(Calgary) Members of the United Conservative Party (UCP) have chosen Danielle Smith to succeed Jason Kenney as head of government in Alberta.
Updated at 12:14 a.m.
The fight will have finally been tighter than expected while Mme Smith needed six laps to cross the 50% downforce threshold.
From the third round, Danielle Smith began to outrun her opponents with 42% of the vote, but the former leader of the Wildrose Party had to wait three more rounds.
It was former finance minister in the Kenney government, Travis Toews, who was Ms.me Smith with just over 30% of the vote.
Nearly 85,000 members participated in the election of the new head of the PCU. Voting members had to rank the candidates according to their order of preference.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, quickly reacted in a press release to congratulate his new Alberta counterpart.
“I congratulate Danielle Smith on her election as Leader of the United Conservative Party of Alberta and Premier of Alberta,” he said. I look forward to working with the new Premier Smith and the Government of Alberta to build a better future for Albertans and all Canadians. »
Mr. Trudeau also thanked Jason Kenney for his work in service to Alberta and Canada.
The latter also congratulated his successor in a statement posted on Twitter. “Congratulations to Danielle Smith for winning a majority of votes in the PCU leadership election and to all those who participated in the process for their dedication to democracy. »
He promised an orderly transition of power.
Jason Kenney had announced his resignation after obtaining 51% support in a vote of confidence by party members in the spring. He had declared that he would resign as soon as a successor had been found for him.
PHOTO JASON FRANSON, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Outgoing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney
“I feel very good, I’m just doing my job: I’m trying to fulfill the commitments we made to Albertans as long as I have the responsibility,” said Mr. Kenney Thursday morning during a point release in Calgary.
The resigning prime minister took the opportunity to announce that 50 intensive care beds he had promised have now been delivered and that the government is continuing its efforts to recruit more nurses.
Mr. Kenney said he is often asked why he chose to remain in office after his party’s vote of confidence, rather than immediately giving way to an interim leader.
“Believe me, I didn’t come into politics for the prestige: I showed up to get things done,” he said.
“And if we had gone through an interim government for five months, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish a lot. There would have been a certain political paralysis, just as we were in the midst of a recovery from COVID-19. »
Voting to elect his or her successor is open to the party’s 124,000 eligible members, many of whom have already voted by mail. Activists could also vote in person on Thursday at one of five polling stations in Alberta.
Seven candidates competed, including four former ministers of Jason Kenney.
The race for the leadership of the United Conservative Party of Alberta was dominated by the issue of wanting to assert greater independence for the province from the federal government.
Political observers and pollsters say, however, that whoever wins this race will have to start talking about the issues that matter most to Albertans.
Pollster Janet Brown and political scientist Lori Williams said Albertans are more concerned about inflation, health care waiting lists and crowded hospital emergency rooms.