Who will lead the United Conservative Party into Alberta’s next election?
Athabasca University (AU) political experts break down front runners, conservatism, and a sustainable economic future for Alberta
This Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, members of the United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta will select their new leader after Jason Kenney resigned in May, 2020. The new leader will lead the UCP into the next provincial election, in what is speculated as a tight battle between UCP and the Rachel Notley-led New Democratic Party (NDP) of Alberta.
To help us better understand the importance of the leadership campaign, the emerging candidates, their policies, and how Alberta’s conservatism might be shaped, we sat down with AU political science professors Dr. Paul Kellogg and Dr. Mark Crawford to discuss.
Dr. Paul Kellogg is professor and chair of AU’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, and Dr. Mark Crawford is an assistant professor specializing in Canadian government and democratic theory.
What background do we need to know about the UCP leadership race?
In May of 2022, Jason Kenney’s approval rating was an unconvincing 51.4%. This rating was largely based on Alberta’s response to COVID-19, and the political leadership was held accountable. After narrowly escaping a leadership review, Kenney promptly responded by stepping down as leader, setting up a contentious UCP leadership race between 7 hopefuls, including former Wild Rose MLA Danielle Smith, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean, and current Minister of Finance of Alberta and President of the Treasury Board for Alberta’s UCP Travis Toews. We sat down with AU political science professors Dr. Paul Kellogg and Dr. Mark Crawford to discuss how we arrived at this moment.
Who are the frontrunners to become the next leader of the conservative party?
Who will lead Alberta’s UCP into the next provincial election? Unlike the recent federal campaign for leadership of the Canadian Conservative Party, an outright frontrunner for leader of the UCP has not emerged, although many are venturing to guess that former Wild Rose MLA Danielle Smith, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean, and current Minister of Finance of Alberta and President of the Treasury Board for Alberta’s UCP Travis Toews, are the 3 most likely to become the leader of the party. But how did we get here? We sat down with AU political science professors Dr. Paul Kellogg and Dr. Mark Crawford to discuss.
How has conservatism in Alberta changed over the years?
Has Alberta’s conservative party moved further to the right on the political spectrum, or is it a select few people within the base that make it appear that way? We sat down with AU political science professors Dr. Paul Kellogg and Dr. Mark Crawford to discuss how people perceive Alberta and how a sustainable economic future is an issue many politicians are afraid to address.
What conversations are political scientists and the general public not having?
Where do deficits come from? Why do some provinces have a Provincial Sales Tax (PST)? Where does inflation come from? AU political science professors Dr. Paul Kellogg and Dr. Mark Crawford discuss how those adult conversations need to happen, but many politicians are skeptical to talk about any of them because their political futures could be thwarted by this type of discourse.
