Fifteen Alberta Riding Presidents Refuse United Conservative Referendum Pledge

Presidents of 15 of the 87 constituency associations in Alberta’s United Conservative Party (UCP) say they will not sign a statement that they will abide by the result of last month’s referendum on Alberta’s future in Canada. The party set Friday as the deadline to sign.

In a letter obtained by CBC News, the presidents say the party’s board cannot change its code of conduct without a vote of the members, and that the demand contradicts an existing provision of the code that protects their freedom of expression. Four people listed on the letter told CBC it is authentic.

The pledge sits inside a combined non-disclosure agreement and code of conduct that party executive director Dustin van Vugt sent to the presidents earlier this week, according to CBC. Each signer states that he or she “will abide by the majority decision made by Albertans on Question #10” of the referendum.

Question 10 asked Albertans on October 19 whether the province should remain in Canada or begin the legal process for a binding referendum on separation. The result was not binding. According to Elections Alberta, 1,556,316 voters, or 74.95 percent, chose to remain, and 520,233, or 25.05 percent, chose to start the process.

“I believe they’ve overstepped their boundaries, and really I wanted it just to go away,” said Robert Such, president of the Calgary-Klein association, whose name is on the letter. Such told CBC he was glad Alberta held the vote. “I’m happy it’s done,” he said.

Other presidents objected earlier in the week. “It’s not wise to be trying to suppress when we should be trying to unify,” Darrell Komick, president of the party’s Calgary-Lougheed association, told CBC. “That’s the sort of thing that will stop people from volunteering.” A president who opposes Alberta independence, and who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told CBC: “It appears a jam-down by certain people at the upper reaches of the party to squash any public embarrassment or public conflict about independence, and it’s just wrong.”

The party is holding to the requirement. “Anyone who wants to represent the UCP in a leadership role must uphold our party’s position,” spokesman Dave Prisco said in a statement, adding that the provincial board is putting processes in place to enforce it. The party did not answer CBC’s questions about what happens to a president who does not sign.

Premier Danielle Smith set the line after the vote. In a video to party members in October, she said the party expects “every member of our provincial board and members of constituency association boards across the province to uphold the position of our party on this issue.” Candidates for the party’s provincial board already must sign the same declaration. On October 29 the party revoked the membership of Jeffrey Rath, a leading independence organizer, as the Texian Partisan reported.

At a forum for board candidates in Edmonton, party president Rob Smith responded to a member who asked whose party it was. “She’s not asking anyone to be a federalist,” he said of the premier. “She’s saying: respect the result of 75 per cent of Albertans.”

Nolan Crouse, who teaches board governance at MacEwan University in Edmonton, told CBC the pledge asks board members to commit in advance to a political position. “When you’re involved in a governing body, you can’t pre-commit your political stance,” he said.

The party’s annual general meeting opens in Calgary on November 27, where members will elect the provincial board. Lisa Young, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, told CBC the party could ask members to vote on the rule there. Some independence supporters are running for the board after signing the declaration, and they have said they will keep pressing for more sovereignty for Alberta inside Canada. The vote on Question 10 is over. The fight inside the UCP is over whether its own local leaders may still say they disagree with the result.