Former Calgary-Elbow MLA Doug Schweitzer (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).

Calgary-Elbow UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer’s resignation became official at midnight last night. 

Former Clerk of the Legislature Rob Reynolds (Photo: Government of Alberta).

By quitting now, with no explanation, the former justice minister and minister of jobs, economy and innovation has tossed a metaphorical hot potato to the UCP. A couple of them, actually. 

Section 32(2) of the Legislative Assembly Act says the Clerk of the Legislature must send a warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer on the day of the resignation, and the CEO must call an election to fill the vacancy, to be held within six months.

But Section 32(3) says that if the vacancy occurs “during the last year of the legal life of the Assembly” an order for the by-election “need not be made.”

The problem, former Clerk Rob Reynolds explained not so long ago, is that it may not be clear when the last year of the legal life of the Assembly begins because the Alberta Legislative Assembly Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms set out different periods under which an election must be held. 

“To my knowledge, no court has yet ruled on whether the last year of a Legislature is the four-year period under provincial election legislation or the five-year period under the Charter,” he wrote before the most recent amendments to the Act.

Frontrunning UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).

Now, there’s no way the UCP wants to hold a by-election that it might well lose in Calgary not long before before the next provincial election.

And if the new leader who replaces Premier Jason Kenney doesn’t have a seat in the Legislature – and only one candidate fits that bill, frontrunner Danielle Smith – there’s no way she’ll want to run in a by-election she could lose with unpredictable political consequences before the general election.

What to do? 

The Calgary Herald’s story last night on Mr. Schweitzer’s resignation left the impression the UCP will do whatever it can to wiggle off the hook from which he has suspended it. 

According to the Herald, the Speakers’ Office said yesterday the decision will be up to the Premier’s Office and the Cabinet.

Engineer Samir Kayande, the NDP’s nominated candidate in Calgary-Elbow (Photo: Alberta NDP).

Premier Kenney, earlier this month, said the decision may be up to his successor.

It sounds very much as if they think that what the law has to say has nothing to do with it! 

Mr. Kenney’s successor would certainly look foolish if she chose to remain outside the Legislature while someone else ran in Calgary Elbow. 

The NDP’s nominated candidate in Calgary-Elbow, engineer Samir Kayande, said late yesterday “a by-election will be required by March 3.”

He urged Premier Kenney to direct the Chief Electoral Officer to call it. 

“We are facing critical issues including windfall energy revenues and open talk of separatism among UCP leadership candidates,” Mr. Kayande said. “It is vital that the people of Calgary-Elbow have a voice in the Legislature this fall.”

Pass the popcorn!

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24 Comments

  1. I have different things to say about what’s been transpiring. Some inner feeling tells me that Doug Schweitzer has been up to no good, and had to resign. If that is the case, we will eventually know about it. If not, perhaps he knows all too well the UCP are done for, and he wants no part in that party. By not calling a by-election, it also shows that the UCP are behaving like cowards, and can’t face scrutiny from the electorate. The UCP are giddy with excitement about a budget surplus that wasn’t of their doing. The uptick in oil prices came from a battle between Russia and Ukraine. When oil prices were quite low, the UCP were quick to blame others for Alberta’s bad fiscal predicament. Rachel Notley, and Justin Trudeau were the culprits. It was never about the government prior to the NDP, the Alberta PCs, for not collecting the oil royalty rates and corporate tax rates of Peter Lougheed, and doing the most priciest shenanigans, which made Alberta have hundreds of billions of dollars less. When one looks at what Alaska and Norway were doing, there is a big difference, between them and Alberta, regarding oil wealth. The UCP has also done many pricey shenanigans too. When oil prices slide back downwards again, it won’t be good for Alberta. These UCP leadership candidates are not on the right trajectory, because they are not interested in doing the right things which Peter Lougheed did. Instead, they will follow the bad example of Ralph Klein. More cuts, and more giveaways to their rich corporate friends.

    1. Really weird seeing someone quit a job with a base salary of 120k for “no reason at all.” I think public servants owe the public explanations for their actions. Even a cliched and dishonest “wanted to spend more time with my family” is better than nothing at all. I think this is really shady.

      1. Neil Lore: When someone quits their job, all of a sudden, especially in politics, there is definitely something shady, or suspect going on. The UCP are also very fractured, and that’s easy to see. UCP MLAs were also disagreeing with their leader. The UCP couldn’t even keep the leader they had. Quite interesting.

  2. Why would Danielle Smith care about breaking laws? Isn’t that the whole point of her leadership platform? She’ll break any laws she doesn’t like, especially the federal ones, which are all bad anyways? It sounds very much like anarchy to me, and nothing at all like the libertarian label others have assigned this bunch. I suppose “Alberta Anarchy Party” would be a little off-putting to many. Now it begins. You reap what you sow, Alberta.

    1. Heh, Mrs. Smith is nowhere near principled enough to call herself an “anarchist.”* “Grifter” is probably a more accurate phrase.

      *The bomb-tossing yahoos who give this ideology a bad name do exist, but they are the exception, not the rule. Super oversimplified, Anarchism argues thusly:
      1)The only acceptable justification for any person or group having power over another person or group is “it is in the interest of the community.”
      2)The onus is on the person or group with power to be able to justify each and every use of their power, and the only acceptable justification is “it is in the interest of the community.”
      3)Unjustifiable power structures are always immoral and must be opposed.

    2. Libertarian: a person who expects all the benefits of a civilized society but accepts none of the responsibilities.

  3. Danielle Smith won’t run in Ralph Klein’s old riding? If a Conservative Party Leader cannot win there, exactly how many urban ridings can the UCP win?

  4. Thanks for another great column, David, and your pass the popcorn comment is dead-on.

    Mr. Schweitzer announced his intention to resign several weeks ago, so we certainly saw this coming. Danielle Smith has already announced she intends to run in Livingstone-Macleod, where she lives, so it would certainly would have been much smoother for the UCP if Doug Schweitzer held off his resignation until after the leadership vote and, if Ms. Smith does prevail, after she has asked Roger Reid to step aside and a by-election is called for Livingstone-Macleod.

    When I first read your column I wondered how much pressure was put on Mr. Schweitzer to hold off on his resignation, but then I realized that the people who will be adversely affected by Schweitzer’s resignation, Ms. smith et al, are not yet in a position to apply any pressure, and the people who could offer enticements to Mr. Schweitzer to stay on, have no real motivation to do so. Indeed, given that most of the cabinet would prefer Travis Toews as leader, they will probably look forward to watching Ms. Smith dance around the by-election issue as much as the rest of us.

    It also needs to be stressed that Calgary Elbow is not a safe UCP seat. The riding went to Greg Clark’s Alberta Party in the Great PC purge of 2015, and it even went Liberal in a by-election in 2007. In 2019 the UCP did win the seat, but only because of a vote split between the NDP and the Alberta Party, which will not happen again. Add to that the decline in UCP popularity recently, Ms. Smith’s lack of appeal with moderate voters, and the result could very easily be a huge embarrassment for the UCP.

    Maybe we should all send David a photo of ourselves enjoying a a bowl of popcorn, for the Great Alberta Politics Popcorn Party.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary-Elbow#Representation_history

  5. A well written law should always be explicit in its terms, action, and intent. Laws which transcend this benchmark meet all these conditions and contain enough obfuscation as to allow the government the lattitude to do whatever it wishes. This might be the case here.

  6. Yes, Kenney’s successor would look a bit foolish to delay this by election, but I suspect the people who might think him or her foolish, aren’t likely voting UCP anyways. UCP members seem to have a very high tolerance for foolishness these days.

    Also to rework an old saying, better to be thought of as foolish than to call a by election and confirm it. So, I boldly predict the new Premier will avoid Calgary Elbow like the plague and if needed run in a friendlier probably rural place.

    Of course, a politically clever (or desperate) strategy might be to wait until the last minute and hope things improve, so I suspect that will be the UCP strategy here. Yes, if they lose a by election just before needing to call a general election that could take a lot wind out of their sails and might not seem so wise in hindsight, but don’t you get the feeling they are sometimes making it up as they go along, lurching from one disaster to another? Isn’t what they have been doing for the last several years under Kenney? I get the feeling it will not be that different under a new leader, perhaps even worse.

    Mr. Schweitzer has done his party no favours by his hasty exit, but I suspect he didn’t want his own reputation to be further sullied by staying on under a dubious new leader. So, really the damage has already been done in Calgary Elbow, it just hasn’t been fully realized yet.

  7. News banner on CBC..
    Tropical storm “Danielle forms I the Atlantic, expected to become a hurricane…..

  8. So what are the choices? Call the by election for a likely loss. Call snap provincial election after the leadership of The Used Car Party is (ahem) decided – result uncertain. Leave the seat empty, indicating an election coming soon perhaps, or law breaking. I am guessing the electorate would regard the last as uninteresting, and inside baseball – sadly. The first two are filled with peril for the supporters of the Unholy Cacophony Party. In one they may develop the stench of a clunker junker, and in the other lose power or come close. Also party finances would be damaged by a loss, outlay for a campaign and reduced contributions to a now loser party. If I were the UCP “brain trust”, I would chose a no by election and no snap election decision. Leaving the would be leader free to go full campaign mode. Some other useful idiot can manage the Legislature. This isn’t risk free of course, as the leader in the house may try to gain advantage as the party is splintered.

  9. It is SUCH a shame modern Conservatism has been overrun by know-nothing reactionary definitely-not-racists, because they are going to miss out on something hilarious:

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/pierre-poilievre-promises-new-law-against-government-jargon/ar-AA11n5fP?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=b16cc549a477493d89c84d18f30064ca

    Skippy is going to make it illegal to use jargon in government! c:\laughtrack.mp3
    This “policy proposal” seems like it must have been stolen from Sarah Palin. My goodness what a shamefully vapid idea. Jargon can be frustrating, but it exists for a really good reason, and it exists in pretty much all trades – it allows for more precise communication by avoiding words that may have multiple meanings. Musicians, carpenters, lawyers, loggers, etc etc etc all use a lot of jargon (lawyers use little else).

    The reason I find this so contemptible is that Skippy can’t not know this – he’s been in government for literally decades! He’s also done some fairly important policies too, such as the “Fair Elections Act*,” it’s not like there is any excuse at all for this. This guy is such a forked-tongued weasel.

    *If you don’t remember this, https://www.unesen.ca/press/?p=3299. Canadian Conservatives were trying to undermine democracy well before Trump made it cool.

    1. Neil: “Canadian Conservatives were trying to undermine democracy well before Trump made it cool.” Best line of the week. DJC

  10. The sudden exit of a UCP cabinet minister and MLA from public life makes for interesting rumors. At some point, the truth about why Doug Schweitzer ran from the UCP crime scene will be revealed in its awesome glory. However, the need for a by-election does present Danielle Straitjacket with an interesting opportunity and dilemma. Does she just go for a single by-election for herself? Or does she decide to roll the dice and hope the rage farm produces a bountiful harvest?

    There is no reason I can think of why she should be worried about the prospect of the NDP getting the job done. Rural voters drag Alberta around by its nose; Edmonton may resist, but Calgary will always vote against its interests and go with the rural vote. Power wins every time.

  11. Not at all surprised about his resignation. The future does not look great for the UCP.

    Even if he remained, and the UCP won the election would he want to associate himself with the likes of the current Cabinet or the future Cabinet? These are a bunch of self serving cretins. I think not.

    How much fun or satisfaction would there be in remaining as a player in such a divided party. And it is only going to get worse.

    He was smart. Get out while you can. Move to the private sector.

    1. Ha ha ha … very good!
      Don’t know where you get this stuff but it’s right on the mark.
      Looks like her, acts like her, even sounds like her. Just a quick costume change …

  12. I can imagine folks in Calgary Elbow complaining to the one-and-done former premier (until 6 October, anyway) that they want a new MLA—right NOW. Then to the premier-elect, Queen Dannie, to get the byelection going—right NOW. That’d up the ante all around.

    It’d be ironic if Queen Dannie announced there’d be no byelection because there’s this federal law, see, that says you don’t have to do a byelection if there’s a general election coming. It’s a Canada law, see, not an Alberta law. But that’s OK, see, because this time it’s a Canada law we like. You see?

    As for “I’m-leaving-no-comment” Dougie, he probably got a really, really good job offer. What better reason to jump before someone could push him out?

    1. If history repeats itself ,
      Foundation carefully worked on inside so experiments can be fulfilled on the outside,
      Particularly those law firms

  13. Off to the private sector?foundation carefully placed from inside so motives are easily attainable from outside
    That’s my guess ,seen it a million times

  14. My guess is that Mr Schweitzer is in line for some job incompatible with his status as a sitting MLA, even one who has announced he won’t run again. Perhaps a judge in the federally-appointed higher court system, perhaps some academic position, or … who knows? Maybe he’s going to throw his hat into the ring for a federal Conservative nomination and wants to do it from outside the legislature.

    Anyway I don’t think there’s anything nefarious about it.

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