Michaela Frey, MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat & Drew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat

By Gates Guarin

Ballots will be counted Wednesday

Local MLAs sound off on upcoming leadership review

May 16, 2022 | 2:56 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – MLAs for Medicine Hat and area are giving their thoughts on the upcoming results of the UCP leadership review of Premier Jason Kenney.

UCP members have been voting by mail-in ballot over the last month on whether or not Kenney should remain premier. The ballot was opened to all UCP members, of which there are more than 59,000 people.

Ballots had to be mailed in by May 11, and since then volunteers have been verifying the ballots to ensure they have met the requirements to be counted. Counting will occur on Wednesday and the results will be announced.

Michaela Frey, MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, knows the importance of giving party members a voice.

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“Our party is driven by membership for everything from policy to leadership,” Frey says. “This is membership’s opportunity to speak out.”

Frey says she is looking forward to the process ending this week so the party can get back to governing.

“This leadership review has been divisive, and I think Albertans want a common sense, stable government who’s focused on governing, not internal politics,” Frey says. “I can’t wait for this review to be over so that we can get back to governing and the work that the people asked us to do when they sent us to Edmonton in 2019.”

Other voices within the legislature have been openly critical of Kenney’s leadership. Cypress-Medicine Hat Drew Barnes says having the process change from an in-person vote to a mail-in ballot shows Kenney had already been losing the confidence of his members.

“I’m seeing the leadership review results as insignificant,” Barnes says. “Again, another poll just came out showing that he’s polling at the same low levels of popularity in Alberta as Justin Trudeau and Jason Kenney needs to resign.”

Kenney needs a vote of 50 per cent plus one to remain premier. He has promised to step down if he does not meet the review threshold.