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EDMONTON Members of Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party caucus have voted to turf two of their own for challenging the leader.
Backbencher Todd Loewen was ejected Thursday night after publicly announcing earlier in the day the party is adrift and out of touch under Kenney and that the premier must quit before things spiral further.
Backbencher Drew Barnes had been the most vocal critic of the government s COVID-19 health restrictions, saying they are of questionable effect and an intolerable infringement on personal freedoms. He was also voted out. Members recognize the need for government caucus to remain strong and united behind our leader, Premier Jason Kenney, as we continue to fight through what looks to be the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, UCP whip Mike Ellis said in a statement.
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Both said they will sit in the house as Independents and continue to fight for their constituents and oppose a leader they say has lost his way and is no longer listening.
“I was delivering a message on behalf of a lot of our supporters, a lot of Albertans, a lot of UCP members and a lot of conservatives across the province,” said Loewen in an interview.
“And instead of taking ownership of the problems, the premier shot the messenger.”
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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says the decision to kick two members out of his caucus amid its public fracturing was made by the group in the name of mutual trust.
In his first interview since MLAs Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen were given the boot after an hours-long caucus meeting Thursday, Kenney said he left it up to the caucus to police the situation.
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“At the end of the day, a caucus has to be able to operate with a degree of solidarity, of mutual trust, because we need to believe that we’re all on the same team and what our caucus decided yesterday, unfortunately, is that a couple of our members really weren’t acting consistent with that,” Kenney told 630 CHED Friday morning.
EDMONTON The United Conservative Party (UCP) in Alberta has two fewer members in its ranks. The party caucus met Thursday evening to discuss a letter in which former UCP caucus chair Todd Loewen announced his resignation as chair, and stated Premier Jason Kenney was causing “dysfunction” within the party. The party voted to remove both Loewen and southern MLA Drew Barnes from the government caucus. “Members recognize the need for government caucus to remain strong and united behind our leader, Premier Jason Kenney, as we continue to fight through what looks to be the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond,” party whip Mike Ellis said in a statement.