Five more Alberta UCP legislature members facing recall, bringing total to 14

Elections Alberta says it has approved recall petitions against five more members of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus, bringing the total to 14.

The new number means that almost a third of the 47 United Conservative members in the Alberta legislature are under recall.

The latest ones include cabinet ministers Searle Turton and Nathan Neudorf. Also facing recall are backbenchers Jason Stephan, Jackie Lovely and Glen van Dijken.

Under Alberta’s Recall Act, any citizen in a riding can ask to begin collecting signatures to try to get their legislature member recalled if they feel the member is failing at their duties.

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Many of those starting petitions against the first nine legislature members said their MLA was not representing the riding well and should not have used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end a recent provincewide teachers strike.

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The United Conservative government under former premier Jason Kenney passed the Recall Act in 2021, allowing constituents to launch petitions to remove their MLAs.

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Under the original law, petitioners would need to collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of eligible voters in a riding within 60 days after the recall effort is approved by Elections Alberta.

The law was a campaign promise for Kenney, who said it would strengthen democracy by allowing regular Albertans to hold politicians accountable if they “break faith with the people.”

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Earlier this year, Smith’s government passed amendments to the Recall Act that lowered some of its thresholds, including extending the deadline to 90 days after a recall petition’s approval.

Petitioners now have to collect signatures from electors “equal to” at least 60 per cent of people who voted in the most recent provincial election in order to be successful.

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The change results in a lower signature requirement. For example, under the old rules, a petitioner in the riding of Calgary-Beddington would need to gather at least 13,913 signatures. Under the new rules, the number falls to 12,492.

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Petitioners can register canvassers to gather signatures on their behalf and then submit the signatures to Elections Alberta for review.

If enough signatures are verified, a recall vote is held within four months and must garner at least 50 per cent support for the MLA to be officially removed from office.

— With files from Sean Boynton and Karen Bartko, Global News

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