Progressive Conservative Party gets an Alberta relaunch

Alberta MLAs Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair announced plans to relaunch the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta Saturday in Calgary.

Two exiled former UCP caucus members announced that they want to bring the party that ruled Alberta for more than four decades back to political life.

Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair held a press conference Saturday at the Westin in downtown Calgary to announce plans for the official relaunch of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta.

Led by Peter Lougheed, the PCs held power for more than four decades in Alberta before losing to Rachel Notley and the NDP in 2015 and then eventually merging with the rival Wildrose Party to form the current United Conservatives in 2019.

Saturday, Guthrie and Sinclair said the time had come for a conservative party alternative to the UCP.

Guthrie and Sinclair, both voted out of caucus earlier this year for challenging UCP policies, said Premier Danielle Smith has lost her way, is catering to a narrow band of extremists and separatists -- and that centrist Alberta conservatives need a place to park their vote.

“I felt both relief and sadness,” Guthrie said of his exile from the UCP. “Relief because I no longer had to stand beside something I couldn’t support. (And) sadness because the UCP was no longer the party I joined. It wasn’t the party Albertans elected.

“Somewhere along the way it fell off course.”

His sentiments were echoed by Sinclair.

“This premier has done me a great service by removing me from a UCP party,” Sinclair said. “I no longer recognize this new hostile version of the UCP is not the party of Lockheed or even Ralph Klein. Not even close.

“It’s become a party of absolutes,” he said. “Either you agree with this premier or you’re not conservative with a leader that says she believes in freedom.”

Guthrie, a former Smith cabinet minister, estimates that one-third of the United Conservative caucus supports Alberta leaving Confederation. He’s been vocal in criticizing the government’s handling of a health-care contracting scandal, joining the New Democrats in calling for a public inquiry into allegations of corruption.

The NDP won government in 2015 largely due to vote splitting between the Wildrose Party and the PCs in many ridings.

Smith, asked earlier this week about the new Guthrie-Sinclair party plan at a news conference in Calgary, reminded reporters about that.

“We saw that when the (conservative) movement splits, the NDP wins,” she said.

Smith added that the UCP is enjoying popular support and is out-fundraising the NDP.

“We have two cultures that we brought together under a single umbrella, and we talk about the things that we can agree on, and we move forward with policies that get the consensus of the majority of the public,” she said.

Saturday, Sinclair said that Smith is creating confusion, not reducing it.

“The other day when the premier answered a question on it, she said not to confuse UCP voters, but I would say she’s the premier. Danielle Smith has been the one who’s been confusing conservatives in this province.

“A lot of the reckless policies and separation and referendum -- none of these are things that we ran on,” Sinclair added. “And I think that’s this confusion that she’s talking about.

“Well, that’s part of the reason we’re standing here today, because I think a lot of Albertans have been wondering what happened to the party that they signed up for.”

Process

Elections Alberta spokesperson Michelle Gurney confirmed to The Canadian Press earlier in the week that the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta name is only reserved. When a name is reserved, applicants have six months to fulfill the registration requirements or up to a year if they are granted extensions.

Guthrie and Sinclair will need to gather roughly 8,800 signatures. They could also qualify to become registered if they hold three seats in the legislature — which would require another elected MLA to cross the floor.

The PC name itself carries different meanings for different voters. The party of Ralph Klein and Peter Lougheed was accused of fiscal mismanagement and entitlement in its waning years.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi quipped Wednesday that Guthrie and Sinclair are creating a “party that says they’re not corrupt by using the name of a previously corrupt party.”

Nenshi added, “As much fun as this to watch as the Opposition, it means that (Smith’s) doing an even worse job of focusing on the things that Albertans really need because she’s only focused on saving her own political skin.”

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV’s Mark Villani