The Wildrose Party had formed in 2008 as a provincial political party in Alberta with the merger of the Alberta Alliance Party and the unregistered Wildrose Party of Alberta.[11][12] Its members largely consisted of dissatisfied former Progressive Conservative supporters. Three of the first five Wildrose MLAs were defectors originally elected as Progressive Conservatives.[13][14]: 244
Danielle Smith, who served as leader of the Wildrose Party from October 2009 until December 2014, made an unsuccessful attempt to merge the Wildrose and the PC party by resigning from the Wildrose and crossing the floor to join the governing Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta caucus under then Premier Jim Prentice, along with eight other Wildrose MLAs.[15] The remaining Wildrose Party refused to consider the request by Smith to dissolve their party. Then Wildrose President David Yager said at the time "This is not a merger in any way. It is capitulation."[16] When the NDP won in 2015 an Edmonton Sun article blamed the mass Wildrose defections for the loss.[9] In the wake of the historical loss, uniting the Wildrose and PC parties became a major issue.
In July 2016, federal MP and former minister Jason Kenney announced that he would seek the PC leadership on a platform of seeking a merger with the Wildrose. Kenney was elected PC leader on March 18, 2017. Negotiations between Wildrose leader Brian Jean and Kenney were successful; the merger agreement was released on May 18, 2017. The results of the July 22, 2017 internal votes on the merger agreement held by both parties[17][18] supported the merger with 95% of Wildrose and PC members voting in favour.[19][20][21]
Kenney and Jean selected six individuals each to sit on the interim executive board of the new party. Ed Ammar was elected as first chair of the party on July 24, 2017. Cooper also appointed two MLAs to the board as non-voting members. The new party was registered with Elections Alberta as of July 31, 2017.[23]
Although it was generally understood that the PC and Wildrose merged to form the UCP, Alberta electoral law at the time did not permit parties to formally merge or transfer assets between each other. Thus, the PC and Wildrose legally continued to exist, while the UCP was legally reckoned as a newly created party. As a result, on July 24, 2017–the day the new UCP formally came into existence–Cooper and the UCP's interim leadership team formally assumed the leaderships of both the PC and Wildrose parties as well. Also on that date, all members in good standing of the PCs and Wildrose became members of the UCP, with all but a few members withdrawing their memberships in the merging parties. The PCs and Wildrose withdrew from any meaningful public presence, thus de facto dissolving them although they continued to exist on paper.
To maintain their registration and assets, both the PCs and Wildrose ran one paper candidate each in Edmonton-Strathcona (an NDP safe seat held at that time by NDP leader Rachel Notley). On February 7, 2020, after the UCP government passed legislation allowing parties to legally merge, Elections Alberta formally approved the merger of the PCs and Wildrose into the UCP, allowing the UCP to merge the legacy parties' assets and formally wind up their affairs.
Policies
Economics
The UCP supports lowering taxes, and is against the federal carbon tax. The UCP government indexes Alberta's income tax brackets to keep up with inflation. It has pledged to cut Alberta's provincial income tax by adding a new, lower bottom income tax bracket of 8% for the first C$60,000 of income earned (down from 10% on the first C$142,292 in 2023) and it cut Alberta's corporate tax rate from 12% to 8%. It also seeks to expand the Taxpayer Protection Act to make the consent of a majority of Albertans via a referendum a prerequisite for raising taxes.[24][25]
Energy and environment
The UCP plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by prioritizing clean energy production, optimization of Alberta's large oil and gas sector, and carbon capture technology over making large cuts to carbon production and emissions.[26][27]
Electoral history
2017 leadership election
The leadership election held on October 28, 2017 resulted in former PC leader Jason Kenney defeating former Wildrose leader Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer, a former aide to Jim Prentice, to become UCP leader. Kenney won more than 60% of the vote on the first ballot.[28] Kenney successfully contested a by-election in Calgary-Lougheed on December 14, 2017, after incumbent MLA Dave Rodney resigned in order to give Kenney an opportunity to enter the Alberta legislature.[29]
2019 provincial election
The UCP won the 2019 provincial election with a large majority, mainly on the strength of a near-sweep of Calgary (where it won all but three seats) and rural Alberta (where it won all but one seat).
The UCP under Premier Danielle Smith was re-elected to government in the 2023 Alberta general election with a reduced majority.[32][33] They lost their one seat in Edmonton to the NDP.[34][35][36] The election campaign had been close and one of the fiercest in Alberta's history.[37]
Fundraising
The UCP broke provincial records by pulling in $10.4 million in 2023, ending the election year with over $1 million in the bank, while the opposition NDP was $624,000 in debt.[38] In the first quarter of 2024, the UCP raised $2,263,767 compared to the NDP who raised $1,011,739.[39]
Controversies
2017 leadership race RCMP investigation
On March 16, 2019, it came to light that during the UCP leadership election campaign Jason Kenney's leadership campaign collaborated with fellow candidate Jeff Callaway's campaign to undermine the leadership campaign of former Wildrose party leader Brian Jean.[40] A document prepared by Callaway's communication's manager describes how Kenney's campaign provided communications support as well as planned regular strategic direction throughout Callaway's campaign.[40] The Alberta Elections Commissioner levied more than $200,000 in fines relating to the kamikaze campaign[41] prior to the Elections Commissioner's termination by the UCP government and conclusion of open investigations.[42]
The RCMP concluded their investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership race on March 8, 2024 and announced they found no evidence of wrongdoing.[43]
