Alberta’s recall legislation comes back to haunt UCP

“At the end of the day, ordinary Alberta voters are the boss in our democracy and if they lose faith in their elected representatives, they can hold them to account in between elections.”

— Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, when he announced the Recall Act in 2021.

When it comes to Alberta’s three-year-old recall legislation, and the decision by several Albertans to take them up on the offer this year, it might be difficult to put into the proper words exactly what the UCP government must be feeling right now.

Chagrin perhaps? Exasperation? Irritation?

As of Monday afternoon, The Canadian Press was reporting that nine members of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus are now facing recall petitions. Going into the weekend, three UCP MLAs were approved for signature collection by Elections Alberta under the recall legislation. Another six were approved yesterday by Elections Alberta. Should the recalls on these MLAs move forward, it could potentially be enough to tip the balance of power in the Alberta legislature.

Under recall are several UCP ministers, including cabinet ministers Rajan Sawhney, Myles McDougall, Dale Nally and R.J. Sigurdson. There are also petitions approved for Speaker of the House Ric McIver, and Muhammad Yaseen, associate minister for multiculturalism.

Previously, Elections Alberta approved petitions to recall Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, backbencher Nolan Dyck and deputy Speaker Angela Pitt.

While the petitioners have given various reasons for starting the process — everything from failing to support the public education system to ignoring the concerns of constituents — it’s a long and difficult process for any recall to take effect. The legislation calls for a petition to submit a reason in 100 words or less about why they believe a sitting MLA should be recalled. As CP reported, that person must live in the constituency and pay a $500 processing fee.

The applicant then has 90 days to collect enough names from people in the constituency, equal to 60 per cent of the votes cast in that constituency in the 2023 election. If there are enough signatures, a constituency-wide vote is held within four months to decide whether the MLA should be recalled. And if more than half vote yes, the member is then removed from the job and a byelection is held.

The legislation was one of former premier Jason Kenney’s election pledges in 2019. He argued that voters needed a way to hold politicians accountable if they went against the will of constituents. At the time, he said the legislation would act as a political safeguard, in that it should only apply under “serious breaches of trust or gross misconduct.”

It’s worth remembering that Kenney first broached the idea of bringing forward recall legislation after several UCP MLAs and their staff were caught travelling internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as families and businesses were locked down during the Christmas holidays in 2020, under restrictions that banned indoor and outdoor gatherings.

The lack of consequences for these MLAs and staff prompted a harsh rebuke from angry constituents, as well as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Recall legislation already existed in British Columbia before the Kenney administration enacted its own in 2022. Just this year, the Edmonton Journal reports that Alberta passed amendments that took effect in mid-2025 that clarified filing deadlines, updated verification procedures and changed the total number of signatures required.

Currently there is no recall statute in any other province, nor at the federal level. And considering the UCP’s current experience, it’s rather unlikely that other provincial governments will want to follow in their footsteps.

While Kenney has since publicly stated that the recall mechanism was never intended as a “revolving-door device to punish MLAs for taking tough votes,” it seems that ordinary Albertans are using the legislation for that very purpose, making their frustrations with the leadership of Danielle Smith and her ministers rather apparent.

The situation has become so politically untenable for Smith that earlier this month she openly mused about changing the Recall Act, stating that the legislation was never meant to be used to “topple” sitting governments.

A few weeks ago, R.J. Sigurdson suggested that at least some of the anger directed at UCP MLAs through the Recall Act has a direct link to the government’s use of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ notwithstanding clause. There may be merit to that assertion, too — Alberta’s repeated use of the notwithstanding clause to shield controversial laws from court challenges has rallied considerable opposition in Alberta.

Over the weekend, for example, CTV reported that trans allies and supporters rallied at the Alberta legislature in opposition of the Smith government’s use of the clause in tabling Bill 9.

Bill 9 introduced a ban on hormone therapy for youth under 16 and gender-affirming surgery for those under 18 years of age, bars transgender athletes over 12 from competing in female sports, would make sexual education classes opt-in only, and require parental consent for pronoun changes in schools.

While it’s doubtful that all nine petitions will go far enough to cause the Smith government to lose its majority status, the use of the Recall Act to publicly embarrass the UCP may at least be some consolation for unhappy voters who believe the government is not acting in their best interests.

At least until the next election.