United Conservative Party members convened in Calgary on Saturday, putting forth several new policy resolutions on key social and economic issues. The policies address a wide range of topics, from parental rights and gender in public spaces to Alberta’s stance on the federal carbon tax.
Both electoral districts and individual members can propose policies. Individuals who wished to submit a policy resolution had to have the backing of their respective district in the form of a sponsorship.
Party policy resolutions are non-binding, meaning the UCP government would not be required to act on the policy if it passes.
The AGM also saw Alberta Premier Danielle Smith garner 91.5% in her leadership review, which occurs at every third AGM in a non-election year. She will stay on as party leader.
The AGM featured 20 governance resolutions and 35 policy resolutions. Some of the policy resolutions are already set to be implemented as amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights.
Before voting on the 35 resolutions, members voted on the Alberta Bill of Rights. The vote resulted in a resounding yes, with almost all of the attending members voting in support.
Each resolution was voted on by the majority of the 6,085 members at the AGM — a record setting number. Prior to the voting, a 30 second to one minute video highlighting the resolution was shown and members were invited to both the “Yes” and “No” microphones to argue for or against the motion.
A few motions had no speakers show up to argue at the “No” microphone, whereas others featured people not against it but seeking further clarification or small wording changes, although amendments to motions were not permitted. The same few speakers frequented the “No” microphone on various occasions.
One of the most contentious policies, calling to abandon net-zero targets and remove the designation of CO2 as a pollutant, was particularly notable. It passed with nearly 100% support, as many policies did. However, a few members were brave enough to speak against it, arguing that too much CO2 could be a detriment to the planet. They received boos, to the moderator’s chagrin. The supporters said the opposite, noting that CO2 has been much higher historically but still permitted life and Earth to function.
Of the other 34 policy resolutions, 17 of them stood out across major categories.
Major themes included parental/minor rights, which applied to three and education also applied to another three. Transgender and biological sex also made an appearance. Removing DEI was surprisingly not related to education, as the removal would apply to all Alberta Public Service and Crown Corporations.
Many policies suggested that Alberta should further distance itself from the federal government, by gaining more control over immigration, prohibiting any carbon tax from being implemented in the province, and “continu(ing) to distance itself from the federal government in as many facets as possible as a productive member of Confederation.”
While some of the policies called for resolutions already to be featured in the Alberta Bill of Rights, one called for a Bill of Parental Rights, which would “acknowledge that a parent’s prior right and responsibility to raise their children precedes government legislation and doe’s not flow from it.”
All 35 policy resolutions had majority member support. No policy resolutions were voted against.
The AGM was attended by roughly 6,085 UCP members, a record-setting number. While policy votes are non-binding, Smith and other ministers say that they take influence from the grassroots members and their wants and needs.
Earlier in the day, Smith hosted an “Accountability Session,” where she discussed motions from previous years and the reasoning for them passing or not.