Premier Danielle Smith and Independent Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie clashed Monday over the Progressive Conservative name, with Guthrie alleging the United Conservatives tried to block his revival bid with what he described as a second cease-and-desist order and Smith defending the name as a United Conservative legacy brand.
In a Facebook post earlier in the day, Guthrie wrote:
“The UCP’s insistence that we withdraw our Elections Alberta application to revive the Progressive Conservative Party — backed by yet another cease-and-desist order — reveals their deep fear of genuine competition. Their actions are an attempt to stifle choice rather than engage in open debate. This is made even more troubling by the fact that Danielle Smith now claims authority over the Progressive Conservative name, despite playing a central role in the party’s downfall.”
At a press conference later that afternoon, Smith responded to Guthrie’s claim when asked by a reporter.
“Well, I challenge you to show me any jurisdiction that has two conservative parties on the ballot, two liberal parties on the ballot, or two new Democrat parties on the ballot,” Smith said. “You can't just steal the name of an existing party and then try to use their reputation to further your own. I mean, I have no problem with anyone going out and creating a brand new party, but we have, the Progressive Conservatives are a legacy, Legacy party name for our party, and we will fight to protect it.”
She added, “We simply do not want to create the confusion, because we know what will happen. We've watched what happened with Pierre's riding. Pierre's riding has something like 200 people on the ballot to try to derail it. If you allow one extra Conservative Party, I can well imagine we'd have 50 conservative parties on the ballot, and then it would create confusion.”
Smith continued: “And I can tell you what happened in the by-election that Pierre Poilievre just went through. Jean Pierre Kingsley, who was the former Chief Electoral Officer, said, this is outrageous, and we have to make sure that we protect the choice of the voters so that they know exactly who they're voting for, and we're not going to allow anyone to muddy the waters on that. So, we'll be defending the name.”
On Sept. 5, Guthrie wrote in another Facebook post that Alberta Party members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting the Progressive Conservative name.
“With a decisive vote, the Alberta Party has moved one step closer to adopting the Progressive Conservative name,” he wrote. “On Wednesday, August 27, party members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a name change, with 94% support."
“On August 29, the Alberta Party formally submitted its request to Elections Alberta to change the party name to the ‘Alberta Progressive Conservative Party’.
“We are optimistic that Elections Alberta approval could come by the end of September, though the process could take up to 60 days.”
DiscoverAirdrie has not verified with Elections Alberta that the filing was accepted. Earlier this summer, when the initial cease-and-desist letter was sent by the UCP, DiscoverAirdrie contacted Elections Alberta for comment. At the time, officials noted that no application had been accepted under the Progressive Conservative name and said the “Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (PCAA)” name is reserved until Nov. 26, 2025.
The dispute dates back to July, when Guthrie and Independent MLA Scott Sinclair announced they were working to revive the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta — “a movement rooted in accountability, transparency, anti-corruption, and fiscal responsibility,” Guthrie wrote at the time.
In a written response to questions sent by DiscoverAirdrie in July, Guthrie confirmed that the first cease-and-desist letter from the UCP was received on July 14. “No, they have not,” he wrote when asked if the governing party had taken any further legal steps.
He added that the Alberta Party’s board had approved a collaboration that “will reflect a new progressive conservative alternative in Alberta,” and that a leadership contest was planned for this fall.
In a July 30 written response to DiscoverAirdrie, the UCP confirmed it had sent the initial letter.
“Yes, the UCP sent a cease and desist letter to protect the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta copyright and trademarks that belong to the UCP,” the party said. “The PC Alberta name, logo and goodwill were being used by people with no right to it.
“Neither of these MLAs were ever even members of PC Alberta, so their attempt to usurp the goodwill associated with our legacy party in order to confuse voters and avoid the hard work of building a political movement is particularly insulting to the thousands of former PC Party members and supporters who are now contributing members of the UCP.”
In a July 23 Facebook post, Guthrie framed his effort as a return to earlier conservative traditions.
“As an elected MLA and proud Albertan, I’ve watched with growing concern as the UCP has lost its way,” he wrote. “What started as a promise to unite conservatives and serve the people has drifted into a government plagued by backroom deals, eroding transparency, and top-down control. That’s not the kind of conservatism I signed up for — and it’s not what Albertans deserve.
“Alongside Scott Sinclair, I’m working to revive the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. This isn’t about division. It’s about restoring integrity, rebuilding trust, and putting people before politics.”
Guthrie was expelled from the UCP caucus on April 17, 2025, after refusing to support the government’s approach to the Alberta Health Services procurement investigation. Sinclair, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake, was removed in March 2025 after he threatened to oppose the provincial budget over rural funding concerns.
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