Jean, UCP MLAs organizing anti-Kenney votes as byelection called
Brian Jean is so confident that he'll win his byelection he's turning down door-knocking help from UCP MLAs in favour of building support to remove the premier.
Jean is running for MLA of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche in a March 15 vote, but he's also made it clear he wants to replace Premier Jason Kenney after a leadership review in April.
"Please don't come out and help me doorknock, I'm OK in my riding…you need to get as many people as you can to Red Deer April 9 to vote in the leadership review," Jean said of a recent conversation he had with a UCP MLA from Calgary.
Jean doesn't expect Kenney to come out and drum up support for him either.
"I think the premier doesn't need to help me campaign in Fort McMurray because he's confident, after the nomination race, that I'm able to win the hearts and minds of the people of Fort McMurray," he said.
Jean has been calling for Kenney to resign for months. Other UCP MLAs have done the same, with two of them being kicked out of the party.
The premier recently formed a "campaign team" to fight for his job, and he was asked Wednesday about Jean carrying his party's flag while simultaneously trying to take his job.
Kenney answered by saying that his attention is on running Alberta, including passing an upcoming budget.
"I'm going to focus on those things, not on sideshow politics. We are focused on the business of Albertans," he said.
Jean calls what he's doing a "movement to renew the UCP." He claims he's received support from several UCP MLAs but he won't put an exact number to that.
"I believe if we don't change leaders, after the next election in the next 14 months, we will have an NDP majority. I am very concerned about that," Jean said.
'PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF THE DRAMA'
Before Jean is able to sit in the legislature, he'll have to defeat NDP byelection candidate Ariana Mancini. A local teacher, she believes Albertans in her riding are sick of internal UCP politics.
"The rhetoric has been that people are tired of the drama between Jason Kenney and Brian Jean. They have no absolutely no interest, they feel forgotten," she argued.
Mancini and Jean faced off in the 2015 election, with the NDP candidate finishing second to Jean, then leader of the Wildrose. He received 44 per cent of votes while she had 31 per cent.
Mancini said a lot has changed in seven years, though, including the creation of the UCP.
"We have been a conservative riding for gosh, decades. Two decades at least, and people have said, 'Enough, we are done,'" she stated.
The Jean versus Kenney dynamic that's overshadowing this byelection is something experts say hasn't happened often, if ever, in Alberta politics.
"It's really quite exceptional to have a candidate running for election under a party's banner who has called for the leader of the party to step down," said political scientist Lisa Young.
She believes more than just one legislature seat is at stake in the next few months. The future of the UCP and Kenney as its leader is also hanging in the balance.
"Having the leader of the movement against him (if Jean wins) in his caucus, it's going to make life very complicated for the premier," Young said.
Byelection polls open March 15 and official results are expected 10 days later, just two weeks before Kenney's leadership vote.
Paul Hinman, Marilyn Burns, Abdulhakim Hussein, and Steven Mellott are also registered to run.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever
Vladimir Putin began his fifth term Tuesday as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.