Elections Alberta has approved recall petitions against five more members of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus pushing the total number of UCP MLAs under recall to 14, nearly one-third of the governing party’s 47-member bench.
The newest MLAs facing recall include cabinet ministers Searle Turton and Nathan Neudorf, along with backbenchers Jason Stephan, Jackie Lovely, and Glen van Dijken.
It marks a significant escalation in what has become a challenge to sitting UCP representatives across the province.
Under Alberta’s Recall Act, any voter can request permission to launch a recall petition if they believe their MLA isn’t doing their job. Elections Alberta approved all five new applications after petitioners argued that their representatives have failed to effectively advocate for their constituencies and in some cases, have been difficult to reach at all. Some petitioners were particularly frustrated by UCP MLAs voting to invoke the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end a province-wide teachers strike, a decision that sparked significant public backlash.
Once a recall petition is approved, organizers have three months to collect signatures from 40% of eligible voters in that MLA’s riding. If they reach that number, a recall vote is triggered and if the MLA loses, their seat is vacated.
If every one of the 14 MLAs currently targeted were removed, it would shift the balance of power in the legislature. The Opposition NDP, which currently holds 38 of 87 seats, could find itself with a much stronger foothold.
The Recall Act was introduced by former UCP premier Jason Kenney.
These are the 14 UCP MLAs currently facing approved recall petitions:
1. Demetrios Nicolaides — Calgary-Bow
2. Angela Pitt — Airdrie-East
3. Nolan Dyck — Grande Prairie
4. Myles McDougall — Calgary-Fish Creek
5. Ric McIver — Calgary-Hays
6. Muhammad Yaseen — Calgary-North
7. Rajan Sawhney — Calgary-North West
8. R.J. Sigurdson — Highwood
9. Dale Nally — Morinville-St. Albert
10. Searle Turton — Spruce Grove
11. Nathan Neudorf — Lethbridge-East
12. Jason Stephan — Red Deer-South
13. Jackie Lovely (Jacqueline Lovely) — Camrose
14. Glenn (Glen) van Dijken — Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
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