Bell: Angry Alberta separatists now on the warpath against Danielle Smith

Whether this is a skirmish or a full-scale bench-clearing brawl, whether this is much ado about nothing or a gathering political storm, is now a question seeking an answer.

The board representing UCP members in Highwood, a riding including Okotoks, calls for a vote on Premier Danielle Smith’s leadership of the party.

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If 21 more UCP boards join the political conga line against the premier there would be a review of Smith’s leadership.

Two years ago, Smith smacked the people I called the smart set and the loudmouths and received a stunning 91.5 per cent thumbs-up from UCP members at their big meeting in Red Deer.

“I would suggest 91.5 per cent is forever gone,” says Mitch Sylvestre.

Sylvestre heads up the Alberta Prosperity Project. He and a few others led the charge to gather enough signatures to put Alberta independence to a vote of Albertans.

He and others in the Alberta independence movement want Smith to remain neutral leading up to the Oct. 19 vote on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or go down the road to a vote on whether or not to leave Canada.

“What I think Danielle Smith has done consciously or unconsciously is she has clearly split the party.

“The consequences are dire. There are a lot of people in the UCP who are going to have to make a decision on who they want to lead this party.

“She has sided with the very people who did everything to us during COVID and since and now she’s clearly taken the other side.”