UCP caucus takes issue with endorsement of local candidate

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on April 3, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The UCP caucus is claiming that the support of federal Liberal candidate Chris Spearman by former Lethbridge West MLA for Shannon Phillips confirms what it calls a deep NDP-Liberal alliance.
Spearman, who is campaigning to be elected as the next member of parliament for the Lethbridge riding, says that Phillips is a personal friend and her support is just one example of the wide support he’s seen for his candidacy, which has even come from Conservatives.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Spearman said Phillips was the first person outside of family to visit him in hospital after a health emergency and her support is based on a personal connection, not politics.
“I consider Shannon Phillips to be a personal friend and am delighted she is able to cross party lines,” said Spearman.
Among other supporters is Carmen Mombourquette, who Spearman says has always voted Conservative. Mombourquette was the principal of Catholic Central High School when Spearman served as board chair of the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division.
An endorsement letter from Mombourquette says he was “pleased to see former board chair Chris Spearman stand as the Liberal candidate in Lethbridge. During Spearman’s tenure with Holy Spirit the school division went on a school building and modernization spree. The school division was able to expand in this way due in large part to the ways in which Spearman built collegial relationships and support with internal stakeholders and partnerships with other levels of government to fund the new developments.”
Spearman noted he was nominated for the King Charles Coronation Medal by Senator Scott Tannas, who in 1993 served as campaign manager for Conservative Macleod MP Ken Hughes. Hughes, whose family ranches near the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is another Conservative supporter, said Spearman.
“There is no Liberal-NDP alliance,” he added.
“As Lethbridge’s former mayor, I worked with Phillips. We secured $250 million for the science building at the University of Lethbridge and supported economic development initiatives that brought in $1 billion, a first for the city. The booming solar energy industry also contributed to regional economic growth.
“Our joint efforts led to a positive, collaborative relationship based on mutual respect and a shared commitment to serving our constituents.”
Chief government whip Shane Getson, who is also the MLA for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland, told the Herald on Wednesday that Phillips’ support of a Liberal candidate is part of a pattern, pointing out that former NDP MLA Rod Loyola has launched a campaign in Edmonton-Gateway as a Liberal and another ex-NDP MLA, Stephanie McLean, is now running for the Liberals in the B.C. riding of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke,
Getson, calling the NDP a “farm team” for the federal Liberals, questioned why NDPers wouldn’t endorse NDP candidates, calling out Phillips specifically.
“They’re one party,” he said of the NDP and Liberals.
“Being in the House and hearing how many times they were trying to differentiate themselves between the federal Liberals, I’m not seeing any of it.” Getson said from Edmonton. “When you have former NDP ministers backing Liberal federal candidates, not even NDP candidates, to me it’s bonkers. It’s disingenuous for Albertans.”
While acknowledging Phillips is a private citizen, “it’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black,” said Getson, noting UCP members “aren’t joined at the hip with the federal Conservatives in any way, but the NDP party literally is. The federal NDP party is the same party as the provincial group, so if I were to all of a sudden do a 180 and back another group, I think all the people who voted for me all those years and all those speeches I made would ring pretty hollow.”
Getson said the federal Liberal government has been “aggressively” against Alberta for years and “we’ve had Opposition members, former ministers, that said there was such a difference, they were standing up for Albertans and here we are back to supporting the same group that’s put these egregious policies in place against Alberta.
“I don’t know if it’s Stockholm Syndrome or what they’re suffering from, but to me it’s pretty hollow.”
Getson believes Phillips has influence in Lethbridge and “where that political influence to me resides is saying there is no separation between what the New Democratic Party is and what the Liberals are now. They’re one big happy family or party.”
Phillips stated her support for Spearman in a Facebook post several days ago in which she wrote: “I’ve never been much of a federal Liberal. But as I get older, I’ve come to understand the real value of friendship, especially when it goes beyond party lines. One of my treasured friendships is with Chris Spearman. Chris has always had my back, both professionally and personally.
“As mayor of Lethbridge, he worked productively with me when I was an MLA. We didn’t always agree, but we always got along, and always worked together for the good of our city.
“True friends show up when times are tough. When I was targeted and made to feel unsafe by the LPS, Chris stood by me, when very few would. My family and I will always be grateful for that,” Phillips wrote.
“But Chris isn’t just a good person and a good friend — he also knows how to deliver good policy. Under Chris’s leadership, my property taxes were virtually frozen. Since he left the Mayor’s chair they’ve jumped 20% which costs the average homeowner hundreds of dollars more per year.
“When Chris was mayor, I never had to worry that our city would sell out by drinking water to foreign billionaires hell-bent on destroying the Eastern Slopes. I never had to worry that we’d turn our backs on indigenous reconciliation, support for the arts or the LGBTQ2!A+ community,” wrote Philips in her endorsement.
Getson says while Phillips and Spearman two may be personal friends “again it comes down to the politics side.
“Voters have to understand this isn’t just a one-off; this is an absolute pattern,” added Getson. “It’s bizarre.”
Getson made no mention of the recent controversy over Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s endorsements of federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre while travelling in the United States.

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