Local UCP board wants Barnes back in caucus

By COLLIN GALLANT on June 3, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Members of the local UCP constituency board have sent an outgoing message of support for ousted MLA Drew Barnes and ask that he be reinstated in the government caucus.

The letter, signed by “the Board Directors,” was posted on the group’s Facebook page Wednesday morning and was reportedly sent to Premier Jason Kenney and other UCP MLAs.

It states Barnes is “democratically supported” by the board, and should represent the riding from the government benches.

That was the result of one of the final resolutions of the party’s Cypress-Medicine Hat riding association board that will be replaced as previously scheduled at the annual general meeting later this month.

The letter says the “expulsion” of Barnes three weeks ago for questioning leadership of Kenney alongside Peace River MLA Todd Loewen was contrary to party principles and an “affront to democratic values of Alberta.”

“Our trust and faith in the UCP government to govern reasonably and responsibly is shaken to its core,” it says. “We make this request, not in our own interest but for the interests of Albertans, and so that trust in both the UCP brand and its governance may be restored.”

Constituency association interim president and chief financial officer Myles Mulholland told the News the letter was the result of a special resolution at the final term meeting two weeks ago. There, he said, a majority of the 20-person board voted to support Barnes who has been increasingly critical of party leadership.

“It’s a show of support for Drew, who has been the MLA here for nine years, and a majority of board members personally support him and are not particularly happy with how Premier Kenney has handled things,” said Mulholland.

He said the immediate concern of the association is the annual general meeting on June 22, at which as many as 27 at-large board directors and all three officer positions will be filled.

He said any nomination process to replace Barnes as the UCP’s local candidate might not occur until early 2022, following the party’s convention later this year.

On May 13, the party’s other MLAs voted to remove Barnes and Loewen. That immediately followed a letter from Loewen asking for Kenney’s resignation as well as increasing criticism from Barnes about the premier’s management style and decisions, as well as perceived flip-flops on pandemic control measures.

Since then, both men have sat as independents and this week called for an emergency debate on creation of an Alberta constitution and altering confederation by unilateral amendment of the Canadian Constitution (similar to a move by Quebec on language issues last month). That debate however, was rejected because animus consent of other MLAs was needed.

Barnes called it “concrete actions” against a “hostile” federal government.”

“For far too long, the premier has limited his fair deal campaign to writing letters and issuing empty threats,” he said in a statement.

Earlier on Wednesday, Barnes criticized several ministers seen gathered on the balcony of the premier’s office and the provincial government’s “Federal Building” office tower.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro replied in question period that Barnes’s own actions defying the pandemic have been questionable.

This week Barnes also criticized government legislation for recall of elected officials as weak, and proposed amendments that would require chef medical officers to testify at committee within 90 days of imposing large-scale health orders.

That was publicly supported by some members of the opposition New Democrats, but is unlikely to be adopted.

Officials with the party told the News that Barnes’s exit was a decision by a vote of other MLAs, and that party volunteers are free to provide their input.

“It is these MLAs, not the premier himself, who decided on Mr. Barnes’s and Mr. Loewen’s position in the caucus,” said Evan Menzies, the party’s communications director. “As a party, we are now focused on supporting the work of our leader, Jason Kenney, and building towards the next election to defeat the NDP so we can keep advancing conservative policies.”

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