Recall bids against Alberta premier, two caucus members fail to get enough signatures

EDMONTON — A petition looking to oust Alberta Premier Danielle Smith from her seat in the legislature has failed.

Smith is the second premier in Alberta’s history to face a recall petition, with the other happening nearly 90 years ago.

Heather VanSnick says her campaign against Smith gathered close to 2,300 signatures — but it needed at least 12,000 to move the process forward.

VanSnick says she still thinks the petition was useful and that 2,300 people calling for better representation in Smith’s riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat sends a powerful message.

About 13,000 votes were cast for Smith in the 2023 general election, and she handily defeated all opponents.

“This process has made clear that there are many people that don’t feel represented, not just by her as our MLA but by her as our premier,” VanSnick said in an interview Tuesday.

She said she hopes the turnout is enough to prompt change.

“People are telling me that they are tired of leadership that turns to blame, and we need accountability,” VanSnick said.

“We’re tired of seeing division deepen when what we need is a coming together of humanity.”

Smith, in a statement, thanked constituents for their support throughout the petition process.

“My focus and commitment remain unchanged — I will continue working to deliver results for you and listen to your feedback as our government works to grow the economy, improve access to health care, and ensure quality education for our families,” the premier said.

It wasn’t the first time Smith was subject to a recall effort, though it was the first under the legislated process introduced by former premier Jason Kenney in 2021.

In 2014, when Smith — then leader of the Wildrose Party — crossed the floor to join the governing Progressive Conservatives, some frustrated residents in her riding south of Calgary started an informal petition to pressure her to resign her seat and stand in a byelection.

Those behind the campaign told CBC at the time that the goal was to get 6,000 signatures, or about 20 per cent of electors in the riding.

It was a threshold established in a private member’s bill proposed by Smith’s Wildrose Party about a month before she and eight members of her caucus crossed the floor.

Nothing came of it.

On Tuesday, two other petitions against members of Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus also failed to get the number of required signatures.

Drake Worth, who was petitioning against Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish, said his petition failed to meet the threshold. He wasn’t exactly sure how many signatures were collected.

The petition targeting Smith’s former environment minister, Rebecca Schulz, also came up short. Petitioner Ethan Disler said the effort was largely abandoned after Schulz announced in December that she was resigning her cabinet post and planned to leave her seat in the legislature this spring.

Disler said the campaign collected a couple hundred signatures and that he was still planning to submit the petition to Elections Alberta.

Glubish said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday that he was waiting for Elections Alberta to publish the official results of the petition against him before commenting.

Schulz said in a statement that she took great pride in serving and being responsive to constituents and that she would continue her work until she leaves in May.

The end of the petitions against Smith, Glubish and Schulz means 20 of the 24 recall petitions launched late last year against the UCP caucus have now failed.

Many of those who started the petitions said they were motivated by the government’s use of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to force striking teachers back to work last fall. Others have said their representatives were hard to reach or dismissive of local concerns.

VanSnick had said she launched her petition because Smith was ignoring residents and experts when developing policies, a claim the premier has denied and pushed back against.

Many petitioners have said they don’t think their failed campaigns signal that Albertans overwhelmingly approve of the actions taken by Smith and her government. Some petitioners have said many people they spoke with are disengaged from politics but didn’t need much convincing to get on board.

VanSnick said the engagement through the petition process was the biggest achievement.

“The lasting impact here is visibility, not just here in Medicine Hat, but all across the board,” she said. “We created a movement of people who want dignity and representation and safety for everyone and that matters far beyond one political outcome.

“We have an election coming up. This isn’t over.”

The next election is set for October 2027.

Two recall petitions were also launched against legislature members with the Opposition NDP. The petition against education critic Amanda Chapman concluded last week, but as of Tuesday morning Elections Alberta hadn’t announced its results.

Petitioners are given three months to collect signatures equal to 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in their constituency in the 2023 election.

If successful, a constituency-wide vote would be held on whether the politician keeps their seat. If the member loses, a byelection would be held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press