Western Standard - July 22, 2025


Alberta Conservatives demand party vote on independence


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

201.68068

Word Count

1,192

Sentence Count

82


Summary

In this episode, we talk about the Alberta Party's position on independence from the United Conservative Party, and whether or not the party should allow a referendum to be held on the matter. We also talk about why a referendum would be a good thing for Alberta, and what it means for the rest of the country.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 two-thirds of UCP voters
00:00:02.160 support independence.
00:00:04.600 It's not a majority of Albertans,
00:00:06.040 but it's two-thirds of UCP voters.
00:00:08.320 And traditionally, members of a party tend
00:00:09.960 to be more strided,
00:00:11.880 more ideological,
00:00:13.420 more right-wing than
00:00:15.780 the public at large.
00:00:18.240 If this goes to a vote of
00:00:19.840 UCP members,
00:00:21.720 I have a hard time seeing how this
00:00:23.840 is anything but a pretty resounding
00:00:25.720 yes vote. Well, it's a delicate balance.
00:00:28.140 For them to say you can't
00:00:29.800 have it on at policy, especially
00:00:31.880 with so many having been submitted already
00:00:33.920 as was scoped,
00:00:35.880 would just be, if you want to see somebody grinning
00:00:37.840 ear to ear, it'll be Cam Davies because
00:00:39.740 you'll finally have the grouse and say, look, you see,
00:00:41.740 that's the only way for independence. They won't even allow you
00:00:43.800 to discuss it.
00:00:45.220 That's why UCP has to allow it.
00:00:47.280 Personally, I think they should allow the discussion.
00:00:50.000 And just speaking of my own point of view,
00:00:51.920 I think the members should reject entrenching
00:00:53.920 it into party. But that's where that discussion
00:00:55.820 can come. And then people will read in different
00:00:57.900 things with it.
00:00:58.780 You support independence. Why do you think the members
00:01:01.760 should not make that party policy?
00:01:03.380 Because you make that party policy,
00:01:05.140 and you've got to remember,
00:01:06.100 two-thirds of the UCP voters
00:01:08.900 support independence. But this is a
00:01:10.760 very polarizing issue. It's not one where there's much
00:01:12.820 fuzziness with people. It's a deal breaker for a lot
00:01:14.980 of them. And when you've got
00:01:16.680 0% of the supporters of the NDP who support
00:01:18.940 independence, you cut away a potential
00:01:20.700 20% of your base.
00:01:22.700 And you look at the electoral math, and that next
00:01:24.920 general election can look really,
00:01:26.740 really bad when you have actually carrying independence
00:01:28.780 in your policy set.
00:01:30.880 Again, I think that's where the tactic of being
00:01:33.680 able to say, we're putting it in the hands of
00:01:35.760 Albertans. If they initiate a referendum, they can
00:01:38.140 have that vote. They can make that decision.
00:01:41.160 That's where it belongs, and not within the party,
00:01:44.000 because then you can rip your own party very
00:01:46.460 dangerously, or at least your base of support in a
00:01:48.560 general election.
00:01:49.320 So, I mean, that's just my view on it.
00:01:52.140 Not every UCP MLA is necessarily pro-independence.
00:01:57.340 No, I mean, even if I'm a joke that you have a
00:01:59.260 more...
00:01:59.520 ...do if that party makes it policy.
00:02:01.380 Yeah, and we know MLAs are bound by party
00:02:03.140 policy. There's a longer discussion of things,
00:02:05.420 but I would hope there'd be a spirited discussion
00:02:09.500 and maybe along those lines. And again, I mean,
00:02:11.440 this is as pro-independence as we've ever seen from a
00:02:14.180 governing party in this province, and there's still
00:02:16.500 room to push it further. I was VP policy for the
00:02:20.460 Wildrose for a number of terms. It's a thankless,
00:02:23.120 miserable job. But you do, there's no doubt there's
00:02:27.380 mechanisms to try and get policies to go the way
00:02:29.440 you want them and the way you don't, without, you
00:02:32.520 know, directly interfering or being bad. So with the
00:02:34.620 order you set them in, I don't think they could put
00:02:36.280 that question at the top of the agenda. You're going
00:02:37.980 to put it down a ways where you'll reach it.
00:02:39.500 No, it's actually, but it's determined by how they
00:02:42.580 get ranked at the A level. The party itself does not
00:02:45.620 could determine what order they're in.
00:02:46.880 Because given the ability, I mean, I would have
00:02:48.700 say maybe question 10, but maybe put a three
00:02:51.760 concession questions before it. That'll make the
00:02:53.740 independence people feel a little happier. We're
00:02:55.580 going to take on a provincial police. We're going
00:02:57.660 to entrench a pension plan, but I think it's
00:03:00.620 determined more by rankings.
00:03:03.300 Well, and it might be, I'm just speaking from the,
00:03:04.960 how it was before, but how you try to adjust policy
00:03:08.380 discussions so that maybe by then there's been a
00:03:10.460 lot of debate on it and members in the room are
00:03:12.860 starting to think on things a little further that
00:03:14.740 maybe we could put this to referendum rather than
00:03:16.660 entrenching in party policy. But I mean, that's the,
00:03:20.560 they can't ignore the question, but I do think it
00:03:23.480 would be very dangerous if they actually put it into
00:03:26.760 party policy and it really could bode poorly in a
00:03:30.000 general election.
00:03:30.720 I do agree. It's politically dangerous. I mean, if that
00:03:33.760 becomes the defining issue of election, it gives the NDP a
00:03:36.060 better shot of winning because their voters are unified. 95% of
00:03:40.540 NDP voters are federalists. Only 5% support NDP, uh,
00:03:44.620 independence as, as new Democrats. Whereas with UCP voters, it's a
00:03:48.760 bigger pool of voters, you know, the more popular, but it's two
00:03:53.200 thirds. It's board of independence, one third opposed. Yeah. And that
00:03:56.200 is not a marginal question. It's not like what the tax rate
00:03:58.720 should be or what's in the curriculum as an existential
00:04:01.360 question. Yeah. And as an independent supporter, I mean, I want
00:04:03.700 to see a referendum and I want to see as strong as showing as
00:04:05.980 humanly possible in it. I still think unless things change
00:04:09.220 pretty dramatically, which is possible in this next eight
00:04:11.560 months, it's still going to be hard to get over 50% in the
00:04:14.400 referendum. So it better be pretty darn good. But if you come
00:04:16.900 in at 40% and then the NDP get in, it's going to be a decade
00:04:21.820 before we get another vote on it. Because you know, the next
00:04:24.760 chance you get, whether you're not going to get that chance at
00:04:27.760 all with the NDP. I'm just saying, will the members think that
00:04:30.820 strategically? I don't know. But that's the way I kind of look
00:04:33.980 at it. I don't know. The thing is, you're going to have huge
00:04:39.340 political machines on the Federalist side in this
00:04:42.780 referendum. You're going to have the Alberta NDP. You're
00:04:46.140 going to have whatever small machines are for the Federal
00:04:49.680 and the Federal NDP and the Liberals, which in a few pockets
00:04:54.080 there's something, but nothing big. But the Conservative Party of
00:04:56.700 Canada is going to do everything it can. They have the most to
00:05:00.700 lose politically with independency. Well, and that's why I'm so
00:05:04.820 committed to it being a grassroots individuals or, you
00:05:07.320 know, groups and movements rather, but trying to get into the
00:05:09.660 party. Canada is going to be here fighting against it, surely.
00:05:12.320 And they will under any circumstance. Yeah. And you're
00:05:14.700 going to have the Alberta NDP opposing it. I don't see any
00:05:18.500 chance of winning unless you've got at least one major
00:05:20.700 political machine on your side. And that means the only one in
00:05:23.360 town is the UCP. Or the machine has to be something that
00:05:26.500 isn't a party. Sure. The parties have infrastructure. They
00:05:31.120 have hierarchy. Absolutely. They've got an organization. And
00:05:34.140 the independence movement, I mean, I'm pretty impressed with
00:05:36.560 what some of the folks have done so far, but they pale in
00:05:38.900 comparison to a well-oiled political machine like the UCP or
00:05:42.480 the NDP. You'd be bringing a BB gun to an artillery fight if
00:05:48.020 you're going against a Conservative Party of Canada, the NDP, the
00:05:51.620 Federal Liberals, the Federal NDP.