UCP Caucus Chair Todd Loewen Asks Premier Jason Kenney to Resign

Late last night MLA Todd Loewen and United Conservative Party caucus chair released a letter to Premier Jason Kenney declaring that not only did he feel he could no longer carry on as caucus chair as he had lost confidence in the leadership of Kenney.

Loewen cited that the UCP had begun not even meeting and that “significant decisions of government have been made without notice to members and our input as elected members is rarely considered,” going on to say that Leowen believes resigning his position was the only way he could speak freely.

Loewen is directly mirroring much of the frustration of the majority of Albertans who had become disillusioned over the years by Kenney’s high handed leadership style of simply doing what he wanted without any sense that he consulted his caucus or the public, which has intensified during COVID-19. 

Former UCP caucus chair Loewen went on to state.

The caucus dysfunction we are presently experiencing is a direct result of your [Jason Kenney] leadership. Messaging from your government has been contradictory, confusing, and needlessly inflammatory. Alberta now faces a troubling economic crisis with historically high unemployment, dying small businesses, and staggering levels of debt. The people of Alberta have lost trust in this government because you have not brought needed balance and reason to the discussion. Alberta and our UCP members deserve better.

Loewen continues going over Kenney’s record of acting arrogantly in the past months, abandoning real Conservative principles, and that Kenney’s leadership could see the once strong United Conservative Party fall apart because of the public souring simply on him alone.

It isn’t a shock that eventually Kenney’s own caucus would begin to rebel against him and many Albertans knew it was merely a matter of waiting and putting pressure on their local MLAs before someone like Loewen would drop the hammer.

If someone like Loewen, who has not given previous indications that he has lost confidence in Kenney’s leadership, is now coming out publicly against him that means there are likely far more MLAs that are also fed up and that Loewen as the former caucus chair is simply the first shot across Kenney’s bow to give him a chance to resign before a full caucus rebellion takes place. 

Especially with the ongoing jailing of pastors and small business owners in Alberta with little to absolutely no receipts proving there would be public health benefits to banning their religious services or stopping their business from operating, Kenney was not going to survive a leadership review the next time the UCP had a convention. 

Loewen finished off his open letter to Kenney stating:

While you promote unity, it is clear that unity is falling apart. I know many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership. I thank you for your service, but I am asking that you resign so we can begin to put the province back together again.

Loewen’s full letter is posted below.

Alberta would be a lot better off without Kenney at this point and he likely will not remain in the premier’s office for more than a week now, which may also say something about other Kenney allies around the country like federal Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, and Ontario PC Premier Doug Ford.