Danielle Smith wins Alberta UCP leadership, named premier-designate
After a night of delays, the vote counts came hard and fast, resulting in Danielle Smith being named the UCP’s new leader and Alberta's next premier.
“I’m back,” Smith told the room after taking the stage.
Smith said the night marked the beginning of a new chapter for Alberta.
“It is time for Alberta to take its place as a senior partner in building a strong and unified Canada,” she said.
“No longer will Alberta ask permission from Ottawa to be prosperous and free.
“We will not have our voices silenced or censored.
“We will not be told what we must put in our bodies in order that we may work or travel.
“Albertans, not Ottawa, will chart our own destiny on our terms, and will work with our fellow Canadians to build the most free and prosperous country on earth.”
Smith won on the sixth and final ballot of the night, defeating her closest challenger Travis Toews, a former minister under outgoing UCP leader and premier, Jason Kenney.
She had 53.77 per cent of the votes to Toews' 46.23 per cent.
Brian Jean, Rebecca Schulz, Todd Loewen, Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer were all eliminated in earlier rounds.
Smith thanked her fellow candidates, “for their commitment to our party, but also to democracy,” and said she looked forward to working with many of them.
She also thanked Kenney, saying he has fought for Albertans for decades in various capacities.
“First as an advocate for taxpayers, then as one of the most influential conservative cabinet ministers in Canadian history, then leading the charge on unifying the conservative movement, running and beating Rachel Notley's NDP, and then governing as premier for one of the most tumultuous times in Alberta history,” she said.
It apparently won’t be a long wait before Smith takes over the premier’s office.
She said Thursday night she would travel to Edmonton this coming Tuesday to be sworn in.
She said she “can’t wait” to get started.
“If there's one thing I've learned about Albertans, it is that we don't expect our leaders to be perfect, but we do expect them to stay humble, admit when they are wrong and to learn from their mistakes,” she said.
“I love that about our province and am grateful to have earned this second chance from you.
“I will never forget it, and I pledge to you tonight, I will not let you down.”
Loewen, after he was eliminated from the race, said he felt he gave some Albertans a voice in this campaign.
"There were a lot of Albertans that felt they were unheard the last three year," he told CTV News on Thursday.
"I had a lot of support across the province, of course not as much as I'd hoped and not as much as I needed, but we ran a good, hard campaign and we ran a positive campaign."
He says he is still proud of his campaign and that it was good to see so many Albertans buying memberships in the party.
"I'll congratulate (Danielle) happily."
Loewen was not alone in his acceptance as that the vote wasn’t going to go his way.
“I am a team player. I've said that all along. So we will spend every day for the next seven or eight months making sure that we see a conservative government elected here again in Alberta,” Schulz said following her elimination from the race.
Jean, shortly before he was ousted, said whatever comes, it’s a result of the membership speaking, and that’s what matters.
“The main thing is the members have had their say and this is what they want to have happen,” Jean said.
“We'll see where it leads, but we've got to make sure that whatever happens, we stay united.”
Originally, the UCP event and leadership results were expected to begin at 5:30 p.m. MT but were delayed.
More than 250 volunteers were called in to help count about 85,000 ballots, the vast majority of which were cast by mail.
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.
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.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
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.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
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.
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.