Juno News - December 01, 2025Alberta separatists win seats on UCP board of directors
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Summary
Conservatives call for reforms to Canada s asylum and immigration system despite several proposed amendments being rejected, as a committee-led study on Bill C-12 came to an end. The Alberta independence movement scored a critical victory during the United Kingdom's Conservative Party s annual general meeting over the weekend, with five pro-separatist candidates winning seats on the party s board of directors. Conservatives urged Prime Minister Mark Carney s government to come clean on the Veterans Service s plan to cut as much as $4.23 billion in savings from Veterans Affairs Canada earmarked in the 2025 federal budget.
Transcript
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Conservatives call for reforms to Canada's asylum and immigration system despite several
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proposed amendments being rejected as a committee-led study on Bill C-12 came to an end.
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The Alberta independence movement scored a critical victory during the United Kingdom
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of the Party's annual general meeting over the weekend, with five pro-separatist candidates
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winning seats on the party's board of directors.
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Conservatives urged Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to come clean on the Veterans
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Service's Liberals' plan to cut as $4.23 billion in, quote, savings from Veterans Affairs Canada
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Hello Canada, it's Monday, December 1st, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
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We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
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Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
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Conservative MPs are urging the federal government to adopt what they call, quote,
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common-sense reforms to Canada's asylum and immigration system after a series of proposed
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amendments to Bill C-12 were rejected at a committee this week.
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The House of Commons Public Safety Committee concluded its consideration in the committee
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In response, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel-Garner said the Liberal government
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has, quote, destroyed the immigration consensus by allowing backlogs to grow, permitting bogus applications,
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Rempel-Garner said the number of temporary residents, now more than three million, has
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placed, quote, overwhelming pressure on health care, housing, and youth employment, while
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leaving newcomers who followed the rules stuck waiting in the queue.
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Conservatives proposed amendments, they argued, would deter fraudulent asylum claims, strengthen
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removal rules for non-citizens who commit crimes, and increase reporting requirements so, quote,
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Liberal and Bloc Québécois members defeated most of the amendments.
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Among the rejected proposals were automatic removal for non-citizens convicted of certain
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offences, terminating asylum claims if applicants leave Canada, consequences for post-secondary
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institutions that facilitate false asylum claims, and measures requiring claimants to
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So, Walid, a lot of the Conservatives' proposed sweeping amendments were rejected, but which
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of the Conservatives' amendments to Bill C-12 passed, and what could that mean if passed
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Well, Isaac, unfortunately, many of the amendments offered by the Conservative Critic for Immigration
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and the Conservative Party was rejected, of course, and actually, the majority of them
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And among those were some rather common-sense proposals around automatic removal for non-citizens
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convicted of certain offences, terminating asylum claims if applicants leave Canada, and consequences
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for post-secondary institutions that would facilitate false asylum claims, and measures requiring
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So, those were all measures that were rejected, of course, and removed.
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However, there were some, as you mentioned, that were passed, and that includes the automatic
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termination of a claim when an asylum seeker voluntarily returns to their own home country,
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mandatory warrants for individuals considered national security risks, and the end of claims
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where a person is found inadmissible to Canada.
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So, if this bill continues the process of becoming law, of course, these are some of the conservative
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amendments that have received cross-party support.
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Of course, something else that got cross-party support in this bill was a new monthly report
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to Parliament detailing deportations and expanded annual report listing federal benefits provided
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And, of course, the number of removal orders enforced within 30 days, and the reason for
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So, essentially, Parliament will be producing a lot more fact-finding missions, where we'll
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have better ideas in the public sphere of how many deportations are being done, and, of
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course, a bit more details around refugee claimants, and that's going to be something
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very important for us to be reporting on in the near future.
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But if this is passed, you will all see some reforms that will make it a little bit harder
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for certain individuals to claim refuge if they voluntarily return to their own country,
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and, of course, if they are deemed to be national security risks.
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Now, of course, that term is rather ambiguous in today's language.
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However, it seems that the security element of our immigration system on the refugee asylum
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seekers' proportion will be a little bit more constrained and a bit more strict.
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And, of course, the ending of claims where a person is found admissible may just be the
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biggest move in this series of amendments, simply because, as we know, when people have
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failed to renew student visas, temporary work visas, obviously refugee pathway has always
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been the one of last-ditch opportunity for many individuals coming to Canada and wanting
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I guess this might be an area of clear improvement to lower the backlog for the future years.
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But, of course, the system still remains strained as we speak today.
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The last event for the Alberta UCP AGM on Saturday was perhaps the most vital for the party,
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as the results for the board election came through and saw the separatists win some positions
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However, separatist advocates did not sweep the election, failing to elect their candidates
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to some key positions, including the board president.
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The Alberta Prosperity Project promoted a list of board candidates for separatist advocates
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The list went position by position, highlighting candidates deemed, quote, pro-Alberta independence.
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An alternative list of, quote, pro-establishment candidates who separatists said supported the
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The list read, quote, this voting guide highlights candidates who support Alberta independence, Alberta
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All voting decisions remain your responsibility.
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The Alberta separatists endorsed nine candidates for the position of president, secretary, VP of
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fundraising, VP of communications, and various writing positions.
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Five candidates advocated for by the Alberta Prosperity Project won, while three won for the
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The Edmonton candidate who won was on neither side of the Alberta Prosperity Project's list.
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So, Isaac, you're there at the ground, at the AGM.
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What does this mean for the Alberta independence movement, and how will this change the UCP party?
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I think this could change the party in a pretty notable way.
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We know that Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's messaging, and therefore as a byproduct of the
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parties has been continuously anti-separation, instead advocating for a sovereign Alberta
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When I first wrote this article, as the results were just announced, the results for the VP
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of fundraising were so close that they had to do a recount, which wasn't officially told
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But as it stood at the time, the separatists had four candidates win, while the establishment
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One of the candidates, as you said, was on neither side of the list provided by the Alberta
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Prosperity Project, so we'll call them a neutral candidate.
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But when I checked the updated list today, it turns out the candidate that was deemed to
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be pro-separation won the VP of fundraising position, meaning the separatists have five
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out of the nine candidates, a slim majority, against the three that were pro-establishment.
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And of course, when I talked to general counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project, Jeffrey
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Rath at the AGM, he was hopeful that they would establish a majority on the board.
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This was just before the results came in, and that was accomplished.
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So I think the separatists are probably pretty happy with the results, despite not having
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their preferred candidate win at the president role, which may be the most important.
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As for what this means going forward, I don't entirely know, but I am very, very interested
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to monitor whether this alters the party's messaging in any way at all, and if they become
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The influence of those newly elected board members matters, because the UCP board controls
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everything from constituency association oversight to candidate approvals, and separatist advocates
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were explicit that their goal was to shape future nominations, select MLAs, and determine
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the party's direction leading into the next election cycle.
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Now that a slim majority of pro-separatists govern the board, it would suggest that those
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conversations cannot be simply sidelined by party leadership.
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The broader consequence is that the independence question will now be structurally embedded
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Even though Danielle Smith used her keynote speech to reaffirm her opposition to leaving
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Canada and celebrated the new memorandum of understanding with Ottawa as a victory on
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issues like electricity regulation and emissions caps, the presence of separatists on the board
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guarantees that these policies will be evaluated potentially through a more critical lens.
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Every step she takes in implementing the MOU or verifying Ottawa's compliance with it
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will unfold with a board that includes people who openly believe the agreement is a mistake.
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So with the board seat secured, separatist organizations now have potential procedural leverage,
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something they have not held yet inside a governing party.
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Conservatives are demanding the Kearney government disclose which Veterans Affairs services will be
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cut to meet the $4.23 billion in savings earmarked in the 2025 federal budget.
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Conservative MPs, many of whom are veterans themselves, demanded answers from the Liberal government.
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They said many veterans are concerned that the 15% budget cut to Veterans Affairs Canada
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in the federal budget will leave them without critical services owed to them for serving Canada.
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Prime Minister Mark Kearney's first budget explained that the $4.23 billion in cuts to VAC
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would come from a reduction in the amount Canada pays to reimburse medical cannabis costs for veterans.
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Instead of reimbursing veterans at a rate of $8.50 per gram,
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the government would transition to paying $6 per gram to meet market price.
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The plan says it will cut $1.2 billion from the budget in 2026-27,
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followed by another $1.2 billion cut the next year and $1.06 billion in the third year.
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the medical marijuana reimbursement program cost nearly $245 million in 2024-25,
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leaving Canadians in the dark about where the additional almost $1 billion in savings would come
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Richards questioned the figures during a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
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We're talking about a $245 million a year program.
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We're talking about a $2.50 reduction in the reimbursement rate.
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and the minister have claimed that 90% of their budget provides benefits and services to veterans.
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There's no way that there isn't services and benefits that are being affected here.
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Richards noted that Conservatives reject taking funding from veterans' services.
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Would a Conservative government reinstate these cuts?
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And to be clear, would it reinstate the $2.50 a gram reimbursement?
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Well, the first thing is we actually don't know what the cuts are, for starters.
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That's the first thing in here is we actually need to determine what they actually are.
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But what we believe and what we would stand firmly on is that this is a government that's got a $78 billion deficit.
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But the one place where they decide to cut deep is on the men and women who have served this country,
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That is the last place that you should start when it comes to cuts.
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Veterans Affairs Canada deferred True North's request for comment to the Department of Finance,
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So, Waleed, Richards mentioned the poor track record liberals have had
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when dealing with veterans and the CAF altogether.
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What are some of the grievances Conservatives have with this government on the file?
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Well, Isaac, in recent years, Conservatives have raised a few issues,
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such as offering assisted suicide to veterans that are seeking help,
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something that Veterans Affairs Canada officials were caught doing in multiple cases.
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They've also mentioned how the government has failed to address veterans' homelessness,
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leaving major gaps in federal support programs,
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attempting to stop providing REITs for Remembrance Day ceremonies.
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Of course, we heard about a cut to REITs provided to MPs and other public officials.
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Also, the banning of chaplains from praying and Remembrance Day events.
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This is part of Canada's anti-Christian regime.
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An element of trying to purge the country's history and heritage
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A decade-long failure to build a national monument to Canada's munition in Afghanistan.
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So, to this day, that has not happened under the last nearly 10 years of liberal governance.
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And persistent disability claim backlogs at Veterans of Air Canada,
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which veteran groups have warned could worsen if staff positions are cut.
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So, again, all of these concerns were actually explicitly listed by Richards in his press conference.
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