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MEDICINE HAT, Alberta, June 3, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — In an unprecedented move, the board of a Constituency Association (CA) in the governing United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) voted 90 percent in favor of demanding that the province’s Premier reinstate MLA Drew Barnes, who was booted from the party allegedly due to being critical of COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“I know that [the letter to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney] was approved by 90 percent of the board members that voted. Only one voted against the letter being sent,” said a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity to LifeSiteNews. The source has direct ties with the UCP Cypress-Medicine Hat Constituency Association (CMHCA).

Barnes is currently an Independent MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat. He along with MLA Todd Loewen (for Alberta’s Central-Peace-Notley riding) was booted from Kenney’s governing UCP in May.

The CMHCA letter was sent to Kenney and his caucus this Wednesday, and demanded that Barnes be reinstated at once.

“MLA Barnes was democratically elected to be the UCP representative for Cypress-Medicine Hat by its constituents, and democratically supported in his actions by the Directors of the CMHCA,” reads the CMHCA letter to Kenney, which was also provided to LifeSiteNews. “We therefore request the immediate reinstating of MLA Drew Barnes, with all his rights and privileges. We make this request not for our own interest, but for the interests of Albertans, and so that trust in both the UCP brand and its governance may be restored.”

In the letter, the CMHCA board said it was “disillusioned in the office of” UCP Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and the UCP Caucus “by your expulsion of MLA Drew Barnes from that caucus.”

“Our trust and faith in the UCP government to govern reasonably and responsibly is shaken to its core,” reads the letter. “MLA Barnes was elected with a two-thirds majority of the local votes, and was acting within the full knowledge and support of the CMHCA. It is our conviction that the expulsion of MLA Barnes was not only contrary to the Grass-Roots vision and foundation of the UCP, but an affront to the democratic values of Alberta.”

The CMHCA letter also demands that the request to reinstate Barnes was not for the board’s own interests, but rather “for the interests of Albertans, and so that trust in both the UCP brand and its governance may be restored.”

“That is why we challenge your expulsion of our MLA Drew Barnes from caucus,” reads the letter.

Barnes’ and Loewen’s expulsion from the UCP came about after Loewen posted a letter on May 13 on his Facebook page, which asked for Kenney to resign due to failed “leadership.”

After news spread of Loewen’s letter, Kenney called an “emergency caucus meeting.” After a two-hour vote, Loewen and Barnes were removed from the UCP caucus, although Barnes never called for Kenney to resign.

Source: Most board members will leave UCP if Kenney does not do a complete “turn around”

According to the CMHCA source who spoke with LifeSiteNews, most of the board members “intend on leaving the party” if Kenney does not “do a complete turnaround with apology to members,” and “immediately” reinstates Barnes. “About 40 percent of the directors for the CMHCA have already left the party.”

The source also said that its meetings have been “consistently postponed due to either incompetence or intentional finagling higher up in the party.”

“There is a belief among some of the directors that Kenney is planning on planting his stooges into the ‘troubled’ constituency and stacking the [Annual General Meeting]. It is believed by at least one [who is not the source] that Kenney is going to hand place a ‘candidate’ in the next election.”

Back in March, Barnes told LifeSiteNews that it was a “mistake” for governments to not list religious practice as “essential” when locking the population down with COVID health orders.

“In the communication, it has been forgotten how important our spiritual health is, our mental health is, our physical health, and our economic health. And I’m absolutely a believer in freedoms of all kinds, our freedom of expression, and our freedom of speech, and our freedom of religion. Absolutely,” Barnes said.

Kenney’s COVID-19 restrictions have been met with opposition from many caucus members within his party.

Recently, in an unprecedented political move, 17 UCP MLAs blasted their party leader and premier for taking the province back into a severe COVID-19 lockdown.

Under Kenney, three Christian pastors have been jailed — the only ones in Canada — because they defied COVID-19 health rules regarding church services that limit congregation size. Alberta currently allows only 15 percent capacity of the building, and mandates physical distancing and mask wearing.

Contact information

Premier of Alberta Jason Kenney

Office of the Premier

307 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2B6

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 780-427-2251

To contact your local MLA, visit the link below:

https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly