The number of approved recall petitions has risen to nine for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus — including her agriculture minister — after Monday’s confirmation to the province’s chief electoral officer.
Among the names received were four cabinet ministers, including RJ Sigurdson (agriculture and irrigation) in his Highwood riding. Also named were Rajan Sawhney (Indigenous relations), Myles McDougall (advanced education) and Dale Nally (Service Alberta and red tape reduction).
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Upon approval of the recall petition, a three-month window is opened for those who submitted the petition to collect 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in the most recent election in the electoral division.
In Sigurdson’s case, it would be 15,788 signatures to trigger a vote on whether the MLA keeps his seat in the southwestern riding of Highwood, which includes Okotoks and Turner Valley.
Recall petitions have been concentrated in more urban areas overall, including five from the Calgary area, which also included speaker Ric McIver.
The petitioner against Sigurdson cited unresponsiveness to contact and difficulty to get ahold of as reasons for the recall.
Not keeping regular posted office hours or responding to phone and email requests, and supporting the use of the notwithstanding clause, were also cited on the Current Recall Petitions page here.
“As your MLA, I supported action to balance children’s rights to education. The decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause was not taken lightly, but was necessary to ensure students could return to the classroom in the quickest manner possible,” said Sigurdson in his formal response to the recall petition.
“I remain fully committed to listening to and representing all constituents. I regularly respond to community concerns through meetings, emails, attending events and public forums. The recall petition’s claim that I do not engage with constituents is simply not accurate. My priority continues to be the well-being and future of our children, community and my ministerial duty to farmers.”
Elections Alberta also previously approved a petition to recall MLA Demetrios Nicolaides, the provincial minister for education and childcare.
The UCP holds 47 members in the 87-member house with the opposition NDP at 38. If all nine MLAs were defeated in constituency votes, Smith’s government would lose its majority status, with two former UCP sitting as independents.
