PC Alberta Logo, Wikimedia Commons. CC License
MLAs Guthrie and Sinclair aim to offer centrist alternative amid rising separatist tensions
Edmonton— Two former members of Alberta’s United Conservative Party who were expelled from the caucus are seeking to revive the province’s once-dominant Progressive Conservative Party as a new political alternative.
Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair, both sitting as Independents after being ousted earlier this year for dissenting against Premier Danielle Smith’s policies, have announced plans to collect enough signatures to register the old PC party name with Elections Alberta. The Progressive Conservatives governed Alberta for over four decades before losing power to the NDP in 2015 and eventually merging with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP.
Guthrie and Sinclair argue that Smith’s leadership has shifted the UCP toward catering to extremists and separatists, leaving centrist conservatives politically homeless. They say the party has abandoned fiscal conservatism and is allowing separatist sentiment to grow by lowering thresholds for citizen-initiated referendums, including on Alberta’s potential secession from Canada. Guthrie estimates that about one-third of the UCP caucus supports leaving Confederation.
Premier Smith has dismissed concerns about the new party, warning that a split in the conservative vote could hand victory to the NDP again, as happened in 2015. She maintains the UCP remains popular and is financially outpacing the NDP, describing the party as a union of two political cultures united under shared policies. Smith has also questioned the legality of using the Progressive Conservative name, although Elections Alberta has confirmed it is currently only reserved and could be registered if Guthrie and Sinclair meet requirements.
The Progressive Conservative brand carries mixed legacies for Alberta voters. Once associated with leaders like Ralph Klein and Peter Lougheed, the party later faced criticism for fiscal mismanagement and entitlement before merging into the UCP. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi mocked the effort to resurrect the PC name as an attempt by a “previously corrupt party” to distance itself from current issues, while accusing Smith of focusing more on political survival than on addressing Albertans’ needs.
To officially register the revived party, Guthrie and Sinclair must gather approximately 8,800 signatures or secure at least three seats in the legislature, which would require another MLA to cross the floor. The two politicians say they aim to offer Albertans a stable, centrist government focused on practical issues like health care, infrastructure, and housing, contrasting with what they describe as the UCP’s growing divisiveness and chaotic governance.
Comments