Tag: Republican Party of Alberta

An Independent Alberta is an American Alberta

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date August 22, 2026

A supporter of Alberta Statehood at Alberta Beach on July 4, 2021 (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Voting for separation weakens Canada and Alberta against Trump’s economic attacks

We are now 58 days away from the province-wide referendum that will ask Albertans whether they want to hold a future referendum on Alberta’s independence from Canada.

Leaked voters lists, billboards, lawn signs, political assemblies (from which just last week very candid and horribly racist remarks were delivered from a prominent separatist movement leader), and Premier Danielle Smith musing about holding a binding referendum next spring have grabbed the headlines in the separatism discussion. But there’s one big question that hasn’t been asked in this debate: Would Alberta be allowed to be an independent country?

I believe the answer to this question is no.

I wear my Canada and Alberta flags on my sleeve and am proud to call this place my home. My family settled here around 130 years ago and has deep roots in this part of the country. I have lived in Alberta my entire life and have spent more than two decades writing about its politics and history, so I would never punch down on Alberta — but I’m also realistic.

Largest privacy breach of personal information in Alberta’s history

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 4, 2026

Alberta’s Legislature Building through the view of a broken glass panel in summer 2025 (credit: Dave Cournoyer)

Separatist Centurion Project somehow got access to the 2.9 million names on the official voters list and uploaded it to a public, searchable database

It has been a while since my phone buzzed with so many questions from political contacts and non-political friends than it did this past weekend.

“Did the voters list get leaked!?” “What does it mean?” “Who has my personal contact information”?” “Did the separatists cheat?” “Does this mean Trump and the Russians have the Alberta voters list?” “How did this happen?” “What’s going to happen now?”

Those are all legitimate questions that will be asked again and again as we start learn more about how a separatist group calling itself the Centurion Project got access to Elections Alberta’s official voters list and uploaded the full names, home addresses and phone numbers of 2.9 million Alberta voters to a public, searchable database. The group is led by well-known right-wing organizer David Parker of Take Back Alberta fame.

Though it remains unclear how exactly Parker’s group got the list, Elections Alberta identified the voters list as one that was provided to the separatist Republican Party last year. The Republican Party is led by well-known right-wing political organizer Cameron Davies of Kamikaze campaign fame.

Danielle Smith’s wild ride. What to make of Alberta politics in 2025?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 20, 2025

Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong & Free Networking Conference (formerly known as the Manning Centre) (source: Danielle Smith / Instagram)

As 2025 comes to an end, it’s hard to describe the past twelve months in Alberta politics, but Edmonton-Whitemud NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi summed it up well in the opposition’s year-end press conference by describing it a “wild ride.”

It has been a chaotic 12 months in Alberta politics. Even for someone who pays very close attention to provincial politics, the pace of the past year was so fast and frantic that it has been hard to keep track. The recently ended fall session of the Legislature might have been one of the most chaotic in recent memory.

It’s clear that Premier Danielle Smith’s governing United Conservative Party is using a “flood the zone” strategy but there were many times when it looked like the government was just flying by the seat of its pants and no one was really in control of the political agenda.

And if it’s hard for political watchers to keep track, that means it’s probably almost impossible for normal Albertans to figure out what’s going on — and that’s the point. The strategy keeps the opposition off balance and doesn’t give them time to respond before the next big announcement or political controversy steals the attention of shrinking newsrooms and a fast paced social media eco-system.

Anyone familiar with the chaos of American politics will recognize this strategy because it’s employed almost hourly by President Donald Trump.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Adriana LaGrange, Airdrie-Cochrane, Alanna Smith, Alberta Coal Policy, Alberta Health Services, Alberta NDP, Alberta Party, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Ben Shapiro, Best of Alberta Politics 2025, Cameron Davies, Canada Election Substack, Carrie Tait, Corb Lund, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Donald Trump, Edmonton-Castle Downs, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Whitemud, Flood the Zone, Forever Canadian, Janis Irwin, Jeff Rath, Jeffrey Rath, Jordan Peterson, Matt Jones, Mickey Amery, Mitch Sylvestre, Naheed Nenshi, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Peter Guthrie, Progressive Tory Party of Alberta, Rakhi Pancholi, Real Talk, Republican Party of Alberta, Ryan Jespersen, Thomas Lukaszuk, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Separation looms large among rural conservatives in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by-election

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 26, 2025

This week’s by-elections were as clear an indication as any that the divisive debate over Alberta’s separation from Canada is mostly an issue among rural conservatives in and outside of Smith’s UCP.

UCP candidate Tara Sawyer won the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding with 61 percent, a drop of 14 points from the 2023 election, and most of that vote appears to have gone to the right-wing separatist Republican Party.

The Republicans had hoped their party leader, Cam Davies, could pull off a win inspired by separatist Gordon Kesler’s win in Olds-Didsbury in 1982 but when the votes were counted he placed third with 17 percent behind NDP candidate Bev Toews, who placed second with 20 percent.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta NDP, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Bev Toews, Cameron Davies, Canada Election Substack, Daveberta Substack, Gordon Kesler, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by-election, Republican Party of Alberta, Tara Sawyer, United Conservative Party, Western Alientation, Western Canada Concept, Western Separation

Alberta Politics

Alberta is getting a bad deal and it’s always Ottawa’s fault

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 25, 2025

Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next Panel looks a lot like a UCP re-election tour

Alberta is getting a bad deal and it’s always Ottawa’s fault. That’s Premier Danielle Smith’s key message in a 6 minute and 26 second long video posted on her social media channels on Tuesday.

Less that 24 hours after the polls closed in three provincial by-elections that saw voters deliver one win for Smith’s United Conservative Party and two wins for Naheed Nenshi’s NDP, the premier was ready to announce a new panel to hear people’s grievances about Ottawa and views on the provincial government taking control of immigration, which immigrants should have access to social services, and creating a provincial tax collection agency, provincial pension plan and provincial police force.

Naheed Nenshi’s NDP win Edmonton-Ellerslie and Edmonton-Strathcona by-elections

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 24, 2025

NDP leader Naheed Nenshi shares a stage with NDP MLAs at his by-election victory party on June 23, 2025 (source: Alberta NDP / YouTube)

UCP wins Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills but fails to make gains in Edmonton

The ballots have been counted in the provincial by-elections held yesterday and the results are: Status quo ante bellum.

Naheed Nenshi’s NDP held suburban Edmonton-Ellerslie and urban Edmonton-Strathcona, and Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party held rural Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.

What’s at stake in Alberta’s mid-term by-elections

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 19, 2025

Then-leader of the Wildrose Party Danielle Smith at a press conference during the 2014 Edmonton-Whitemud by-election. (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Deciphering what happens in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona, and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills could be interesting

The three by-elections happening on June 23 could have a big impact on Alberta politics, but maybe not in the way you might think. The results of the mid-term by-elections in urban Edmonton-Strathcona, suburban Edmonton-Ellerslie, and rural Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills are an important test for Alberta’s political leaders and the results could impact provincial politics in our province in different ways.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta NDP, Alberta Party, Alberta Pension Plan, Alberta Separatism, Battle River-Crowfoot, Battle River-Crowfoot by-election, Bev Toews, Brandon Lunty, Cameron Davies, Caroline Currie, Chris Gallaway, Christy Clark, Corey Hogan, Damien Kurek, Danielle Smith, Darby Crouch, Darby-rae Crouch, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Ellerslie by-election, Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Strathcona by-election, Enyinnah Okere, Fred Munn, Gordon Kesler, Gurtej Singh Brar, Mike Ellis, Naheed Nenshi, Naresh Bhardwaj, Nathan Cooper, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by-election, Patrick Lennox, Paul Hinman, Pierre Poilievre, Republican Party of Alberta, Ryan Hastman, Tara Sawyer, United Conservative Party, Western Canada Concept, Wildrose Loyalty Coalition, Yonathan Sumamo

Alberta Politics

Where is Nenshi? Should we take the separatists seriously?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 18, 2025

The Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton (credit: Dave Cournoyer)

Big questions about Alberta politics on The Line Podcast

Any day I get to talk about Alberta politics is a good day, so I was thrilled to join freelance writer and The Line co-founder Jen Gerson on the latest episode of the The Line Podcast to talk about what’s happening in Alberta politics.

In the hour and ten minute long discussion, we dove into the growing undercurrent of separatist sentiment inside the United Conservative Party, the burgeoning Dodgy Contracts Scandal dogging Premier Danielle Smith’s government, the upcoming by-elections in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, and a big question many political watchers have been asking: where is NDP leader Naheed Nenshi?

Listen to the episode on The Line or find it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Alberta Politics

Polling plunge a five-alarm fire for Nenshi’s NDP

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 6, 2025

Opposition shouldn’t panic – it should make smart changes

The three provincial by-elections are in full swing and the NDP are eager to have leader Naheed Nenshi join their MLAs in the Legislature. Two new polls will add extra urgency to the NDP’s efforts to hold on to two of those seats and have Nenshi hit the ground running when he is elected in Edmonton-Strathcona on June 23.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s mid-term by-elections

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 29, 2025

Premier Danielle Smith with UCP candidate Tara Sawyer and supporters in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills on May 24, 2025 (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

By-elections in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona, and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills on June 23

It was two years ago today that Premier Danielle Smith led the United Conservative Party to re-election in Alberta. It was a close election by Alberta standards, with former premier Rachel Notley’s NDP making big gains in Calgary but not enough to block a conservative re-election.

Despite implementing a political agenda much more radical than anything that was promised on May 29, 2023 and being dogged by controversial scandals and allegations of corruption, Smith’s UCP continues to hold it’s support in the province.

Smith is a deeply divisive figure in Alberta but she is a shrewd politician and skilled communicator who knows how to appeal to and govern with her party’s voters exclusively in mind, even if it sometimes puts her offside with most Albertans.

Upcoming by-elections in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Edmonton-Ellerslie and Edmonton-Strathcona

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 26, 2025

The Alberta NDP are scheduled to nominate a candidate in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by-election on June 14, but rumours are circulating that Premier Danielle Smith could call that by-election along with two others in Edmonton-Ellerslie and Edmonton-Strathcona very soon.

The UCP announced last week that Alberta Grains chairperson Tara Sawyer had been appointed as the party’s candidate in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Sawyer’s appointment happened without an open nomination race, which is likely an indication the UCP was concerned a pro-separatist candidate could possibly create a messy nomination contest in that rural central Alberta riding.

Read more on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

Redrawing Alberta’s electoral map

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 22, 2025

Voters only getting 2 more MLAs despite huge population boom

Alberta will have a new electoral map when the next provincial election is called. An Electoral Boundaries Commission has been named and will begin travelling the province next week to collect feedback from Albertans about how new riding boundaries should be drawn to reflect population changes since the last time the map was redrawn in 2017.

Ten big questions about Alberta separatism in 2025

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 16, 2025

The Alberta Prosperity Project’s Jeffrey Rath shows off the separatist group’s proposed referendum question in Calgary (source: Facebook).

Is Premier Danielle Smith a separatist? Is the UCP a separatist party?

The biggest difference between today’s Alberta separatist push and past efforts is that today’s most vocal separatists are operating within the governing UCP. Premier Danielle Smith gave her tacit public support for these groups in an online video address earlier this month and she knows that any direct effort to try to stop it would turn those groups, which included some of the UCP’s most enthusiastic activists, against her.

Many of those enthusiastic separatists inside the UCP helped topple former Premier Jason Kenney in 2022 and propel Smith to victory in the leadership race that followed. Writer Jen Gerson cleverly described Smith’s situation through one rule of politics: you get ate by the dragon you ride in on.

Punchy Nenshi calls on Danielle Smith to stop playing Alberta separatist games

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 5, 2025

Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Also: Pierre Poilievre running in Battle River—Crowfoot by-election, gets unwelcome greetings from UCP VP

Naheed Nenshi’s speech was upbeat and touched on a lot of traditional NDP points about public health care, public education and rights for workers, but he was most animated when ripping into Premier Danielle Smith’s threat that the Liberal Party’s re-election would spark an unprecedented national unity crisis and her flirtation with Alberta separatists.

‘I will be damned if we ever let Danielle Smith tear the country down,’ Nenshi said. “Alberta’s New Democrats will always, always, always stand with the millions and millions of Canadians who believe in a stronger, more unified country,” Nenshi said.

“No more playing stupid separatist games with the future of our province! No more disrespecting Indigenous communities! No more disrespecting Albertans!”