The last four recall petitions targeting United Conservative Party (UCP) members of the Alberta legislature have fallen short, Elections Alberta confirmed Wednesday. The petitions aimed to unseat Justice Minister Mickey Amery, along with MLAs Justin Wright, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, and Ron Wiebe. This outcome means all two dozen recall petitions launched against Premier Danielle Smith and members of her UCP caucus since late last year have either failed or been withdrawn.
The unsuccessful petition against Mickey Amery, for instance, gathered fewer than 500 signatures of the over 9,000 needed. This threshold represents 60% of the votes cast in his Calgary-Cross riding during the 2023 general election. Sead Tokalic, who initiated the petition to oust Amery, noted the difficulty of the campaign, stating that many citizens were uninformed about local politics. "A lot of people don't even know who their MLA is," Tokalic said.
UCP caucus whip Justin Wright responded to the failed petitions by saying they "did not reflect the priorities of Albertans" and were driven by a "fringe group of NDP activists". He highlighted the UCP's majority government win in the 2023 election. Wright stated the UCP remains focused on job creation, healthcare improvements, and education.
Alberta's recall legislation, enacted in 2022, allows citizens to initiate a process to remove and replace elected officials, including MLAs. However, the law has strict requirements, including a signature threshold of 60% of the votes cast in the previous election and other timing restrictions. To date, no recall petition has successfully reached the required threshold.
