After more than a year of frustration with Prime Minister Jason Kenney’s leadership, the United Conservative Party electoral board in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills voted 27-1 in favor of launching a leadership review.
“We just feel there is a disconnect with the voters and the grassroots, we feel that there is actually a disconnect within the caucus and the cabinet,” Voter Association President Rob Smith told Global News.
The motion seeks to conduct the review no later than March 1, 2022, but Smith said it would ideally take place as soon as the PCU’s annual general meeting, which is scheduled for November. The UCP constitution says a review would be triggered if 22 constituency associations in the province apply for one, and Smith said he knows other boards are discussing similar motions.
“Hopefully this time we get to the 22 required.”
The board considered the motion for the first time last winter, prompted by a number of concerns with the prime minister’s leadership, ranging from what Smith called a lack of consultation on the redesign of the curriculum, to handling the relationship. between the government and Alberta doctors and nurses.
READ MORE: New Proposal Eliminates Some Pay Setbacks for Alberta Nurses As Negotiations Continue
Seeking to save costs, the UCP government unilaterally canceled the framework agreement with the doctors just as the pandemic hit the province. The government has also sought pay cuts for nurses. His most recent offer eliminated a request for an overall three percent pay cut while the two sides head to mediation, but the nurses could be in a position to hold a strike vote in a matter of weeks.
The conversation resumed in July, a month after images surfaced of Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Finance Minister Travis Toews, and Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon enjoying a meal together. on the rooftop patio of the SkyPalace while the pandemic restrictions still existed.
READ MORE: ‘I’m sorry’: Kenney apologizes for dinner at Sky Palace that broke COVID-19 rules
“A level of entitlement that my constituency association could not bear,” Smith said.
“Some of our board members, who were not that critical of Prime Minister Kenney up to that point, absolutely felt that this was the last straw.”
The PCU did not respond to a request for comment, while the prime minister’s office said Kenney is not concerned about partisan politics at this time as it is focused on getting Alberta through the critical situation fueled by the fourth wave. of COVID-19.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca