BURST
Six more United Conservative Party MLAs — five Alberta cabinet ministers and the Speaker of the legislature — now face recall petitions.
According to the Elections Alberta website , recall petitions have been approved for Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall, associate Multiculturalism Minister Muhammad Yaseen, Indigenous Affairs Minister Rajan Sawhney, Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson, Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally and Speaker Ric McIver.
McDougall, Yaseen, Sawhney and McIver represent Calgary ridings, while Sigurdson is the MLA for the Highwood riding, which includes Okotoks and Diamond Valley, and Nally for Morinville-St. Albert.
Recall petitions had previously been approved by Elections Alberta for Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, who represents Calgary-Elbow, deputy Speaker Angela Pitt, who represents Airdrie-East, and Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck.
In a Monday statement, the United Conservative caucus said the recall process should not be used to overturn elections “just because an individual disagrees with government policy.
“Recalls are meant to address breaches of trust, serious misconduct or a sustained failure to represent constituents, not political disagreements,” reads the statement.
“Our United Conservative Caucus remains focused on what we were elected to do, which is standing up for Albertans by growing our economy, lowering taxes and creating opportunities.”
To be successful, each petition requires the signatures of 60 per cent of the number of votes cast in the riding during the 2023 general election. For example, in Calgary-Fish Creek, where McDougall is the MLA, 15,454 signatures are needed, with 25,756 residents having voted in the riding in the most recent election.
For each of the six petitions, the petition applicant has until Feb. 22 — when the petitions are due — to collect signatures from residents, who must have lived in the respective riding for three months before the date they sign the petition.
The petition applicants can now register canvassers, who must have lived in the riding in which they’re collecting signatures for three months before canvassing.
Elections Alberta has until March 15 to verify the petitions and, within a week of verification, will report the results to the petition applicants, the MLAs, UCP Leader Danielle Smith and the Speaker, as well as to its website.