And then there were 21! Twenty-one petitions acceptable to Elections Alberta to recall members of the Alberta Legislative Assembly, that is.
Twenty of them are directed at MLAs from the governing United Conservative Party, one at an MLA from the Opposition NDP.
The latest batch, published by Elections Alberta yesterday, includes Premier Danielle Smith herself. So, will she stay or will she go?
A few months ago Ms. Smith would certainly have been immune to this kind of attack in her rural-urban Brooks-Medicine Hat riding in southeast Alberta. She probably still is.
Still, it’s fun to speculate about what might happen to the premier now that she’s not only infuriated her natural political opponents on the so-called Alberta left, which isn’t very far to the left at all even in relative terms, but also large numbers of traditionally Conservative farmers and ranchers in the region worried about pollution from that massive open-pit coal-mining operation the UCP seems so determined to permit on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies, and the separatist loons who inhabit her own party’s far-right fringe.
That said, beyond the long list of MLAs now facing recalls, what the heck is going on is far from clear.
Who is running the Operation Total Recall website that provides organizing information and updates for local petitioners is so far unknown. Somebody is, but it’s highly unlikely it’s the NDP Opposition led by Naheed Nenshi, despite repeated and increasingly hysterical claims to the contrary from the government.
UCP supporters seem to have set up a false-front petition drive against their own MLA to stymie better-organized foes in at least one case – that of the petition against Utilities Minister Nathen Neudorf, MLA for Lethbridge-East. Could there be more? That’s not clear yet either.
And is the drive to unseat the NDP’s Calgary-Beddington MLA, Amanda Chapman, being run by the UCP, or by someone else? Also hard to say.
There is an enormous amount of speculation, of course, much of it uninformed.
What can be safely concluded though is that this is a gong show, and no matter what they say, it’s all on the UCP. They drafted, passed and amended the law – an affront to the Westminster Parliamentary system but a sop to their MAGA base – and they own the metastasizing crisis that has resulted. As Mr. Nenshi put it, “This is their legislation. They wrote it.”
There seems to be a general consensus among serious commentators and even some that are not so serious that the UCP strategic brain trust never imagined for a moment that this silly law would ever be used against them. No, this was to be used in the event of another “accidental” NDP government like the majority led by Rachel Notley that was elected in 2015.
All their whining about how the Recall Act was intended to be used only in the case of “egregious” malfeasance by an MLA is so much hot air. If that’s what they’d intended, they would have written the law that way. If the process is being abused, as the UCP keeps complaining, it’s being abused in exactly the way they intended – just not against the NDP. Case closed.
There has been plenty of speculation on what happens next. Not all the petitions – or necessarily even any of them – will gather enough verifiable signatures to result in a vote in the riding on whether the MLA should be recalled. And even if that happens, there’s no guarantee the MLA couldn’t run and win in a subsequent by-election.
But there is no question the grassroots campaign has turned into a massive distraction for the UCP and a gift that keeps on giving for Alberta political commentators.
If the UCP imagined this fire was going to burn itself out, they appear to have been mistaken. If it doesn’t, I’d say the government has three options: They can repeal the law (embarrassing), they can amend it (less so, but tricky), or they can call an early election (which they could very well win).
My money’s on Option 3.
Here’s the list of MLAs who are now facing recall petitions approved by Elections Alberta in their ridings:
- Demetrios Nicolaides, MLA for Calgary-Bow, minister of education
- Angela Pitt, Airdrie-East, Deputy Speaker
- Nolan Dyck, Grande Prairie
- Myles McDougall, Calgary-Fish Creek, minister of advanced education
- Ric McIver, Calgary-Hays, Speaker
- Muhammad Yaseen, Calgary-North, minister of immigration and multiculturalism
- Rajan Sawhney, Calgary-North West, minister of Indigenous relations
- RJ Sigurdson, Highwood, minister of agriculture
- Dale Nally, Morinville-St. Albert, minister of Service Alberta and red-tape reduction
- Glenn Van Dijken, Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
- Jackie Lovely, Camrose
- Nathan Neudorf, Lethbridge-East, minister of utilities
- Jason Stephan, Red Deer-South
- Searle Turton, Spruce Grove-Stoney Plain, minister of children and family services
- Amanda Chapman, Calgary Beddington, Opposition education critic
- Peter Singh, Calgary-East
- Tanya Fir, Calgary-Peigan, minister of arts culture and status of women
- Adriana LaGrange, Red Deer-North, minister of primary and preventative health services
- Rebecca Schulz, Calgary-Shaw, minister of environment
- Danielle Smith, Brooks-Medicine Hat, premier
- Nate Glubish, Strathcona-Sherwood Park, minister of technology and inovation
Elections Alberta approves singer Corb Lund’s anti-coal petition
Speaking of those southern Alberta ranchers deeply concerned by the potential for pollution from that open-pit coal mine on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies that the UCP is determined to allow, Elections Alberta announced Monday it has approved country singer Corb Lund’s petition opposing coal mining in the region.
The citizen initiative question submitted by Mr. Lund reads: “The Government of Alberta shall prohibit by law any and all new coal mining activities, including new approvals and permits, within the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.”
“There’s 200,000 people using that water downstream, not only for drinking, but for multi-billion dollar food processing industry in Lethbridge,” Mr. Lund said on Nov. 19, when he submitted his petition application to Elections Alberta in Edmonton. “So the whole thing seems like a terrible idea!”
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I expect this site to be migrating to a new online host this coming weekend. It is to be hoped that the change goes quickly and smoothly, but as a result, it may be impossible to post comments during some of this time. Please be patient. DJC
Whether Smith calls an election early or any of these recalls play out to their conclusion I do believe she is still likely to lose some MLAs, mostly the ones that won on relatively slim margins last election but like everything else we’ll have to wait and see
Just imagine another term of Danielle Smith. Then imagine American soldiers stealing an oil tanker from Venezuela. Then imagine American soldiers stealing all of Alberta’s resources while your UCP MLA lends them a hand. Then ask yourself why you would vote for people who will take everything away from you and leave you with nothing. Why? Then don’t vote UCP. Don’t let them do it. A quisling is a quisling is a quisling.
@Abs
Bang on the money, mate.
If these Smith-following fools think a country that pirates oil tankers, demands regime change at gunboat point and has zero problem with bombing civilians to steal the resources of the land they’re living on is somehow after a hundred years of ruthlessly crushing any opposition in the way of their corporate expansion plans is worse than trying to deal with the Canadian feds they are seriously deluded.
Why isn’t Smith telling them the truth?
If Trump can/will do it to Venezuela (and lest we forget, the USA conspired with the British banks to steal 8B of their gold, already) he will surely do it to them. In fact, I suspect this theft was an object lesson to all of Canada and the rest of the world.
“You can only trade under my auspices otherwise I will just confiscate all your ships and cargo.”
We’re living on repeat from The Golden Age Of Piracy with the USA sailing the flag ships.
B….d’rump threatens Canada with ‘massive’ tariffs on our Potash, which he said should be manufactured in the U.S., then someone must have whispered in his ear, and so instead he lifted the sanctions on Belarus ; whose main export is potash, under the guise of freeing political prisoners— huge photo ops,
leaving Canada under threat again. Which again makes me wonder about Moe’s decision about shipping his potash through Washington state , instead of through Vancouver….hmmm??
Sidebar— on the bright side..reporter asking Jason Kenny about the Smith recall
he said ” I don’t comment on Alberta politics “….zing !! LMAO
These recalls of the UCP MLAs and the premier aren’t happening for nothing. It’s going on because the UCP are a very despicable government. There is absolutely nothing that is Conservative about the UCP, only the name.
I put my detective hat on came up with whoever is behind the Operation Total Recall website is a big fan of that 1990 classic Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name.
https://youtu.be/bBjt_gj7zl4?si=k4c5PpZTOEdPkSdg
Welcome to Aberhartville, Alberta, population two Premiers threatened with recall.
I remember the ads over a decade ago, which the then desperate PCs ran during an election, implying that Smith and her then Wildrose party was a reincarnation of Social Credit. Well I guess there was much more truth to that than realized at the time. Yes, they really are our grandfathers conservatives.
If we stick with that idea, what will Smith do now? I do agree that door #1, total repeal would be very embarrassing. While it worked for Aberhart, he had a looming world war as a great distraction and then he died several years later. Maybe not quite the circumstances Smith can or wants to replicate.
However, I feel door #3 (an early election), would be much more risky for the UCP than it appears. Let’s just say those who are upset with the UCP are a lot more motivated now than those that support it. Even the separatists seem lukewarm about Smith, despite all her efforts to try appease them.
So this leaves door #2, which is to try modify the recall legislation, somewhat like they did with their referendum law, as their best option. Yes, it will still be quite embarrassing, but less so than a total repeal and less risky than an election with a clearly disgruntled electorate. It doesn’t solve the UCPs problems, but it does buy them time. Hopefully for them Smith is as good a communicator as Aberhart, because she will have some spainin’ to do. If it is any consolation for her party, she sure seems as loopy as he was.
So Monty, I pick door #2. Although, Albertans may end up with a goat regardless because the choice is really up to Smith.
I certainly hope the recalls work and we get rid of Smith and her band of clapping seals for good, although that may very well be wishful thinking. I think that some teachers are behind the recalls given their rights were stripped away simply for the sake of saving a few dollars and to try and put unions in their place. One should never under estimate the rath of scorn educated teachers. Given the attacks the UCP has undertaken this year: slashing payments to AISH recipients, clawing back Federal Disability Benefits, slashing payments to eye doctors, privatizing health care, charging for COVID shots, refusing to increase the minimum wage while giving a wage increase to parliamentary secretaries, increasing copays on prescription drugs for seniors pandering to separatists and so on, all of which are unique to Alberta. No other Province is as blatantly vicious to their citizens as these clowns. The time has come to punt the UCP out. As noted by leader Nenshi yesterday, during the last election campaign, Smith put a note in every mailbox promising that no one will every have to pay out of pocket to see a family doctor or for any other necessary medical need. It is very obvious she has broken that promise and I hope voters will remember that when the next election rolls around.
I am totally on board with Corb Lund’s petition, but I am concerned the wording of his question is too vague, and the government could argue the current plan to mine Grassy Mountain is not a new approval, because it has already been granted, and therefore is not covered by Mr. Lund’s initiative.
That said, it would be pretty unwise to ignore the opinion of a majority of Albertans, if Mr. Lund is successful, and he wins the eventual referendum.
David, I agree with you on option 3. It seems to be Smith’s only way out of this mess, that they created. We can only hope, that Albertans have woken up and realized that the UPC is NOT a good option for the future.
JFC.
We are smack in the middle of the government quietly calling to create civilian forces as prep for the possibility of a third world war. The American Manifesto of Supreme Dominance and Gunboat Diplomacy (Donroe or National Security Strategy) has been officially announced that claims rights over anything Canada has that America wants can be taken by any means necessary and Dixie Dani still can’t sell the province and the country out, fast enough.
Can we arrest her yet?
Get this through your thick skulls, you separatist loons. YOU won’t get the benefit of *anything* if this country breaks up because the Americans have every intention of just taking ALL of it. You won’t get paid, you won’t get tax money from oil extraction, you won’t have healthcare or any social services and you won’t get good jobs. Goodbye farms. Hello agri-business.
Since you clearly haven’t kept up with how the United States economic system actually works–the backbone of labour is non-union workforces living on food stamps and prison slavery which is why, with 15% of the world’s population they have nearly the same amount of prisoners as Russia and China _combined_.
The feds will be the least of your worries because you will be ruled by USA gone full fascist.
Good luck with that.
I am always amused when a carefully crafted bit of legislation or policy intended to hit the opposition comes back and bites the drafters. Can you say “schadenfreude”.
You get thinks like “Well yes I voted for Trump but ICE was not supposed to deport my wife”.
I don’t see the point of these doomed recall campaigns. The ONLY way to defeat the UCP is by getting involved in helping the Alberta NDP win the next provincial election. An election that could come as early as Spring 2026 and no later than October 2027.
inovation under Nate Glubish should have 2 n’s as in innovation.
The news regarding Smith, just loved it. Her nasty attempts have come back to bite her in the ass. As they say, what goes out comes around. How embarrassing for her. Like your picture of her at the top of the page. she sure looks unhappy.
My money is based on precedent – The UCP does not have a clue as to what Albertans are thinking.
“But there is no question the grassroots campaign has turned into a massive distraction for the UCP . . .”
Possibly . . . , yet for ‘the business of government’ (the corporate state model) and more importantly for her hideousness, along with her devout patrons, the numerous beneficiaries, and the legion of true believers the business of mendacity, duplicity, ‘political favors’, and the much sought after motivator that is bank account fattening (because enough is never enough) must continue onwards and upwards relatively unimpeded. It is an article of faith confirmed by daily practice and supported by the available facts and evidence. For example,
1. “In her video promoting the idea, Smith suggested the added costs of privatized surgeries (i.e., for profit surgeries) could be covered either out-of-pocket or through patients’ insurance.”
https://x.com/ABDanielleSmith/status/1991196274746618289
Theory vs practice for a ‘market’ that is always thirsty for more profit and new markets to exploit means that for example: “On February 21, The Globe and Mail published surgical procedure costs in Alberta, showing that most for-profit surgical facilities have significantly higher costs for the same procedures than public hospitals. In the case of the Alberta Surgical Group — one of the for-profit surgical providers contracted under the Alberta Surgical Initiative (ASI) — hip, knee, and shoulder surgeries cost more than twice as much.”
https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/operation_profit
And at least we also know who some of the other ‘winners’ will be, “Andrew Ostro, CEO and founder of insurance startup PolicyMe, calls the move a net positive for the insurance industry. “The more that gets paid out-of-pocket by patients, the bigger the need for private insurance,” Ostro said.”
Hypnotized by ideology and a perverted will to power, the thing is apparently intellectually deaf and dumb to the fact that: “If the physician’s role should not be that of an entrepreneur from the supply side, then patients too cannot be considered common consumers shopping around for their best deal from the demand side: illness undermines their health, making them vulnerable and often prone to ‘financial blackmail’.”
2. Political favors: “A political favor refers to an action taken by a public official or political entity that benefits a specific individual, group, or another official. These can exist on a spectrum.” Naturally, all of the wheels worth greasing need to greased:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/12/10/Jordan-Peterson-School/
” . . . but I would think it would be quite unusual on individual matters like this, for a premier to lobby on behalf of a specific person,” Snagovsky said, quickly adding that “lobbying is probably not the right term here.”
Considering the people involved, it is hardly ‘unusual’: anything goes as long as it involves pecuniary advantage. It is the modus operandi, because “people with more money, more connections to government, have had more influence.”