Recall Petitions - 14 and Counting, Med Hat MLAs Targeted
Pink Slip Rally in front of Premier Smith’s Office, Feb 22 2025 - File Photo
So far 14 petitions have been approved to recall UCP MLAs. A website called Operation Total Recall lists the 44 UCP MLAs who voted for using the Notwithstanding clause and how many signatures it would take to force a recall vote. Another website called AB Resistance says
Our mission is to leverage the collective efforts of our group to encourage and activate
Albertans to share their most inspiring future for this province.
Most of the reasons used for recall have been the use of the notwithstanding clause and/or not being accessible/ responsive to constituents.
MLAs are permitted to make a Member Statement in response to the petition application. Two of the 14 made no statement, 7 of the remaining 12 have said something along the lines of
Recall legislation “was designed for cases of serious misconduct,
not disagreement with government policy.”
Some MLAs have made accusations of the Recall Act being weaponized to bring about a change in government.
Medicine Hat MLAs Responses To Possible Recall Petitions
In Medicine Hat, recall petitions are currently being organized to recall both Premier Danielle Smith (Brooks-Medicine Hat) and MLA Justin Wright (Cypress-Medicine Hat). The Owl reached out to both Smith and Wright. We sent the following -
There is a group in Medicine Hat collecting volunteers for a recall petition against you. Owl News would like to give you the opportunity to give us a comment in response to the following questions.
Question – How do you feel knowing that a number of your constituents are organizing to recall you?
A fair number of the people that the Owl has talked to consider themselves to be conservatives. They have told us that they are outraged by the UCP use of the notwithstanding clause. They claim that the UCP has gone too far to the right and is pandering to a minority of Albertans.
Question - What would you say to those people to bring them back to the conservative fold?
Here are their responses
Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA and Premier Danielle Smith
Please refer to the response below on behalf of the United Conservative Caucus:
“The recall process should not be used to overturn democratic elections just because an individual disagrees with government policy. Recalls are meant to address breaches of trust, serious misconduct, or a sustained failure to represent constituents, not political disagreements.
“Our United Conservative Caucus remains focused on what we were elected to do, which is standing up for Albertans by growing our economy, lowering taxes, and creating opportunities.”
Regards,
Mackenzie
Mackenzie Blyth
Manager of Strategic Communications
United Conservative Caucus
NB - The Owl sent the message to Smith’s constituency e-mail address, not the caucus. We did receive an auto-reply from Smith but then it must have been passed on to the caucus.
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright
Thank you for your reach out. Pls find a statement from MLA Wright below in response to your questions.
“The recall process should not be used to overturn democratic elections just because an individual disagrees with government policy. Recalls are meant to address breaches of trust, serious misconduct, or a sustained failure to represent constituents, not political disagreements.
Since I was elected in 2023, I have worked hard to build our communities and secure provincial investment in our region. This includes over $250 million in funding for infrastructure, urgent care, education, and transportation projects across my constituency.
Every day, I am proud to represent the good people of Cypress-Medicine Hat, ensuring their voices are heard and help guide the decisions that shape our government and Alberta’s future.”
Teri-Anne Bowyer
Constituency Manager
For MLA Wright
Cypress Medicine Hat
This Likely Could Have Been Avoided
The Owl has spoken to a number of constituents including those who identify as conservative. Many have said that if the government had not used the Notwithstanding clause, they would not be interested in a recall, it has even angered conservative voters. They feel the government is doubling down instead of listening to their constituents, they feel they are not being heard.
Why the UCP Has Good Reason to Be Worried
The incredible success of signature collection for the recent Forever Canadian petition (the Citizen Initiative petition initiated by former Alberta PC Deputy Premier Thomas Lucaszuk) to gather 50% more signatures than were necessary has shattered the concept that the bar is too high to be successful. That petition needed just under 300,000 signatures, they collected 456,365.
By the numbers
2,987,094 = number of eligible voters in 2023.
456,365 = 15.2% of all eligible voters
1,777,321 = number of votes cast in 2023 election
456,365 = 25.6% of votes cast in the 2023 election
Lucaszuk was able to gain the support of over 10,000 volunteers. The canvassers in Medicine Hat were everywhere, all the time. Lucaszuk told the Owl that the Medicine Hat volunteers collected a disproportionate number of signatures for the population, they surpassed all expectations.
Lucaszuk was also able to gather financial support for collecting signatures, expenses such as fuel, paper and copying costs. At 20 signatures per sheet, that works out to 22,818 sheets of paper.
SO
10,000 volunteers all across the province.
$22,000 in total fees if recall petitions are filed for all 44 UCP MLAs listed on the website
The Owl can report that some of the people who were canvassers for the Forever Canadian petition are interested in canvassing for the recall petitions. Volunteers are organized and motivated.
There have been rumours about recalling NDP MLAs but no petitions have been approved yet. Social media pages are complaining that no recall petitions against the NDP ahve been approved yet. The UCP government denied most of the Elections Alberta request for $13.3 million additional dollars to address recall petitions, giving them only $1 million more.
The UCP currently has 11 more seats than the NDP, it would only take flipping 6 seats to have a change in government.
A local born celebrity has jumped on board in revisiting UCP policies. Corb Lund, country singer-songwriter from Taber Alberta, haș announced that he has filed a Citizen Initiative Petition “prohibiting new of coal mining of any form in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies”. The Nov 26 social media post says
“WHEREAS the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains represent an area of watersheds and landscapes that are essential sources of clean water for Alberta's drinking and food population.
WHEREAS coal mining in the Eastern Slopes may jeopardize those sources of water.
WHEREAS companies continue to pursue approvals and permits for new coal mines and expansions of existing coal mines within the Eastern Slopes, which includes the proposed Grassy Mountain Project of Northback Holdings Inc. and Blackstone Project of Black Eagle/Valory.
WHEREAS the Government of Alberta defines the area of the Eastern Slopes in its Eastern Slopes Policy of 1977 (revised 1984 and 2023).
WHEREAS the legislative proposal shall be:
The Government of Alberta shall prohibit by law any and all new coal mining activities, including new approvals and permits within the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains."
UCP Mulling Changing The Recall Act
The UCP government haas been speaking out about how the recall process is being used. A lot of people think this is disingenuous.
The UCP introduced the legislation; it was passed in 2021. With a majority government they could write it any way they wished.
The UCP changed the recall rules in July 2025 to make it easier.
The UCP was silent when the Recall Act was used to attempt to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark.
It’s sounding more and more like sour grapes - the UCP government seems to be pissed that the Recall Act is being used against UCP MLAs.
Local Recall Information
The Recall Danielle Smith Facebook group has had about 5900 people join in since it was created Oct 30 2025; over 100 of those joined in the last day. Many of the members seem to be UCP supporters posting comments in support of Smith, many comments are quite derogatory. The page has changed the posting policy to require moderator approval.
It is unknown at the time if the petition has been submitted yet to Elections Alberta. There is also a Recall Danielle Smith website which lists the reason why they wish to recall the premier as well as instructions on how to become a canvasser, other volunteer opportunities, etc.
The Recall Justin Wright Facebook group has a modest 76 members so far. They say that they will not be filing the petition right away, it sounds like they might wait until after Christmas.
There is a weekly protest held outside of Justin Wright’s constituency office. It started outside Premier Smith’s constituency office. They have been protesting for one hour every Saturday morning since February. The next protest is Nov 29 from 11am-noon at 1299 TransCanada Way SE Medicine Hat.
Nov 15 - 8 people showed up
Nov 22 - attendance ballooned to 65.
Nov 29 - yet to be determined.
