Former UCP member announces new Progressive Tory Party of Alberta

EDMONTON — A former member of Premier Danielle Smith’s government caucus says Elections Alberta has approved the name for a new political party, after the province banned a list of monikers it could use, including “conservative.”

Airdrie-Cochrane legislature member Peter Guthrie announced in a social media post on Thursday evening that the new party will be known as the Progressive Tory Party of Alberta.

“That’s right. There will be another conservative option on the ballot in the next election — one that’s socially reliable, fiscally responsible and answers to all of you,” Guthrie said in a video with the post.

Earlier this month, the governing United Conservative Party passed legislation that restricts names of new parties, after Guthrie and fellow Independent MLA Scott Sinclair announced they wanted to establish a new iteration of the Progressive Conservative Party.

The legislation lists distinctive words and phrases new parties are prohibited from using, including communist, conservative, democratic, green, independent, liberal, reform, republican and wildrose.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery said it was a non-partisan change made to avoid confusing voters, and he alleged that some are purposely trying to deceive Albertans.

Guthrie said in an interview Friday that the UCP missed some synonyms in passing the new law.

“They had just about every abbreviation and acronym covered, but they missed nicknames and synonyms, and ‘tory’ was just a natural fit for us,” Guthrie explained.

He said he doesn’t think voters will confuse the Progressive Tory Party with anyone else, noting there are no other parties with “tory” in their name.

Pollster Janet Brown said she thought it was clever to substitute “conservative” with “tory,” But she said leaders are more important than what parties are called and questioned the attempt to resurrect the PC brand.

“It’s an old brand,” said Brown, adding “tory” is outdated, too.

“You have to be a bit of a political nerd to even know what the word ‘tory’ means. It’s a word we used a lot 20 years ago, but we don’t use it anymore.”

Guthrie admitted “tory” is an older nickname but said it’s familiar to former Progressive Conservative supporters. He said in field testing, younger Albertans thought it sounded young and fresh.

The UCP has said the PC Alberta name, logo and history legally belong to them and they have a responsibility to protect it.

In an email, UCP communications director Dave Prisco said the party is pleased the “dishonest attempt to steal our legacy party’s name, brand and reputation” has been withdrawn.

“No matter what it’s named, this is another left-wing party that’s out of touch with Albertans,” Prisco said.

“Albertans should not be misled, there is only one conservative option in Alberta politics, the United Conservative Party.”

The United Conservative Association, which operates the UCP, is suing both Guthrie and Sinclair, as well as Lindsay Amantea, president of the Alberta Party, accusing them of conspiring to damage its party’s image and mislead the public.

The statement of claim says Guthrie and Scott didn’t get the necessary signatures to apply for a new political party, so they allegedly teamed up with Amantea to use the PC Alberta brand “with a view to usurp the goodwill and reputation associated” with the UCP.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Brown said the UCP is worried about a repeat of the 2015 provincial election, when the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party divided right-wing votes, allowing the NDP to come up the middle to win a majority.

She wondered why the new party didn’t just call itself the Alberta Party, which previously fielded candidates as a centrist alternative to the UCP and the NDP.

But Guthrie said the Alberta Party might be confused with support for separation.

“We’re a pro-Canada party, one that supports defending — vigorously defending — Alberta’s rights but also understands that we’re stronger within Canada.”

Guthrie resigned as infrastructure minister in February in protest of Smith’s handling of health-care contracts and procurement. He was later removed from caucus.

Sinclair was expelled from caucus in March after refusing to support the UCP budget.

Guthrie, who has the role of leader of the Progressive Tory Party, said more information on the party, including its logo, will be coming in the new year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2025.

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press