Smith tells UCP separatists to accept referendum result or "join a different party"

Premier Danielle Smith has told separatists inside the United Conservative Party to accept Monday's referendum result or leave, saying in a video to party members on Wednesday that the UCP "is not an independence party."

"For those few who cannot reconcile this fact and remain intent on dividing and turning our party into a vehicle for the independence movement, I would respectfully invite them to join a different party," Smith said in the roughly 10-minute video, which she posted on X just before 11 a.m. and, by her account, also emailed to all UCP members.

The message follows Monday's vote, in which about three-quarters of Albertans rejected starting a legal process toward a binding separation referendum, according to unofficial results. Smith said Tuesday night there would be no further referendum on separation while she is premier.

In the video, Smith set out what she expects from the party. "As a party, we cannot permit the next year to be one of internal division and endless debates about separation when Albertans have spoken so clearly against it," she said. "That's what the NDP want us to do."

She said members "can have whatever views they wish," but that UCP candidates must support "a strong Alberta within a united Canada" from the day they take out nomination papers through their time in caucus. She said the same is expected of the party's provincial board and constituency association boards, whose only focus should be "beating the NDP in every single riding in this province."

"I'm simply not prepared to watch a few individuals tear apart the incredible conservative movement we've built together only to see the disastrous NDP become the government in our province," she said.

No word on blocking candidates

At a news conference in Calgary later that morning, Smith called the UCP "a federalist party" and pointed to its founding document, which commits it to "a loyalty to Canada" while working for constitutional sovereignty within that framework.

Asked whether she would disqualify anyone who refuses, she would not commit. "How about we see if it gets to that point?" she said. "I'm asking people to do some self-reflection and if they are able to accept the results and the mandate that Albertans gave us through a free and democratic process, then we can have a reset, and those who cannot, they have opportunities through other political parties."

She acknowledged "hurt feelings" among those who voted for a binding vote, CBC News reported, adding: "You get to have your say, but you don't always get to have your way."

Separatists dig in

The ultimatum lands as independence organizers work inside the party. Jeffrey Rath, a leading separatist figure, told Global News he will keep pushing for a special general meeting to remove Smith as leader. That push has so far won the backing of three of the 22 constituency boards needed, as Calgary Dispatch reported last week. Mitch Sylvestre of the Alberta Prosperity Project said Tuesday he is turning his efforts to electing allies to party boards and as nominees, according to The Globe and Mail.

On X on Wednesday, Rath brushed off the result as "a non-binding, ambiguous opinion about 'remaining'" and wrote that he and "other members who favour independence are a super majority of the UCP." In another post he wrote: "This fight is only in round 1."

Commentator Nadine Wellwood, host of the online show Sovereign Voice, wrote that Smith "is going to destroy the UCP with this kind of rhetoric," calling it "nothing short of dictatorship" to dictate how MLAs vote or speak. Independence supporter Bonnie Meikle wrote: "Nomination candidates take note! No independence supporters allowed!!!" Lois Cardinal, who says she is seeking a UCP nomination, replied that she stands "with the premier and the mandate give[n] by Albertans."

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi had not posted about the video on X by early Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, he told reporters that "every time Danielle Smith is offered the choice to do what's right for Alberta or do what's right for Danielle Smith, she'll pick Danielle Smith every single time," CBC reported.

The showdown now moves to the UCP's annual general meeting in Calgary next month. Separately, UCP MLA Jason Stephan, who had urged Albertans to vote for a binding referendum, announced Monday he won't seek re-election, The Canadian Press reported. The next provincial election is set for October 2027.