Four United Conservative Party leadership candidates gathered at the Westin Hotel in downtown Calgary Thursday morning to take aim at perceived race leader Danielle Smith and her flagship policy.
“We are here united in our opposition to a political position: the Alberta Sovereignty Act,” said candidate Travis Toews, who took the podium first. “The act is a false bill of goods.”
Fellow candidates Brian Jean, Leela Aheer and Rajan Sawhney also spoke at the event.
Candidates Rebecca Schulz and Todd Loewen were invited but did not attend, with the former posting on Twitter that he also does not support the policy, but is concerned about party disunity. CBC News has reached out to Loewen for additional comment.
Caucus support
The four present at the Westin hotel said that if Smith won the leadership, they would not support the proposed legislation as they understand it in its current state.
“Either the act of sovereignty is something that is a symbolic gesture, like the motions that have been passed by the National Assembly of Quebec, or the act of sovereignty is blatantly unconstitutional and the equivalent of starting a fight in the middle of the confederation,” Aheer said.
“Either way, Danielle Smith is playing with fire and selling her fans a fantasy.”
Speaking to reporters after the event, Toews was asked how the act would support the caucus should it come into session, given that his campaign has garnered the most endorsements on the campaign trail.
“Let’s put it this way. I think passing the sovereignty act, certainly in the form that I’ve seen and in the concept that I’ve seen, would be very difficult to pass in the Legislature, based on the feedback that I’ve had. of the caucus members who support my leadership,” he said.
Alberta UCP MP Tracy Allard said she doesn’t think enough details have been given about plans for Danielle Smith’s proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act. (Janet French/CBC)
Smith has said the actual language of the bill will be drafted with full caucus input. But at this point, support among the caucuses for the legislation is far from certain, which would complicate its passage.
“I want to have a detailed reading [of the act] before I can say for sure. But with my limited understanding today, I wouldn’t be able to support it,” said UCP MP Tracy Allard, who supports Toews.
UCP MP Tany Yao, who supports Jean, said she respects Smith’s desire to be more aggressive in negotiations with Ottawa, but is unsure of the specific mechanism for doing so.
“I’m not sure if that particular tact would be effective in achieving his goal,” he said.
In a statement from his campaign, Smith said “tens of thousands” of UCP members had agreed to the plan to introduce the act. He said he respected the right of his fellow leaders to criticize the plan.
“I fully trust the judgment of our UCP members to select the leader they feel will best defend them against Ottawa’s continued unconstitutional attacks on our province,” Smith said.
“I will respect his decision when it is made. I would expect my future caucus colleagues to do the same.”
The debate has shaped the race
The candidates took particular aim at a press release issued by the Smith campaign earlier this week. In this statement, Smith defended the mechanisms that, in his opinion, would allow the enforcement of the law.
But the candidate group alleged the act would not stop equalization, the carbon tax, federal travel mandates or allow the province to build interprovincial corridors.
“The act of sovereignty is just pointless and pointless virtue signaling,” Sawhney said. “Danielle needs to be direct. She needs to provide the wording of her act, so we can be clear about exactly what she’s going to do.”
Jean stated that the act of sovereignty focuses on things that were “things that could never happen” or “things that [Smith] I could never change.”
“Danielle is misleading UCP members about reality,” he said. “I have strong political differences with some of the people at this stage, on issues like lockdowns and mandates and many other things.
“We may disagree a lot about politics and freedoms. But we disagree about reality.”
Aheer, Jean, Sawhney and Toews speak Thursday at the Westin Hotel in Calgary. Toews, pictured at the podium, said Danielle Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act would create anger and disillusionment in the province. (Helen Pike/CBC)
In recent weeks, the race has largely revolved around the act, which has alarmed legal experts and drawn criticism from Premier Jason Kenney, who earlier this week said it would make the province a “banana republic”.
Smith, for his part, has blamed the “woke” media, vested interests and the “political establishment” for using fear-mongering to discredit the act.
“In my view, the restoration and reassertion of provincial rights across our country will protect all provinces from Ottawa’s destructive excess,” Smith wrote in a statement released Tuesday.
The UCP is due to announce the results of the leadership vote on October 6.