EDMONTON – Two former members of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party are resuscitating the province’s once-dominant Progressive Conservative Party.
Former infrastructure minister Peter Guthrie and legislature member Scott Sinclair were booted from caucus earlier this year for pushing back against the Premier Danielle Smith’s government and now sit as Independents.
Sinclair says the province’s two-party system has become too divisive, and they want to galvanize support from Albertans who feel they don’t have a political home.
Former NDP premier Rachel Notley ended the PC’s 44-year dynasty in 2015, prompting conservatives to merge the Wildrose and PCs into the United Conservative Party.
Sinclair told the Ryan Jespersen podcast that Smith has morphed what was supposed to be a mainstream, big tent party into a separatist party.
Guthrie said on the podcast that Smith has turned her back on accountability while spending too much money on a growing, bloated bureaucracy.
The two are aiming to gather the 8,800 signatures needed to register as a political party with Elections Alberta.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025.
