Alberta premier urges unity among UCP members ahead of April leadership review
CBC
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney acknowledged in his address to the United Conservative Party's annual general meeting on Saturday that there is discord and unhappiness with his leadership, but he urged members to resolve their disputes internally.
In a 38-minute speech to about 1,500 party members at the Grey Eagle Resort just outside Calgary, Kenney urged them to focus their efforts on "the people's business" until his leadership review in April.
"We have some internal differences. Every big tent political party does and always will," he said.
"But let us address and resolve those internal differences internally, because the public wants to see parties and government focused not on internal party business but on the public's priorities on the crisis that we are facing, on economic recovery."
Kenney's speech comes amid a dismal year where both his personal approval ratings and the popularity of his government have taken a slide. Multiple polls suggest the opposition NDP would form a majority government if an election were held now. A couple of members of his UCP caucus have publicly called for his resignation.
Twenty-two constituency associations, the number required under UCP rules, passed motions asking for the party to move up the date of the leadership review. A resolution to change the threshold to 29 constituency associations received only 57 per cent support in a vote Friday night. The motion required 75 per cent approval to pass.
Kenney has faced criticism over his decision to lift nearly all COVID-19 restrictions on July 1, and then disappearing from public view and not taking action for most of August while case numbers skyrocketed.
He has also faced backlash from his conservative base for doing too much by imposing a vaccine passport program, a province-wide mask mandate and mandatory vaccinations for the public service.
Kenney said the debate over COVID has been polarizing and acknowledged his government has made some mistakes.
"As premier, I must take responsibility for that," he said, adding that he knows people are angry over public health restrictions.
"I get it, I really do. I hear you and I do so respectfully," Kenney said.
"But please hear me, if we had not made tough decisions, for example in September, there is absolutely no doubt we would have exceeded the total possible capacity of our hospitals to provide critical care."
Kenney said that at the time, Alberta was "days away" from enacting critical care triage protocols.
"The very thought of that filled me with dread," he said.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.