Several public figures are claiming the United Conservative Party is bound by a statement of principles to retain loyalty to a united Canada.

 

Go Ad Free

Multiple public figures have falsely stated that the United Conservative Party (UCP) has a clause in its founding principles calling for loyalty within a united Canada.

Premier Danielle Smith said in a radio interview on QR77 Calgary, "Let me be clear, because I do speak for our government, our caucus and our party. Our party had as its founding principles that we support autonomy for Alberta within a united Canada.”

Former Premier Jason Kenney told the St. Alberta Gazette, “It was at my urging that the merger agreement creating the United Conservative Party included ‘loyalty to a united Canada’ as a founding principle. For me, that loyalty is non-negotiable.”

Calgary columnist Don Braid repeatedly referenced the incorrect claim in a piece stating, “A move to formal separatism would be a massive reversal for the party, which was enshrined as federalist in 2017.” He mentions the non-existent pledge again saying, “That federalist pledge appears to be crumbling for some in Danielle Smith’s party.”

The nine core principles of the UCP appear on its website and not one of them refers to loyalty to a united Canada or federalism in any way.

The misinformation stems from a set of proposed principles presented and voted upon by the party’s founding members in 2017. One of the proposals within the set called for, “Loyalty to a united Canada, and a commitment for Alberta to be a Leader in the Canadian federation that constructively defends the best interests of the province and its constitutional sovereignty”

Editor’s Note:
That was part of an initial Agreement in Principle, which had been proposed to bring the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties together in a merger.

That proposal for a statement on unity was debated and rejected by the founding UCP members. It was never enshrined in the party's principles. Peter McCaffrey, who served on the policy committee during the party’s founding, has repeatedly corrected the record on the issue.

This does not make the UCP a secessionist party. But there is no truth to the claim that the current party is bound by a statement of principles to retain loyalty to a united Canada.