Before now, boards never voiced a view on policy. And it was always understood that the premier couldn’t do everything the party wanted. That ethic is dead
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Premier Danielle Smith continues to play to the noisiest bleachers on the hard-line side of the United Conservative Party.
The latest is her talk about three new amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights. They would guarantee gun ownership with “safe use,” clarify property ownership protections and enshrine the right to refuse any and all medical treatment, including vaccines.
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The wording in her video announcement was vague. We still don’t know, for instance, how far she’ll go on gun ownership.
By parliamentary rules, the exact wording of a bill or amendment can’t be disclosed before it’s presented to the legislature.
That won’t happen until Oct. 28, when the fall session begins. The leadership vote happens at the party convention, Nov. 2.
It’s all very shrewdly timed for that crucial week.
But more than current issues are at play here. A massive shift in the power balance between the premier and her party is occurring.
The UCP board, elected by UCP members, is now developing and endorsing policy, and expecting the premier to implement it.
A draft bill of rights from a UCP group in Medicine Hat was endorsed “verbatim” by the board. It calls for “the right to bear arms,” a straight steal from the U.S. Second Amendment.
Remarkably, the party president even suggested the board vote should be taken as approval by the entire party membership.
This is unheard of in nearly 50 years of Alberta governments calling themselves conservative.
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