The application to recall Grande Prairie-Wapiti United Conservative MLA Ron Wiebe has been approved by Alberta’s chief electoral officer.
Gordon McClure said the recall application met the requirements of the Recall Act, and he issued written notice to the applicant,Deborah Harris; MLA Ron Wiebe; Premier Danielle Smith; and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Ric McIver.
The signature campaign begins Dec. 24 and runs until March 23, with 11,921 eligible signatures needed to reach the 60 per cent threshold.
Harris said as a teacher she became concerned when the government used the notwithstanding clause in Bill 2. She said she voiced to Wiebe her worry that the clause’s use would become normal. She said the local MLA told her “using it once isn’t normalizing it.”
“But a week later, Ron Wiebe voted for Bill 9, which uses the notwithstanding clause another three times — it basically forced bills 26, 27 and 29 to go through without them having any kind of challenge through the courts, so my main concern is using the notwithstanding clause to override people’s rights,” Harris said. “I think it’s an abuse of power and our MLAs should be making sure that people are treated with dignity, fairness and basic humanity, and I don’t think that the notwithstanding clause being used for these reasons is valid.”
According to Harris, many residents in the Grande Prairie-Wapiti constituency are concerned about what is going on in the provincial government and how they are being represented.
“A lot of these bills were passed after approving motions to limit debate, and so constituents don’t have an opportunity to provide their MLA with feedback before voting on these bills, so that’s a concern that they’ve had.”
“I’ve heard, especially during the teacher strike, a lot of constituents tried to reach out to MLA Ron Wiebe just through letters or even going to his office, and he wasn’t available for them, so I think there’s a lot of different concerns. We deserve better representation.”
In a written response to Elections Alberta, Wiebe said while he was elected with a strong mandate on a UCP platform, he also knows there was about 25 per cent of voters who did not vote for him.
“That’s democracy, and I respect the opportunity for people to disagree. I also respect the recall process and welcome the opportunity to defend my record as your MLA,” Wiebe’s response read. “My commitment remains clear: to serve Grande Prairie-Wapiti with integrity and diligence for as long as voters entrust me as their representative.”
To sign the recall petition, individuals must have lived in the Grande Prairie-Wapiti electoral riding for at least three months before signing and may only sign once.
Electronic signatures are not accepted. A registered canvasser must witness each signature and sign as a witness, and must later swear an affidavit affirming, to the best of their knowledge, that the signatories were eligible.
As of Dec. 23 there are 26 active recall petitions in the province, with 24 for UCP MLA’s and two for NDP MLA’s. Premier Danielle Smith and Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck are among the UCP MLA’s facing recalls.
RELATED STORY: Recall effort targeting MLA Nolan Dyck cleared to proceed
