A grassroots push against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is gaining steam after independence activist Jeff Rath said the Highwood UCP constituency association board voted 14-4 to seek her removal as party leader.
“The dominos are falling!” Rath wrote on X, calling on another 22 constituency boards to follow Highwood’s lead and force a Special General Meeting or leadership review.
“I AM PERSONALLY GRATEFUL TO MY NEIGHBOURS IN THE HIGHWOOD CA FOR TAKING THIS IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS FREEDOM!” Rath wrote.
Highwood MLA and Affordability and Utilities Minister RJ Sigurdson distanced himself from the move and backed Smith.
“Let me be clear that Premier Danielle Smith has, and will continue to have, my full support,” Sigurdson told Juno News.
“I firmly believe that the decision of the Highwood Constituency Association does not reflect the views of my constituents broadly.”
The vote follows months of Rath openly organizing UCP members against Smith and urging independence supporters to take control of constituency association boards.
“Premier Smith had no mandate from her membership to sign the Carbon Tax MOU with Mark Carney,” Rath wrote in May. “Danielle Smith no longer enjoys the confidence of the members of the UCP.”
“Enough is enough,” he said in another post. “We are a super majority of the party. Time to take it back from the Kenneyites.”
Rath later urged supporters to attend local constituency association meetings, elect pro-independence board members and “replace every non-independence board in the province.”
The comments outlined the strategy Rath says is now playing out in Highwood: build enough support on constituency boards to force a review of Smith’s leadership.
Under current UCP bylaws, a Special General Meeting must be called when one-quarter of constituency associations submit written requests backed by identical motions passed by their boards.
Rath cited Smith’s approach to Alberta independence and Carney among his grievances. He says another 22 boards are needed to trigger a leadership review.
He also cited Smith’s EU and immigration positions while repeating unverified allegations about government spending and inducements to independence organizers.
The Highwood vote echoes the grassroots revolt that preceded former premier Jason Kenney’s resignation.
In November 2021, 22 UCP constituency associations passed motions demanding an expedited leadership review, meeting the one-quarter threshold under the party rules then in force.
Kenney ultimately received 51.4 per cent support in a May 2022 leadership review and announced he would step down.
Smith replaced him later that year and received 91.5 per cent support in her November 2024 leadership review.
The UCP’s 2026 annual general meeting is currently scheduled for November 27-29 in Calgary.