Given her own troubled history with the Alberta PC Party — in failed attempts to both defeat and join it — it’s unsurprising that Premier Danielle Smith would be sensitive about the topic.

As leader of the United Conservative Party and premier of Alberta, Smith has a vested interest in maintaining the political status quo in this province. And in fairness, conservative-minded Albertans may be satisfied with one, blue, big-tent party as opposed to the acrimony and vote-splitting that occurred in the pre-UCP era.

However, nowhere is it mandated that there can be only one conservative party. We do not assign slots or impose quotas for each branch of the political spectrum. Whatever legal claims exist around the “PC Party” or “Progressive Conservative” name and brand, the UCP does not hold a

See Full Page