Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has declared that her United Conservative Party stands on one side of the debate and referendum on independence that is roiling the province — the federalist side.
But several of her party’s provincial board members sent a different signal last fall, on the steps of the Alberta legislature.
They’d gathered among thousands of Albertans at a large separatist rally, and posed for a photo together, clutching Alberta flags.
Over the past months, several senior UCP officials and organizers have supported or actively campaigned for Alberta leaving Canada, despite the premier’s insistence that the party backs a united Canada ahead of the Oct. 19 vote on staying in Alberta or starting the process toward another binding referendum to leave Canada.
That rally photo, posted publicly on social media, shows six elected directors on the UCP board, four of whom still serve: vice-president of communications Samantha Steinke, northern director Vicki Kozmak-LeFrense, central director Albert Biel and Calgary director Bradley LaForge.
When independence advocate Sheane Meikle shared the image on Facebook, claiming that half of the party’s board members were at the rally, UCP president Rob Smith commented to correct him.
Smith said that, in fact, seven of 18 board members attended the rally, including current northern director Mark Hunt, but he had to leave on a bus before that photo.
“And I’m really glad they were there!!” Smith commented. “It was a great event. I’d have been there too, had I not had a wedding booked for months.”
The party president, who is unrelated to Premier Smith, refused to disclose his own position on the referendum question in a CBC Radio interview last month, and insisted the party would remain neutral as well.
“The party will not be taking an official position on the referendum … knowing that we have a substantial number of members within our party on both sides of this issue,” Rob Smith said. That includes, he added, “a large number of the leaders across Alberta that have actually pushed to make this happen.”
As party leader, Danielle Smith, pulled rank in another radio interview two days later. “I speak for the party, and what our party has said is that we support autonomy and sovereignty for Alberta within a united Canada,” the premier said.
Following that insistence, the party issued a new statement of its own, stating that it stands with the premier, government and UCP caucus against separation. “That is the position our party has taken from the very beginning.”
Rob Smith did not reply to a request for comment, nor did the board members photographed at the rally.
While nobody is authorized to speak for the party aside from the president, leader or spokesperson, at least two board members have given online interviews that appear to endorse separatism.
“My own personal belief is that I do believe that Alberta is strong enough to stand on its own,” Steinke told the Holmes Squared show in December.
“Personally I think this separation or independence is going to happen one way or another, and there’s several reasons I feel that way,” Kozmak-LeFrense told a video interview series for UCP board candidates before she was re-elected at last November’s convention.
Beyond those directors and the president who shared wishes that he could attend the rally, there are activists for the separatist cause in other high-ranking positions within the UCP.
Party organizers, separation campaigners
Mitch Sylvestre, leader of both the separatist group Alberta Prosperity Project and Stay Free Alberta, which led the petition drive to force a provincial referendum, is also a UCP riding association president in northeast Alberta.
He’s been organizing with other constituency presidents to potentially force the party to hold a leadership review to protest that Danielle Smith’s referendum is not a direct question, but a vote to hold a future vote.
Premier Danielle Smith campaigned against separation to a sold-out crowd at the UCP Leader’s Dinner in Calgary Friday night. Polls suggest more than half of UCP supporters would vote to separate, but as CBC’s Jo Horwood reports, the party’s leader argues there’s a better way to send a message to Ottawa.
Jaeger Gustafson was a communications volunteer and media contact for Stay Free Alberta throughout its petition drive, and is also currently on the party’s standing committee for communications, which deals with member-to-member communications.
Gustafson said he likes that UCP members can debate or disagree on big issues.
“One thing I appreciate about the UCP is they have a lot of values around freedom of expression,” he told CBC News. (He also insists that he is personally “not a separatist,” despite his volunteer support for a separatist group and social media activity.
Sheane Meikle, who posted the photo of board members at last fall’s independence rally, is a regular speaker at pro-separation town halls throughout Alberta. He also sits on the party’s influential policy and governance committee. That group meets monthly and helps select policy resolutions that members vote on at annual party conventions — and many of those measures have been enacted by the UCP government.
Meikle declined to speak about his role within the party. While he disagrees with the premier’s opposition to secession, he’s not on side with a proposal to force a leadership review.
“I’m not 100 per cent happy with what she says, but I’m not ready to throw her out with the dishwater,” he said.
Steinke chairs the communication committee. Kozmak-LeFrense co-chairs the policy committee, and is also chair of the provincial candidate selection committee.
Benita Pedersen, who sits on the party’s fundraising committee, is a regular MC at pro-separation events. She did not answer CBC News’ requests for comment.
Emmott Kelsey was also listed on that committee as of June 9. He was an organizer and speaker with the Centurion Project, the pro-independence group that is under investigation by the RCMP and Elections Alberta for allegedly publishing online a copy of the province’s voters list with addresses and names of 2.9 million Albertans.
Following queries about this party role to Kelsey and the party president, the UCP updated its committee list this week, removing Kelsey from the fundraising group. He did not reply to requests for comment, and the party did not answer questions about his removal.
The premier and party have stated that support for a united Canada has always been a party position, while some party activists dispute that claim.
When the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose Party leaders proposed a formal merger to become the UCP in 2017, “loyalty to a united Canada” was listed as one of the proposed party’s founding principles in the leaders’ agreement in principle.
But the party never adopted that language at the UCP’s first convention in 2018 when it crafted the party’s official statement of principles, and it is still not mentioned in party documents as a fundamental belief of the United Conservatives.
Gord Tulk is a party activist who does not support Alberta separation. He’s president of the party’s Red Deer-South riding association, and a member of the province-wide policy committee.
He said he’s aware of several riding presidents and other higher-ups who back independence. “Is that problematic? That’s a good question,” Tulk told CBC News. “It obviously doesn’t create a lot of unity within the party.”
But because the party doesn’t officially back independence, Tulk doesn’t think it should allow any party candidates who advocate separation, either.
“Because that’s not in our political objectives, right?” Tulk said. “I mean, if we had a person who believed that we should nationalize all industries in Alberta, would we allow them in the party? No.
“It’s not in our [policy] book — now, it’s not the Bible, but it’s our political bible.”
Treaty 8 First Nations chiefs are calling on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to drop this fall’s referendum question on separation, arguing the province has failed to consult Indigenous groups. Leaders warn they will pursue all avenues to oppose the plan if it moves forward.
No current UCP MLA has come out in favour of separation, although one endorsed signing the petition to hold a stay-or-leave vote. One independence advocate, endorsed by Sylvestre, was reportedly rejected as a UCP nomination candidate in a Calgary byelection because his application was deemed incomplete.
Tulk, who favours Canadian Constitution reforms as an alternative to separation, said he anticipates that separatist UCP members will want their party to formally adopt their stance at the party’s next convention in November, after the referendum.
“Clearly there will be a move afoot — regardless of the outcome in October — by a very significant portion of the party membership to turn the party into an independence party, or one that has that as a mandate,” Tulk said.
At the party’s 2025 convention, a large portion of attendees stood and cheered when separatist activist Jeffrey Rath asked the crowd how many supported independence.
When the premier followed that up by saying she favours Alberta in a united Canada, a chorus of boos rang out in the Edmonton convention hall.
