During a ‘Free Alberta’ strategy press conference on Sept. 28, Airdrie-East MLA and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Angela Pitt openly stated that she no longer has confidence in Premier Jason Kenney.
“The answer to that question is no, I don’t,” Pitt said, when asked if she had faith in the premier to lead the United Conservative Party and the province.
“And I don’t think my constituents do either. However, I think there is a place for the grassroots to take charge of this type of decision and that’s where it will lay for now.”
The meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom, was also attended by MLAs Jason Stephan and Nathan Cooper. The meeting was concerning The Free Alberta Strategy – a series of initiatives released on Sept. 28 that aim to make Alberta a sovereign jurisdiction within Canada.
When asked the same question, Stephan said he will wait until the leadership review and accept the result that is determined. Cooper, the MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, did not respond to the question when asked.
According to the strategy’s website, the plan has two key objectives – to establish complete provincial legislative sovereignty within Canada, and to end equalization and net federal transfers out of Alberta. The policy was developed by former Airdrie MLA and lawyer Rob Anderson, University of Calgary political scientist Barry Cooper, and constitutional lawyer Derek From, in collaboration with the Alberta Institute.
The release of the initiatives comes as Albertans are set to vote on equalization in a referendum during the upcoming Oct. 18 municipal election.
These recent comments are not the first time that Pitt has criticized the premier.
In June, a photo of Kenney and colleagues dining at the government high-rise building commonly known as the Sky Palace was captured and widely circulated on social media. Attendees, including the premier, were heavily scrutinized for breaching COVID-19 health restrictions at the time.
Pitt was one of many government officials who took aim at the premier on social media.
“Much of the public concern about this incident has been about the hypocrisy of senior officials breaking their own rules. I can certainly understand these concerns,” Pitt wrote on her Facebook at the time.
“I am calling on the premier today to make the rules more consistent, to give businesses fairness, and to allow restaurants to safely operate in the same fashion in which the premier just portrayed.”
Earlier this year, she was a member of a national caucus of politicians who opposed public health restrictions. She also signed a public letter in conjunction with 16 of her UCP colleagues in April, calling out Kenney for introducing more public health restrictions at the time, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Pitt's office could not immediately be reached for comment.
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