UCP website outage just a server issue: party official
The United Conservative Party website was nothing but a broken link Thursday, invisible along with the “Best Summer Ever” hats and the “No Vaccine Passports Survey” link.
Unitedconservative.ca was displaying a “host error” the day after the governing party took a sharp turn by reinstalling COVID-19 restrictions and introducing a vaccine passport of sorts, something the Premier said for months that he wouldn’t do.
- 'I apologize': Kenney says Alta. wrong for COVID-19 pandemic to endemic shift, not sorry for Open for Summer plan
- 'It's so unclear': Businesses groan over complicated measures, understand need for COVID rules
- 'It should never have come to this': Notley on new rules
The UCP said nothing about the outage on its social media channels, and a party official insisted it was just a “server issue,” several hours after being first contacted by CTV News Edmonton.
Speculation about the website bubbled on social media Thursday - fuelled by another UCP MLA speaking out against his party’s decisions.
Richard Gotfried is not the first, and likely not the last, according to a former UCP MLA who has called for Jason Kenney to resign as Premier and party leader.
"There was a lot of dysfunction in the caucus, and I don't think that dysfunction has improved," now-independent MLA Todd Loewen said of the party’s troubles Thursday. "In fact, I think it's probably gotten even worse."
Former deputy premier - and outspoken UCP critic - Thomas Lukaszuk tweeted about the website crash saying the UCP “folded its big tent.”
Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams said it’s clear there’s cracks in the party.
"Jason Kenney has been desperately trying to hold a United Conservative Party together by basically pandering to those further on the right, and I think it might mean defections,” she said.
But UCP Director of Communications Dave Prisco stated it was a technical issue, when asked if dissenting voices or a hack played a factor on the website crash.
And he didn’t respond to a question about the party scrubbing old policies away.
A survey on that site recently requested feedback “on our fight against vaccine passports,” and asked for donations of up to $150.
A Google link to that survey still exists but returns only an error message when clicked on.
Another UCP-related website went down in 2018 after Kenney overruled his party members on a policy concerning gay-straight alliances.
At the time, Kenney said the outage of his grassrootsguarantee.ca website was due to an “IT issue.”
With files from CTV News Calgary’s Timm Bruch
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
N.Y. prosecutors charge Luigi Mangione with murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, court records show
Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors filed murder and other charges against Luigi Nicholas Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, according to an online court docket.
Union dropped wage demand to 19% over four years in Canada Post negotiations: CUPW
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has reportedly dropped its wage demand to 19 per cent over four years, CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant told CTV News.
Taxpayer-funded Eras Tour tickets returned by federal minister
While tens of thousands of fans packed Vancouver's BC Place for the last shows of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour this weekend, a federal cabinet minister wasn't one of them.
Sudbury, Ont., family traumatized after hospital said loved one had been released, when in fact they had passed away
Sudbury resident Angela Vitiello says a staff member at Health Sciences North told her that her brother, Allan St. Martin, was released from the hospital late last month when, in fact, he had passed away.
What the upcoming holiday GST relief will mean for consumers
The federal government's GST break will arrive this Saturday, just in time for the last stretch of holiday shopping.
Liberal government survives third Conservative non-confidence vote
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's latest attempt to topple the minority Liberal government in a non-confidence vote failed on Monday, thanks to the New Democrats.
Katie Holmes refutes story about daughter Suri Cruise’s fortune
Katie Holmes has posted a screen grab of a Daily Mail article, which reported that her 18-year old daughter, whose father is Tom Cruise, is now a "millionaire."
Polygamous U.S. sect leader gets 50 years in prison in scheme to orchestrate sex involving children
A polygamist religious leader in the U.S. who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday.
Trudeau says dealing with Trump will be 'a little more challenging' than last time
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said dealing with incoming president Donald Trump and his thundering on trade will be 'a little more challenging' than the last time.