More than 3,500 delegates expected at UCP AGM as party debates controversial resolutions

Alberta's United Conservatives will hold their second annual general meeting under Premier Danielle Smith on Friday and Saturday in an event that has seen registrations surge with seats on the party's board up for grabs.

It's expected the number of delegates will far surpass previous AGMs, including the UCP's founding convention in 2018, which drew around 2,500 members.

This weekend, more than 3,500 members are anticipated to file into Calgary's BMO Centre, which was chosen as the venue after the number of attendees outgrew the previous site of the Grey Eagle Resort & Casino.

The event comes as Alberta is locked in a battle of wills with Ottawa over pensions and power. Those are subjects political observers expect Smith will use as chief areas of focus during her keynote address, scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Her speech will also be revealing in terms of how she seeks to keep her party united behind her, noted Lisa Young, a University of Calgary political science professor.

"One of the things that Premier Smith has to do in order to stay in office is to keep the party on the ground happy. I think it will be really interesting to watch to see the mood of the convention," Young said.

That may be easier said than done when it comes to managing competing groups along the conservative spectrum vying for power — the most notable being Take Back Alberta, a group registered as a third-party political advertiser with Elections Alberta that has been vocal in pushing for change around various social issues.

Some of those social issues are reflected amongst the 30 policy resolutions that will be voted on by members during the convention, including:

Other resolutions may sound more familiar to followers of conservative politics in the province, such as opposing net-zero power rules in Canada by 2035. 

Policy resolutions, which are brought forward by party members and voted on at party meetings, are non-binding. If a resolution passes, Albertans shouldn't expect government to act on it immediately afterward, noted Young.

"It does give us a bit of insight into the party's grassroots and that base that the premier certainly keeps in mind," she said. "So it's not that it's meaningless. But it's also not something that gives us a roadmap for the government over the next number of months or years."

At a recent Take Back Alberta event in Taber, Alta., the head of the group, David Parker, attributed much of the surge in attendees for this year's UCP AGM to his group's efforts. 

Last year, the group sent hundreds of its members to the UCP AGM and swept all nine open seats on the party's board, representing half. The other half of the board, including its president, will be elected this weekend. Current UCP president Cynthia Moore, long a target of ire from TBA members, is not running for re-election.

"No matter what happens at this AGM, we will have a majority of the board — we'll have an absolute majority of the board," Parker told attendees in Taber on Oct. 18. "What that will guarantee for you is grassroots representation, no matter what."