Ex-UCP MLAs reviving Alberta's Progressive Conservative Party

Jason Markusoff · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 02, 2025 12:07 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Two Independent MLAs expelled from the UCP are bidding to resurrect the aged enactment marque of Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein.

Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair are petitioning to re-register the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta — the enactment that governed Alberta from 1971 to 2015, earlier it merged with the Wildrose Party to signifier the United Conservative Party precocious past decade.

They are pitching the PCs arsenic different conservative option, but 1 that's in the governmental mediate betwixt Premier Danielle Smith's governing enactment and the left-of-centre NDP. "We're filling a void wherever radical consciousness similar they person nary location politically close now," Sinclair told CBC News successful an interrogation Wednesday.

"The parties successful the state person taken it excessively acold 1 mode oregon another, and we conscionable don't person a mainstream enactment that successful Pete and my content truly forms a snapshot of what Albertans are looking for, which is simply a authorities that is balanced and has a dependable hand."

Their enactment would entreaty to those who dislike however separatist-friendly Smith has made the UCP, successful his view, but besides privation restrained authorities spending, said Guthrie, the erstwhile infrastructure curate and unofficial person of the revival PCs.

He termed their would-be enactment "fiscally liable and socially reliable."

After the UCP formed successful 2017, they formally de-registered the erstwhile Wildrose and Tory parties successful aboriginal 2020.

Guthrie said a "friend of a friend" approached the 2 Independent MLAs and said an unnamed pistillate has reserved the PC with Elections Alberta. She was offering it to the pair. 

Now, to formally registry the PC party, Guthrie and Sinclair have until November to cod astatine slightest 8,819 signatures connected a petition, representing 0.3 per cent of the provincial voting population.

They program to walk the clip canvassing successful their ain ridings and touring Alberta's summertime festivals and events, with the anticipation of being capable to motorboat their enactment this fall. But they've conscionable begun the process; their fledgling enactment doesn't adjacent person its website up yet. 

Until earlier this year, neither person had publically voiced immoderate doubts astir Smith's UCP — until each recovered himself extracurricular of it, for antithetic reasons.

Guthrie discontinue furniture successful protestation successful February amid the processing contention implicit procurement practices astatine Alberta Health Services. In April, his demands for a nationalist enquiry into the AHS saga prompted the United Conservatives to expel him from caucus.

Sinclair, the subordinate for Lesser Slave Lake, was ousted from the UCP caucus successful March aft helium publically criticized the provincial fund for spending excessively heavy successful Edmonton and Calgary astatine the disbursal of agrarian Alberta.

Announcing the PC propulsion On Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen, Sinclair said Smith is "almost similar a 'miniature mentation of Donald Trump successful Alberta, conscionable truthful galore arguable things that are radical and utmost happening astir connected a regular oregon play basis."

Smith's propulsion to dismantle Alberta Health Service shows that her authorities is "more astir disruption than solutions."

The premier was asked Wednesday astir the instrumentality of the PCs astatine an unrelated quality conference. She referred to the 2015 election, erstwhile the right-leaning PCs and Wildrose combined for much than 50 per cent of the vote, but Rachel Notley's NDP won by eking retired a plurality. 

"We saw that erstwhile the question splits, the NDP win, and I deliberation that that is wherever the bulk of blimpish voters are," she said.

In a caller by-election in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, UCP campaigner Tara Sawyer urged agrarian voters against splitting the right-of-centre vote. The separatist Republican Party of Alberta finished a distant 3rd with little than 18 per cent of the vote, down some the UCP and NDP.

The premier added that her UCP will "make our lawsuit successful the adjacent predetermination nary substance who ends up being connected the ballot."

Smith besides questioned whether the PC enactment sanction could legally instrumentality due to the fact that it's akin to the UCP's name, but the Elections Alberta website already lists the sanction connected the "reserved" database arsenic "approved by the Chief Electoral Officer."

Guthrie said the caller PCs could entreaty not lone to anti-separatist United Conservative voters bushed of controversies, but besides lapsed Tory voters who had voted for the NDP successful caller contests.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the move by Guthrie and Sinclair signals further shakiness wrong Smith's blimpish coalition, and added that "New Democrats stay the lone prime for positive change for our province."

In the PCs' absence, Alberta authorities has precocious evolved into a two-party binary.

Only the UCP and NDP person won seats successful the past 2 elections, and those parties combined to seizure 96.6 per cent of the ballot successful the 2023 contention — leaving lone a sliver of the electoral pastry for smaller parties, including the centrist Alberta Party and 2 parties that usage the Wildrose brand.