This weekend, the United Conservatives of Alberta (UCP) are holding their second annual general meeting (AGM) under the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith, and the event is set to be historic.
The anticipated number of delegates at this AGM is expected to significantly surpass previous meetings, even exceeding the UCP’s founding convention in 2018, with estimates suggesting there could be 4,000 registrants by Saturday during the two-day event.
The turnout is proving larger than what the UCP expected, after it forced them to change venues from the Grey Eagle Resort & Casino to the BMO Centre in Calgary.
Delegates will debate a wide range of topics at the AGM, including elections to the party’s board.
Alberta is battling the Trudeau Liberals on a few contentious issues. Pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan in place of a provincial one, and energy security versus federal climate change laws are two power disputes that Smith’s UCP are undergoing with Ottawa.
A number of new party resolutions will be debated among delegates, including social ones such as banning race-based admissions in post-secondary institutions, parental rights over their children’s pronouns in school, ending provincial funding for supervised drug consumption sites, and debating the inclusion of transgender women in women’s correctional facilities.
Medical freedom
Another resolution seeks to protect medical professionals from expressing their public opinions on health related matters without losing their license, as provincial medical regulators did during the COVID debacle.
One resolution seeks to protect individuals’ freedom to have informed consent when making medical decisions on their body.
“Informed consent is the cornerstone of every single medical procedure that is offered in Canada and
autonomy of self is enshrined in Canadian law and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada,” the resolution states.
“Under no circumstances regardless of provincial, federal, national, or international directive, treaty,
mandate, or law should any Albertan not have the right to say no to any medical treatment, therapy,
vaccine or otherwise against their own wishes.”
However, even if a resolution is passed at the AGM, it doesn’t guarantee immediate government action.
