Western Standard - May 13, 2021


UCP MLA Todd Loewen calls for Kenney's resignation. Nadine Wellwood reviews the letter


Episode Stats


Length

5 minutes

Words per minute

117.236565

Word count

616

Sentence count

37


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Todd Lowen has resigned as the Chair of the United Conservative Party of Alberta's caucus and demanded the resignation of Premier Jason Kenney. This is a copy of the letter sent out by Todd Lowen to the entire caucus demanding Kenney step down.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Good morning, everyone. It appears that Jason Kenney can no longer ignore what's been going on with his caucus.
00:00:07.140 I want to read to you this morning a Facebook post that was sent out from Todd Lowen.
00:00:37.140 MLA, who has resigned as the chair of the caucus and demanded the resignation of Jason Kenney.
00:00:47.800 This is his letter.
00:00:49.980 Dear Premier Kenney, it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of my decision to step down as UCP caucus chair.
00:00:59.660 I have copied all members of caucus to inform them as well.
00:01:03.740 I no longer believe that caucus can function properly, meetings have been cancelled without members' consent, significant decisions of government have been made without notice to members, and our input as elected members is rarely considered.
00:01:21.480 Additionally, I feel it is best to resign this position to be able to speak freely.
00:01:27.620 We have faced persistent problems.
00:01:31.900 The government's response to a hostile federal government has been perceived as weak and ineffective.
00:01:39.020 Negotiations with physicians were not handled well.
00:01:43.320 The government's action on the eastern slopes did not align with the expectations and values of Albertans.
00:01:49.700 Albertans have lost trust in the leadership of our government and are no longer willing to extend us any benefit of the doubt on most issues.
00:02:00.680 This makes it difficult for members to enact our policy agenda while effectively representing the concerns and interests of our constituents.
00:02:09.620 The caucus dysfunction we are presently experiencing is a direct result of your leadership.
00:02:18.620 Messaging from your government has been contradictory, confusing, and needlessly inflammatory.
00:02:27.900 Alberta now faces a troubling economic crisis with historically high unemployment, dying small businesses, and staggering levels of debt.
00:02:39.620 The people of Alberta have lost trust in this government because you have not brought needed balance and reason to the discussion.
00:02:48.960 Albertans and our UCP party members deserve better.
00:02:53.780 Albertans perceive our government as out of touch and arrogant, and they expect our caucus to bring their issues of concern to the government.
00:03:01.920 Many of us have tried to do so repeatedly, only to be ignored and dismissed.
00:03:10.200 When the Premier chooses not to listen to caucus, is it any wonder why the people choose to stop listening to the government?
00:03:20.700 Our supporters and those I represent can no longer tolerate this.
00:03:26.120 These folks have not abandoned the principles and values of the UCP.
00:03:30.860 They have abandoned you specifically.
00:03:35.180 Personally, I have helped build the conservative movement in this province for 13 years, and have served faithfully as a public servant.
00:03:44.560 I still uphold the principles and values under which I was elected.
00:03:49.780 I believe I still represent the will of the party's grassroots, and wish to make it clear that I am not leaving the party.
00:03:57.920 My constituents overwhelmingly believe in a strong united party, and I must represent that belief.
00:04:06.420 Along with so many Albertans, our understanding was that we in the UCP had united around shared principles, integrity, and common sense approaches to government.
00:04:18.840 In short, in Alberta, we did not unite around blind loyalty to one man.
00:04:29.400 And while you promoted unity, it is clear that unity is falling apart.
00:04:33.960 I know that many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership.
00:04:40.760 I thank you for your service, but I am asking that you resign so that we can begin to put the province back together again.
00:04:50.120 Sincerely, signed, Todd Lowen, MLA, copied to all UCP caucus members.
00:04:58.440 We will be following this story throughout the day, hopefully we can get an interview with MLA Lowen as well as some of the other UCP MLAs who may have comment and perhaps follow suit.
00:05:13.680 Thank you for watching.