Tag: UCP AGM 2026

Alberta separatists say they are just getting started

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 21, 2026

Alberta separation supporters at the Alberta Legislature on August 29, 2026 (photo: Dave Cournoyer)

Albertans clearly rejected leaving Canada in yesterday’s vote, but the leaders of Alberta’s various separatist factions made it clear on Monday that even in defeat this referendum represents a victory for their movement.

“The percentage vote is irrelevant because we have already won,” wrote the Alberta Prosperity Project’s Jeffrey Rath on X. “Regardless of the outcome tomorrow we have already won the first series of battles in the war for Alberta Independence.”

The controversial lawyer and co-leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project who spread conspiracy theories online about the CFB Wainwright disaster last weekend, also wrote that “[o]n Tuesday we move on to the next phase of our project. We dedicate ourselves and all of our volunteers to the replacement of the Federalist Smith as leader of the Alberta UCP. We will confirm that the UCP is Alberta’s leading Independence Party.”

Read the full story on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum, Alberta NDP, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Canada Election Substack, Centurion Project, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, David Parker, Jeff Rath, Jeffrey Rath, Naheed Nenshi, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party, United Conservative Party AGM

Support for remaining in Canada is everywhere in Alberta

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 20, 2026

At first glance of the results, support for Alberta remaining in Canada is strong across the province, and strongest in the large cities of Calgary and Edmonton and overwhelming in First Nations communities.

The separatists had their best results in rural areas, as was expected, but only have a majority in one riding. That’s Central Peace-Notley, with 5,272 votes for leaving and 5,041 votes for staying in Canada. The northwest Alberta riding is represented by United Conservative Party cabinet minister Todd Loewen, who was first elected as a Wildrose Party MLA in 2015 and is an alumnus of the Ottawa Freedom Convoy.

Read the full story on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Central Peace-Notley, Danielle Smith, Todd Loewen, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party, United Conservative Party AGM

Alberta Politics

Referendum has been a mismanaged mess, says UCP constituency president

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 16, 2026

Premier Danielle Smith and separatist leader Mitch Sylvestre at a UCP fundraising dinner in Bonnyville in May 2025 (source: Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul UCP / Facebook)

Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre is encouraging voters to “decline the nine” by not bother voting for Smith’s nine referendum questions and only voting in the separation question.

“We promised long ago that this movement would not lend its name to bogus referendum questions. We are keeping that promise,” Sylvestre wrote in a message to APP supporters.

“Let’s be honest. From start to finish, this referendum has been a mismanaged mess, brought to you by a government that chose to pander rather than keep its promises on a fair democratic process,” wrote Sylvestre, who is President of the UCP constituency association in Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul riding and was the winner of the UCP’s 2025 Best Fundraiser Award and 2024 Best Constituency President Award.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum, Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, Brad Lafortune, Canada Election Substack, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Kathy Flett, Mitch Sylvestre, No to the Nine, Public Interest Alberta, Stephen Carter, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party, United Conservative Party AGM, Wexit Alberta

Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith deflects, encourages Albertans to vote “yes to the rest”

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 16, 2026

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the Canada Strong and Free Conference in Ottawa on May 8, 2026 (source: Canada Strong and Free Network / Facebook)

Ahead of what could be an awkward meeting with Mark Carney today in Red Deer, Premier Danielle Smith attempted to downplay the Prime Minister’s comments in her own response posted on social media.

Despite Smith’s attempts to position herself as a pro-Canadian force in the upcoming referendums, she has found herself in a very uncomfortable position after deciding to appease the separatist activists entrenched in the UCP by calling the referendum in the first place.

Polling shows that her vague positioning has led large numbers of separatists to believe she is federalist and large numbers of federalists to believe she is a separatist.

This perception has probably been made stronger by the UCP government’s $4 million advertising campaign that promotes confused and unfocused messaging about Alberta being strong and sovereign within Canada but not actually taking a strong position either way.

UCP President Rob Smith rebukes calls to purge party’s separatist wing

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date October 15, 2026

United Conservative Party president Rob Smith took to Facebook to rebuke calls to purge the governing party of its separatist wing if Albertans overwhelmingly vote to remain in Canada on October 19.

Smith’s comments were aimed at former party leader Jason Kenney, who said earlier this week that the UCP should reaffirm its federalist position and separatists should leave to form their own party.

“There’s no doubt that those folks have infiltrated (the party),” Kenney said at an Edmonton Chamber of Commerce luncheon. “They’re welcome to participate in democracy, but if their primary goal is separation, then they have to do it in a separatist party,” he said.

“You’re either for Canada, national unity, or you’re not, and if you’re still a citizen, you’re welcome to be involved in democracy. Go and do that in a separatist party,” Kenney said.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Politics Substack, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Canada Election Substack, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Jason Kenney, Jason Stephan, Jeff Rath, Jeffrey Rath, Mitch Sylvestre, Red Deer-South, Rob Smith, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party, United Conservative Party AGM

Alberta Politics

Mark Carney’s broad approval dwarfs Danielle Smith and Naheed Nenshi

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 27, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Albertans at a Forever Canadian event in Banff in September 2026 (source: Mark Carney / Facebook)

There’s nothing like a Janet Brown poll to shake up Alberta politics

There’s a lot to unpack in the new Alberta politics poll by Janet Brown Opinion Research commissioned by CBC, but before I dive into what one of the province’s most well-respected pollsters has to say about support for Alberta’s political parties, separatism, and AI data centres it’s worth spending a moment reflecting on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s popularity in Alberta.

Carney’s popularity continues to dwarf Premier Danielle Smith and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi and he might be the most popular Liberal Prime Minister in Alberta since Sir Wilfrid Laurier more than 100 years ago.

According to Brown’s poll, 52 percent of Albertans surveyed said they were very impressed with Carney and only 26 percent said they were not at all impressed. Only 30 percent of Albertans surveyed said they were very impressed with Danielle Smith and 51 percent said they were not at all impressed with her job as Premier.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack

Alberta Politics

“Discriminatory” and unclear referendum questions discussed at MLA town hall in Calgary-Klein

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date September 25, 2026

Calgary-Klein MLA Lizette Tejada speaks to a crowd of constituents at her referendum town hall (source: Dave Cournoyer)

I stopped by Calgary-Klein MLA Lizette Tejada’s referendum town hall at the Winston Heights Mountainview Community Association this week in Calgary.

With about 70 people in attendance, the crowd was heavily pro-Canada and raised a lot of concerns about the lack of clarity in the government’s 10 referendum questions and the confusing voting process, and what happens after October 19.

Tejada raised serious concerns about the referendum questions that ask Albertans to give the government permission to limit access to health care and education for immigrant workers and their families. Tejada described the questions as discriminatory and pretending to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Read all about it on the Daveberta Substack

Tags Alberta Anti-Immigration Referendum, Alberta NDP, Alberta Separation Referendum, Alberta Separatism, Bronwyn Bragg, Calgary-Klein, Lizette Tejada, Parkland Institute, UCP AGM 2026, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Alberta separation policy resolution submitted for UCP AGM in November 2026

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 10, 2026

There is already a motion being proposed to adopt separatism as an official party policy at the UCP’s fall AGM.

A divisive policy debate about separatism was narrowly avoided by a vote by the UCP’s provincial board before separatist-endorsed candidates swept the majority of the party’s board positions at year’s AGM in Edmonton.

Emmott Kelsey of the Centurion Project is a UCP member and has submitted a policy resolution for debate at the UCP AGM that would officially endorse Alberta leaving Canada.