Alberta Premier Kenney faces calls from some in his UCP caucus to quit immediately
Jason Kenney's main caucus critic says the Alberta premier needs to quit at once, and a new interim boss selected, ahead of the race to pick a new United Conservative Party leader.
“The healing process can't start until Jason Kenney leaves. He knows that. We know that and we need to start the renewal process of the UCP,” Brian Jean said Thursday before heading into a UCP caucus meeting in Calgary.
“Jason Kenney knows parliamentary tradition,” added Jean, a former leader of the Wildrose Party, which merged with Kenney's Progressive Conservatives to form the UCP in 2017.
“It would be parliamentary tradition for him to step down immediately, as he has indicated.”
Jean lost to Kenney in the inaugural UCP leadership race, but came back to politics earlier this year and won a seat for the party on a platform to oust Kenney as leader.
Kenney's caucus was meeting to determine next steps a day after the premier announced it was time to leave, given he had received 51 per cent support in a party leadership review.
Kenney did not provide specifics, leading to conflicting reports on whether he will step aside as premier immediately or stay until a new leader is chosen months down the road.
Backbencher Leela Aheer, who was kicked out of Kenney's cabinet last year after criticizing him on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, said on her way into the caucus meeting that it's a “beautiful moment” for the party.
“The truth is that the only thing I've ever wanted was to have an opportunity to be able to prove to people who we are and to end the corruption and the cronyism and to be able to start a new day with hope for Alberta.”
She said the party should appoint an interim leader.
“You need a team player who is going to bring folks together, because there's obviously been a lot of division,” Aheer said.
Calgary backbencher Richard Gotfried said caucus should decide by secret ballot whether Kenney stays on as interim leader.
“That should be the voice of caucus,” he said. “This is a great way for democracy to prevail.”
Drew Barnes, voted out of the UCP caucus a year ago for criticizing Kenney, also called for an interim leader so the party “can begin turning the page on the mistakes of the past three years.”
Jean and another former Wildrose leader, Danielle Smith, have already announced they will run to replace him.
Smith said the party needs to renew itself after being asked by reporters Thursday whether Kenney should leave right away.
But she also said Kenney, who is Catholic, has done a lot of work on the First Nations reconciliation file, which culminated in a recent apology by Pope Francis for the church's role in the deaths and abuse of Indigenous youth in residential schools.
She noted the Pope is coming to Alberta in late July.
“If he wants to stay (through July) and be premier so that he can, I think, receive the honour that he deserves for helping make the Vatican realize they needed to take that important step, I wouldn't object to that,” Smith said.
Kenney's resignation reverberated in Ottawa, where he previously served as a cabinet minister in former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government.
Heading into a cabinet meeting Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Kenney for his years of public service.
“I wish him the very best in whatever next steps he takes on.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.