A recent email sent to UCP members from the political action committee 'Shaping Alberta’s Future' (SAF,) triggered reactions ranging from confusion to rage. Was the PAC created to promote former premier Jason Kenney trying to unseat a sitting UCP premier?.“Hey #abpoli Tweeps: what is this organization and who is behind it?” tweeted Jean-Sebastien Rioux who with the late Alberta premier Jim Prentice, co-authored Triple Crown: Winning Canada’s Energy Future. “I was puzzled in this sentence in para 2: “We will ensure conservative leaders replace extremists currently serving our government.”.He wasn’t alone. And many UCP members balked at yet another perceived SAF attack, coupled with seeming rumblings of a coup d’état against Premier Danielle Smith..However, SAF president and founder Peter Kiss told The Western Standard that the PAC supports Smith’s “strong leadership.”.How times change. Step back to the fall leadership race. SAF, registered as a third-party advertiser with Elections Alberta since 2018, went after then-leadership candidate Smith with bared teeth and questionable tactics. In September, automated text messages sent out by SAF, with a link to an article on its website — entitled 'Danielle Smith is a conservative of convenience' — took a hard run at Smith..It claimed that if Smith was a “true conservative” she would oppose tax hikes and promote conservative social issues. It alleged that Smith, by calling herself a libertarian played a “game of avoidance.’.“Conservative or libertarian? Anti-tax or pro-tax? Will the real Danielle Smith please stand up?” asked SAF..Text messages and fake robocalls designed to sabotage the leadership campaigns of Smith and now Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism Todd Loewen were fired out. A website url provided for Loewen was instead a link to the World Economic Forum..It went on..So when SAF sent out the December 6 email, UCP members can be forgiven for angrily wondering if the die-hard Kenney fan club was up to its old tricks. It was accompanied by a survey, with the promise to “ensure conservative leaders replace extremists currently serving our government.”.The email neglected to enlighten recipients on the identity of the “extremists” referenced. However, SAF’s website carries the same line. That’s followed by this statement: “Liberal extremists are mobilized to spend millions opposing us because they see the coming Alberta election as their best chance to derail free enterprise for another 30 years.”.It states that Alberta is “more vulnerable to predatory and destructive policies from Ottawa than it was 30 years ago,” then calls for a “new strategy” to “take Alberta back.”.But Smith already came up with a new strategy. It’s called the Alberta Sovereignty Act..“Today’s isolated and ineffective Alberta leaders failed us. They unilaterally pursued a slew of unconstitutional, overreaching regulations that killed jobs, limited freedom, and artificially raised prices,” said SAF..OK, so who are those “ineffective Alberta leaders?”.Kiss said it does not refer to Smith and company. “Shaping Alberta’s future is supportive of Premier Smith’s strong leadership and the UCP government,” said Kiss in a written statement to The Western Standard. “Obviously, extremists like the NDP still serve in our legislature and we must work together to make sure they don’t return to a position like they had in 2015.”.“Extremist policies like the carbon tax and the tax and spend policies of the Trudeau Liberals have set Alberta back in the past, and we must make sure they don’t return in the future.”.The PAC is launching “an aggressive public campaign to educate Albertans about issues that matter most,” in the forthcoming May provincial election. The survey, or “small research project” is aimed at helping SAF “better understand your needs and perceptions regarding the legislative initiatives we support as an independent province.”.“While independent, we are extremely supportive of Premier Smith’s initiative to stand up for Alberta and Albertans who are continually attacked by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals,” wrote Kiss..“Additionally, our public campaign will include strong messaging around uniting the conservative movement in Alberta around Danielle Smith’s UCP as they are the best choice to ensure the NDP remain in opposition.”.The SAF public campaign will tackle multiple social and economic issues, explained Kiss. They include rebuilding Alberta’s workforce, lowering taxes on business, reducing regulations, improving healthcare delivery, fixing school curriculum, providing school choice, acting on homelessness and mental health, and protecting against rising utility costs..“By doing so, we intend to keep conservative leaders in power in Alberta.”.Well, that will only happen if Alberta Conservatives get their act together — and get past egos, old wounds, and overt and hidden personal agendas. Then they’d be unstoppable. And that would be NDP leader Rachel Notley’s, and Trudeau’s, worst nightmare.
