Alberta Premier Danielle Smith answers questions from the media following a speech in Calgary on Oct. 16. Carlos Herrera for The Epoch Times.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said United Conservative Party (UCP) members who continue to push for separation should join a different party, following a referendum vote that saw a majority of Albertans vote for the province to remain within Canada.
Smith said her party should now focus on beating the NDP “in every single riding in this province,” and that she believed the majority of UCP members would rally to do that. However, she said some members would rather continue focusing on separation and “sowing division.”
“The United Conservative Party is not an independence party, and for those few who cannot reconcile this fact and remain intent on dividing and turning our party into a vehicle for the independence movement, I would respectfully invite them to join a different party,” Smith said in a video posted to social media
on Oct. 21.Some pro-independence UCP members have sought to oust Smith as premier, with Jeffrey Rath, one of the most prominent figures in the movement, recently saying he will push for a special general meeting of the party to remove her.
Smith faces a leadership review in her party’s upcoming general meeting in November. She received 91.5 percent support in her last leadership review in 2024.
Her party will be facing the NDP in a general election next year.
The Oct. 19 referendum on whether Alberta should commence the legal process to “hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada,” saw around 75 percent of people vote against the proposal.
The premier said the mandate from Albertans was “clear” that it would remain a province within Canada, and that it would continue working cooperatively with the federal government. Smith also reiterated that as long as she remains premier, there will not be another referendum on separation.
Smith said that while UCP members can hold whatever views they wish on separation, candidates running for the party “need to be committed to, and support and abide by” the position of Alberta remaining a part of Canada. She said she also expects members of the provincial board and constituency boards to uphold that position.
Jason Stephan, a UCP MLA for Red Deer-South who had said he would vote in favour of separation, announced on Oct. 19 that he would not be seeking re-election next fall.
Alberta’s next provincial election needs to be held on or before Oct. 18, 2027.
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