Independent MLA Peter Guthrie is questioning why Premier Danielle Smith is focused on blocking the Alberta Party from becoming the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party and says she should be more concerned with protecting the Wildrose name.
Guthrie said Smith has a stronger case defending the Wildrose name, a party she once led.
Currently, the Wildrose name is part of two registered parties: the Wild Rose Loyalty Coalition and the Wild Rose Independence Party.
“Now, I would think the premier, being the former leader of the Wildrose, that if she was going to take exception with any name and pursue litigation, it would be against those Wildrose parties,” Guthrie told Cochrane Now on Thursday.
“That’s where her focus should be. The fact she’s challenging the PCs shows she knows how powerful and meaningful that name is in Alberta.”
Guthrie and the Alberta Party are awaiting word from Elections Alberta on their application to become the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, a move approved by 94 per cent of members in an Aug. 27 vote.
He argued the UCP has no legal claim to the Progressive Conservative name, noting that one Alberta Party board member has held the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta name in reserve since May 2023 and formally transferred it as part of the application.
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“The UCP wants us to retract and rescind that application,” Guthrie said. “But we have solid legal standing. Albertans are ready for the Progressive Conservatives to return.”
Guthrie said voters are looking for a centrist option in a province dominated by the NDP and UCP.
“We’re hearing people say neither of the two predominant parties—the NDP nor the UCP—represents them, and that the parties are pushing people further apart. That representation of the centre, that centre-right conservative option, isn’t there. People feel politically homeless.”
He said he looks forward to joining MLA Scott Sinclair as a Progressive Conservative in the legislature once Elections Alberta approves the name change.
“I think we’ve submitted all required information, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that we could have this by the end of September, or even the first week in October,” he said.
Guthrie also suggested it’s no coincidence that Premier Smith visited Cochrane twice this summer, including Labour Day Monday, the community’s most important day on the calendar. It marked her first participation in the Labour Day Parade.
“I think it shows the concern they have with this constituency and potentially losing it in the next election.”
Future boundaries for the constituency will become clearer in October, when the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission presents its report and begins holding public hearings.
Smith succeeded Paul Hinman as leader of the Wildrose Alliance in 2009. The party grew to a caucus of four in 2010 after Progressive Conservative MLAs Rob Anderson and Heather Forsyth defected from the PCs. Anderson, now Smith’s chief of staff, played a key role in her successful bid for the UCP leadership in October 2022.
The Wildrose became the official opposition in 2012. In 2014, Smith and eight other Wildrose MLAs crossed the floor to join the PCs. She later lost her bid to run for the PCs in Highwood in the 2015 election. In 2015, the Wildrose dropped “Alliance” from its name, and in 2017 merged with the PCs to form the United Conservative Party.