Danielle Smith boots separatist leader out of Conservative party
by
Premier Danielle Smith said Jeff Rath is no longer a UCP member after Albertans voted against an independence referendum, noting his overall views are no longer the same as the party’s.
(LifeSiteNews) — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith confirmed that she has kicked out of her party one of the main separatist leaders and organizers who led the charge for the province to separate from Canada over irregularities in his overall conduct.
On October 29, United Conservative Party (UCP) executive director Dustin van Vugt told the party’s board of directors that Jeff Rath was no longer a UCP member.
“Your public conduct in relation to our party and leader has not met the basic standard of decency,” the email said.
“We expect of our members when they disagree or otherwise,” van Vugt added.
The decision to kick out Rath, who has a lot of support and followers from rural UCP members, came after Albertans recently voted not to hold a future vote on whether or not the province should separate from Canada. Albertans did, but most voted to increase provincial autonomy.
Smith later confirmed to the media that Rath was indeed no longer a UCP member, noting his overall views are no longer the same as the party’s. She also said those with separatist tendencies are now longer welcome in the UCP, although this would be impossible to enforce.
“Somebody whose objective and mission is to turn us into something we are not is not following the objective of our party,” she said.
“Our objective of the party is to get re-elected, and to make sure that we’re focused on doing that.”
Smith never supported separation, something that irked Rath, who later turned on her and the UCP, recently calling for party members to oust her as leader.
Rath, after learning of being kicked out of the UCP, said in an X post that “Challenging Danielle Smith’s anti-democratic dictatorship of the UCP is the duty of every UCP Member who cares about the future of Alberta.”