“Jason Kenney is a very, very strong leader. He’s achieved a number of things he set out to achieve in a very short period of time, on behalf of Albertans,” Premier Scott Moe said following Question Period Thursday.
“This is a loss of a good leader, and an individual that has been a very, very capable and competent politician for decades now, and I wouldn’t think that we’ve seen the last of Jason Kenney by any stretch.”
Kenney received 51.4 per cent approval from UCP members. Exactly 34,298 members voted in the review.
"While 51 per cent of the vote passes the constitutional threshold of a majority, it clearly is not adequate support to continue on as leader," Kenney said Wednesday.
"I'm sorry, but friends, I truly believe that we need to move forward united. We need to put the past behind us, and a large number of our members have asked for an opportunity to clear the air through a leadership election."
Moe and Kenney were two of five Canadian Conservative politicians featured on the cover of a 2018 issue of MacLean’s magazine titled “The Resistance” that focused on their fight against the Liberal government’s carbon tax plan.
The group also included Ontario Premier Doug Ford, former Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and former Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer.
Moe said he does not expect significant changes to carbon tax policy in Alberta when the UCP elects a new leader.
“If there’s a change of leadership within the UCP party in Alberta, I don’t think that changes the policy with respect to carbon taxation, regulations around getting their product to market and most certainly I don’t think the policy changes at all,” Moe said.
Moe thanked his friend in a tweet on Wednesday, shortly after Kenney made his announcement.
Thank you to my friend Premier @jkenney for everything you have done to unite Alberta conservative voters into a new party, defeat a destructive NDP government and lead Alberta through a very challenging time.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a key aide in Donald Trump's White House, told the House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Tuesday that Trump was informed that people rallying on the mall that morning had weapons but he told officials to 'let my people in' and march to the Capitol.
After five years in the role, John Horgan announced on Tuesday afternoon he plans to step down as premier of British Columbia and has asked his governing party, the NDP, to hold a leadership convention later this year.
The top aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who is testifying before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot was a young, fast-rising star in the Trump administration.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
A scathing letter from an RCMP communications manager released today says RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki referred to direct pressure from the federal public safety minister to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
The federal Liberal government has agreed to provide sensitive cabinet documents to the inquiry examining its use of the Emergencies Act during the "Freedom Convoy" protest.
A jury at a coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women murdered by their former partner is recommending that Ontario formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic and establish an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it.
Pembina Valley RCMP charged a 29-year-old woman earlier this month after her 13-year-old daughter and six of her friends were involved in an off-road vehicle (ORV) crash.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down a law passed by the former Stephen Harper Conservatives that allows a judge to increase parole ineligibility periods for offenders who commit multiple murders. Now there’s fear it could mean sentence “discounts” for other mass murderers.
Edmonton is moving forward with a plan to improve snow and ice clearing on roads and sidewalks, but it could cost homeowners an extra three per cent in taxes over three years.
A Nexus card is supposed to help put low-risk Canadians on the fast track when crossing the U.S. border, but at least 330,000 Canadians aren’t sure when their applications will be processed.
Ontario drivers should get a break at the pumps this weekend as the provincial government slashes its portion of the gas tax but at least one industry analyst is warning that the relief will likely be temporary.
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after Ottawa police officers shot and killed a man and injured a woman while responding to the stabbing deaths of two women.
Former OC Transpo general manager John Manconi faced intense questioning as he testified at a public hearing in the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission.
A jury at a coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women murdered by their former partner is recommending that Ontario formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic and establish an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it.
The premier of British Columbia has announced he won't seek a third term, but will remain on the job until the provincial NDP can hold a leadership convention.
A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the case of a woman who was stabbed to death last month, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
A coroner's report released Tuesday is calling on Quebec to teach new drivers to open their car doors with their right hand in order to prevent dooring incidents with cyclists.
"Officers initially detained the driver for impaired driving by alcohol, however their focus quickly diverted after noting that he was literally holding in his hands two bricks of suspected cocaine," said Nanaimo RCMP in a release Tuesday.
The premier of British Columbia has announced he won't seek a third term, but will remain on the job until the provincial NDP can hold a leadership convention.
A scathing letter from an RCMP communications manager released today says RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki referred to direct pressure from the federal public safety minister to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
A 65-year-old suspect in Timmins has been arrested for disturbing the peace for repeatedly using an "air cannon," or a device that makes extremely loud, air raid-like noises.
The mastermind of an elaborate Ponzi scheme that cheated hundreds of people of tens of millions of dollars was sentenced Tuesday in a Barrie, Ont. courtroom.
Every morning, when Karli Chomick would drop her children Savanna and Ryder off at St. Timothy Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener, she would do the same thing: give them a hug and a kiss, then tell them to be kind.
Being in recovery from a spinal fracture suffered in a car accident one month earlier didn’t stop Katelynn Saengdala, a then 32-year-old manufacturing worker of Kitchener, from saving two people struggling to stay afloat in Lake Erie.
