Categories
Alberta Politics

UCP backbenchers revolt against mild public health restrictions as COVID third wave hits Alberta

New cases of COVID-19 are on the rise and the third wave of the global pandemic is hitting Alberta, but that did not deter a group of nearly 20 United Conservative Party MLAs from publicly speaking out against the provincial government’s implementation of mild public health restrictions in response.

Like the virus, the group of COVID critics inside the UCP Caucus has grown exponentially from the original six-pack of MLAs who publicly spoke out against public health measures at the beginning of March. The public letter signed by 15 UCP MLAs criticized Premier Jason Kenney for moving back to Step 1 of the province’s mild public health measures in response to the spike in new cases, which is largely a result of a vicious new variant of the deadly virus.

The group of 15 includes Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper, who made an unusual move for a Speaker of the Assembly to publicly criticize the government, and already open COVID critics Drew Barnes and Angela Pitt, who recently split from the national End the Lockdown Caucus after Ontario MPP Randy Hillier posted a social media meme comparing public health restrictions to the Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The UCP group also includes Tracy Allard, whose Christmas vacation to Hawaii cost her her job of Municipal Affairs Minister.

The letter signed by the 15 MLAs was soon after endorsed by Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell and West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long, who also serves as the parliamentary secretary for small business. Also signalling support for the letter’s intentions was Calgary Member of Parliament Michelle Rempel-Garner, who serves as the Official Opposition Health Critic in Ottawa.

Peace River MLA Dan Williams, a long-time Kenney acolyte from Ottawa, did not endorse the letter but posted a video on social media criticizing the decision by Alberta Health Services to close down the rebel GraceLife Church, which had been holding in-person services in defiance of the government’s public health orders. He was joined in this call by Ontario MP Derek Sloan, who was kicked out of the federal Conservative caucus for his extreme social conservative views.

Active COVID-19 cases in Alberta (chart from @CBCFletch on Twitter)
Active COVID-19 cases in Alberta (chart from @CBCFletch on Twitter)

That the leaders of the UCP caucus mutiny appear to largely be from the former Wildrose caucus, or Wildrose-wing of the party, is not surprising. The former opposition party was notoriously raucous and unwilling to bow to the kind of centralized party leadership that Kenney would have become accustomed to during his many years in Ottawa.

It was also clear during Kenney’s press conference on Tuesday that he expected a negative reaction from his caucus. A significant portion of Kenney’s lecture was dedicated to managing MLAs expectations and acknowledging the differences of opinion in his caucus. Difference of opinion is one thing, but this is something entirely different.

The public health restrictions that Alberta fell back to earlier this week are nothing close to what restrictions have looked like in jurisdictions that have actually implemented lockdowns. Alberta schools are still open for in-person classes, and Albertans can still gather with up to 10 people outside, go shopping for non-essential items, get a haircut or a massage, dine or have drinks on a restaurant patio, and exercise at a gym with a personal trainer.

Jason Kenney
Premier Jason Kenney on April 6, 2021.

There is no doubt a lot of Albertans are frustrated about how the provincial government has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Kenney government has not helped itself by releasing a string of confusing and inconsistent public health measures and messaging to Albertans about the government’s response.

While public opinion polling suggests many Albertans would like the government to impose stronger measures to stop the spread of the deadly virus, there is a loud minority who want to see the current restrictions lifted.

It is yet to be seen whether the revolt will extend beyond this strongly worded letter, but there is little doubt these MLAs are actively undermining the work being done by public health professionals and health care workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The caucus revolt is probably a reflection of deepening regional and partisan divides in Alberta, with most of the COVID Caucus MLAs representing largely rural and small town districts. It is notable that no UCP MLAs from Calgary, so far the hardest hit in the third wave, have publicly joined the revolt.

It also suggests that the United Conservative Party is not as united as its leader would like Albertans to believe.

Kenney’s personal approval ratings and support for his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic plummeted over the past 13 months, and his party has floundered in the polls, finishing behind Rachel Notley’s NDP in a handful of recent voter opinion polls. The rise of the separatist Wildrose Independence Party in rural Alberta has some backbench UCP MLAs nervously looking over their right shoulders.

In some ways, the revolt probably serves as a welcome distraction to some in the UCP from the never ending string of scandals and policy failures, most recently the failure to stop the Carbon Tax at the Supreme Court, the loss of $1.5 billion of public money when the Keystone XL Pipeline was cancelled, the failure to sign a new contract with Alberta doctors, the retreat on open-pit coal mining, and the open rebellion by parents against the draft K-6 curriculum.

Under normal circumstances it would be hard to believe that this kind of caucus revolt would happen on a day when more than 1,300 new cases of COVID were reported and doctors are calling for a circuit breaker response, but in today’s world of Alberta politics, it would be harder to believe this would happen if the UCP were not floundering so deeply in the polls.

The original 15 UCP MLAs who signed the letter

  • Tracy Allard, MLA Grande Prairie
  • Drew Barnes, MLA Cypress-Medicine Hat
  • Nathan Cooper, MLA Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
  • Michaela Glasgo, MLA Brooks-Medicine Hat
  • Dave Hanson, MLA Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul
  • Nate Horner, MLA Drumheller-Stettler
  • Todd Loewen, MLA Central Peace-Notley
  • Ron Orr, MLA Lacombe-Ponoka
  • Angela Pitt, MLA Airdrie-East
  • Roger Reid, MLA Livingstone-Macleod
  • Miranda Rosin, MLA Banff-Kananaskis
  • RJ Sigurdson, MLA Highwood
  • Mark Smith, Drayton Valley-Devon
  • Jason Stephan, Red Deer-South
  • Glenn van Dijken, Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock

9 replies on “UCP backbenchers revolt against mild public health restrictions as COVID third wave hits Alberta”

They have a sense of power, since each one of the votes in their constituencies carries two to three times the weight of every urban vote.

We should thank them for pointing out that while the majority of Albertans live in urban centres, urban votes are not represented in appropriately-sized constituencies or appropriate numbers of MLAs. Clearly this is a desperate cry for electoral reform from the MLAs in constituencies that are vastly over-represented in the legislature. They carry too much weight. This situation is begging for decisive action to correct it.

Thank you so much for punching above your weight, rogue MLAs. We never would have known about the undemocratic over-representation in your constituencies without this.

Urbanites matter!

What do you think of the possibility that this is performative only, orchestrated by Kenney to play both sides against the middle?

Have any of the non-signees spoken in favour of the feeble measures Kenney announced, or demanded tougher measures? Are any of them criticizing the signees?

Unlikely that Kenney would allow such a public rift–actually chasm–if he had a choice. Cons tend to respect power, and when the Leader looks weak, he’s in big trouble. Remember, Kenney’s already tried to head off a leadership review and failed; it’s on for 2022.

I want to push back at your characterization of these MLAs as all being “rural” or “small-town”. Yes, many are, but some represent fairly substantial cities: Red Deer (pop’n. 100,400) — Grande Prairie & Medicine Hat (63,200). High Level is a small town (3,200); so is Peace River (7,000). [Note: population figures rounded off from 2016 StatsCan census website: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&TABID=1&G=1&Geo1=&Code1=&Geo2=&Code2=&GEOCODE=48&type=0%5D. But Red Deer, GP, & the Hat are only “small” in comparison to the two big cities, Calgary & Edmonton.

That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your take on the substantive issue at hand: this group of extra-metropolitan MLAs is going rogue & menacing the public health in the process.

I wonder how many messages the “Gang of 18” are getting from constituents who say, “Hey–tell that idiot (s)he doesn’t speak for me!”

The UPC will not hold a leadership review until 6 months before the next provincial election.
This will certainly automatically ensure that he will again be the leader of the party heading into that 2023 election.
I would have liked to see an earlier convention with a tougher leader who will quit flip flopping on decisions, and make the tough choices.
We need someone who is not as much of a federalist and will stand up to the eastern socialists.
We need an automous Alberta region and eventually a Western Canada.

Alan Pugh: We don’t need an independent Western Canada. We need to remove the UCP from power, because they have been an absolute failure, in every way possible.

I am glad they are standing up. I am surprised that anyone believes a forced lockdown on small businesses and schools will prevent a virus from spreading. It may slow the transmission… I am recovering from positive Covid 19 . And I believe ( and my family) if I would have died , well .. .. thats life. Yes the virus is real. But so is depression suicide bankruptcy…mental health.
I think we should be able to choose where we go and the businesses that want to stay open coulddo so. … Yes I agree with masks and social distancing. But not history repeating itself. Be aware of the freedoms you are letting go.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *