Jason Kenney Leadership Review: A United Conservative Party (UCP) official announced Wednesday that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership review will be performed through a mail-in ballot. Cynthia Moore, the UCP president, stated in an email to party members that the board of the party wanted to make sure that every member of the party had a chance to vote in the leadership review.
In light of the growing number of members, the party has decided to open up voting to all of them as of March 19. Moreover, the board opted to hold the special general meeting online rather than in Red Deer, Alberta on April 9. More than 15,000 people have registered to take part, according to the email. Members will not be charged to join the party, but it is not clear how they will be refunded in the event of a cancellation. Tax receipts are also available to members who wish to donate their registration costs. The mail-in vote will be overseen by a national auditing organization, and further information will be revealed in the following days.
“Our party’s strength is demonstrated by this exceptional involvement in the democratic process.” Moore expressed his gratitude for everyone’s participation. Brian Jean, a former Wildrose Party leader and newly elected Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche UCP MLA, took to social media to express his displeasure with the new voting procedures. A “travesty,” according to Jean, is the UCP board’s choice to conduct this leadership review vote outside of the rules of the party. He insisted that the board couldn’t amend the party’s bylaws, which state that a vote on the party’s leadership must take place at an annual or special public meeting.
Disappointment, Skepticism, and Distrust
People who wanted to vote but couldn’t get to Red Deer or pay the registration cost will be excluded if the regulations are changed after the cutoff date, according to University of Calgary political science professor Lisa Young. Those who support or oppose Kenney will have to adjust their tactics as a result, according to the senator. According to Young, “the pro-Kenney and anti-Kenney campaigns’ strategy would have been determined by the original regulations, which required voters to be in Red Deer to cast their ballots in person.”
Organisers who worked hard to get a sense of what would actually happen would be very disappointed by this rule change.” However, Young did not indicate if the rule change would favor Kenney or hinder the UCP. It was a disaster waiting to happen because of the way the contest was set up by the party, she said. “They didn’t seem to have any backup plan in case the numbers were going to be bigger than what they had planned for,” she continued. A number of people who weren’t party members previously or who might be more likely to vote by mail have probably signed up as a result of the premier’s operation.
UCP Central Peace-Notley Constituency Association President Samantha Steinke. More than three dozen organization presidents have written to the UCP’s Board of Directors expressing their desire to retain Red Deer’s referendum on the ballot. Steinke stated, “I can tell you that people are not happy.” As of this morning, I’ve already received a number of calls from folks wondering, ‘Is the party going to reimburse me for my non-refundable hotel room?’” ‘Will they reimburse me for the bus fare that we paid for but now can’t use?’ People in our neighborhood are really concerned about each of these issues.
Regulations have no Bearing
Jean said he’ll ask Elections Alberta to look into accusations that Kenney’s team purchased thousands of memberships for people “most of whom don’t actually realize they are members.” Also, Jean’s campaign staff was alerted that Kenney’s supporters were registering thousands of voters in Edmonton and Calgary who had never paid for their memberships. “It’s unethical to do so. (https://www.topskitchen.com/) ” However, it’s also against the law in Alberta,” Jean pointed out. It will cost between $75,000 and $100,000 merely to get your name on the ballot for the new head of the UCP.
A vote auditor will be called in to verify the validity of any new members who joined within the previous month, according to Jean, who is speaking with his lawyers on the mail-in ballot issue. Instead of a one-day event in Red Deer expected to draw roughly 3,000 people, the party suddenly finds itself scrambling to get everything ready for what is expected to become one of Alberta’s largest political gatherings ever. Protests are a concern for some of the members.
A statement from Kenney’s campaign staff to CBC News on Wednesday praised the action as necessary to alleviate capacity issues at the venue, as well as safety concerns. According to Harrison Fleming, Kenney’s leadership review campaign’s spokeswoman, “We have also heard directly from some members who were concerned about safety at such a massive, over-capacity in-person event likely to attract protestors”. Fleming denied the validity of Jean’s claims about faulty memberships. Fleming argued that Jean’s reservations about the vote modifications ignore the MLA’s own political past.
ANALYSIS
Massive voter turnout, confusing logistics, and a new struggle for the “hearts and souls” of Albertans’ UCP are all at stake in this election. A total of 14,000 members of the UCP have already registered to vote on Jason Kenney’s leadership. Fleming added that the Premier’s team anticipates the mail-in vote to be accurate and fair and that Kenney would welcome an audit of new members. “We would welcome any audit of new members, including those signed up by Brian Jean and the campaign he’s engaged with, which is on record providing ‘financial support’ to lure people to Red Deer,” Fleming said.
Mr. Jean may be spending his time suing the UCP to prevent members from voting, but we are heartened by the widespread interest from UCP members in being engaged and active in this large-tent conservative movement.” More than 15,000 individuals have registered to vote in the UCP’s leadership election, according to the party’s president Cynthia Moore, who released a statement through email on Tuesday. It will be overseen by a national audit firm, Moore added. There was “strong interest” in allowing all members who had an active membership as of the March 19 cutoff date to vote, according to Moore.
Moore said on Wednesday that the upcoming special general meeting, slated for April 9 in Red Deer, will be streamed life online for the benefit of all members. Registrants will get instructions from the event’s organizers on how to get their registration fees reimbursed or tax-deductible. Overwhelming numbers of people sign up for the event. While originally planned to be a one-day event at a Red Deer hotel, the Cambridge Hotel and Conference Center was forced to close after registration numbers exceeded expectations.
Up to 20,000 party members were expected, according to the province’s ruling United Conservative Party. More than 13.718 people had signed up to vote as of Sunday. Voting began at midnight on Saturday, and both Kenney’s admirers and his detractors were working hard to register new members in time. A leadership challenge would be triggered if Kenney did not win a majority of the vote, which is defined as 50 percent of the vote plus one. Registrants will be asked to answer the question, “Do you support the current leader?”
