives joining the Alberta Party or the Liberal Party and attempting to influence the direction of those parties.

Neither I, nor 4 other card carrying Alberta Social Credit Party members I contacted on this matter received any communications regarding this meeting. It was blatantly invalid. Not sure where the appeal to the Alberta authorities went, but the fact they are allowed to form another political party shows that yes, invalid does not really apply in today’s ‘democracy’ .

It was a Fildebrandt moment as it were in actions being the opposite fo the supposedly high moral character being professed. Worse, evidence shows most abortions occur because of false financial constraints, and in underhandedly sinking the last monetary reform party in Alberta, these people have ensured that a non-coercive method of saving thousands of lives is not to be.

If anything, they are worse than the mainstream politicians in their secrecy and hypocrisy.

I’m not sure if the modern day Socreds (as opposed to the historic ones who governed Alberta) are even worthy of a blog post…except perhaps as an answer to the question of what will happen to the PCs and Wildrose if a new right of centre party is formed which unites conservative Albertans. That is, the old parties would continue to exist on paper, but only a handful of people would join, run or vote for them. The BC Social Credit party exists on paper as well, although I believe the leadership is vacant. The same thing has happened to Saskatchewan’s PCs and Liberals, after the right was united under the Saskatchewan Party banner.

And those so-called phony conservatives are conservative in name only. In any other province they’d be Liberal or even NDP so they should stop pretending they’re conservatives, be true to their principles, and move over to a centrist party like the Liberals.

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