A former UCP MLA who was told to leave the party has now decided to strike it out on his own.
Derek Fildebrandt, the independent MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, has formed the new Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta, an organization devoted to acquiring control over EI, CPP, immigration and tax collection, all elements which are under federal jurisdiction.
The UCP and Fildebrandt parted ways after the MLA pleaded guilty to illegally shooting a deer in early November 2017.
He was given a $3,000 fine in connection with the incident and the Crown dropped an associated trespassing charge.
Fildebrandt quit the party in August 2017, after he was reeling from a number of other controversies including hit and run charges, double charging restaurant expenses and his questionable usage of a government-owned property as vacation rental.
According to Elections Alberta, the Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta was officially renamed from the Western Freedom Party of Alberta on June 22.
