Members of Premier Kenney’s UPC Party Calling For His Resignation

18 senior backbenchers no longer have confidence in Kenney’s leadership

United Conservatives Party (UPC) MLA Todd Loewen pend a scathing open letter to the leader of his party Premier Kenney calling for this resignation. Loewen along with 18 senior backbenchers signalled they have lost confidence in Kenney’s leadership. UPC members have always had the opportunity to speak freely but it is an unspoken rule to go against the leader of any party. That is why Loewen resigned as the UPC party Caucus Chair.

In a few excerpts from Loewen’s letter he wrote, “We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man. And while you promoted unity, it is clear that unity is falling apart.”

“The caucus dysfunction we are presently experiencing is a direct result of your leadership.”

“Albertans perceive our government as out of touch and arrogant, and they expect our caucus to bring their issues of concern to the government.”

Loewen is frustrated with Kenney’s handling of the pandemic and felt he has been soft on his approach when dealing with the Trudeau administration.

Alberta’s rate of infection has seen as many as two thousand new cases per day, which surpasses India’s 100,000 per day on a per capita basis. The province of Alberta is hurting, from devastating annual natural disasters and a natural gas industry that has been on the downturn with no clear indication of when it will rebound.

With that being said, the Alberta government has some of the most relaxed COVID-19 measures within Canada despite seeing what neighbouring Provinces have done to slow the curb. There are no playbooks for governing in a global pandemic of this magnitude, just as there are no guarantees if the average family can financially survive without declaring bankruptcy.

Premier Kenney held out as long as possible when it came to tightening COVID-19 restrictions at the request of many middle-class Albertans, especially those within the service industry. Now Albertans are paying the price for that decision to keep non-essential amenities open during the pandemic.

Premier Kenney’s UPC party is a party in the middle of a civil war playing out in the public eye. It is highly unlikely Kenney would resign, which sets up a showdown between him and the Loewen led backbenchers. One thing is certain, Kenney will have to respond to Loewen if he has any intention of leading the UPC into the next general election.

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