EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA – The leader of Prime Minister Danielle Smith's rival United Conservatives party says they are scrambling to organize in case Smith tries to undermine them by calling a spring election.
“Time is not on the UCP’s side,” Peter Guthrie, head of Alberta’s new Progressive Conservative Party, said in an interview.
“If you look at our organization, we are going to have a bigger and bigger impact every month.
“There is a possibility that there will be a spring election and so we need to take that seriously and prepare for that.”
Alberta's next general election is scheduled for October 2027, but Smith is dealing with rumors she may get voters to the polls much sooner.
Smith, when asked Friday to respond to Guthrie's comments, rejected the idea of a special election.
“Our intention is to continue to work over the next two years on the mandate under which we were elected to govern the country,” she said. “We set election dates for a reason, and we have four-year mandates for a reason.”
When asked about the acceleration of the timeline in general, Smith said the polls she's seen indicate her UCP will do very well.
Guthrie said his Tories have a leadership council and are working to create voter associations, endorse candidates, raise funds and develop a policy platform.
He said there was no time to waste in creating a centrist-Conservative alternative for voters looking for a home somewhere between Smith's UCP and the opposition NDP.
Guthrie is one of two former UCP legislators who were disqualified from running as independent candidates last year. Guthrie quit his cabinet post over concerns about the government's handling of procurement and alleged corruption in health contracts.
Former UCP member Scott Sinclair was also expelled from the caucus after he threatened to vote against the government budget.
Just before Christmas, Guthrie announced that the Alberta Election had approved the new name of the Tory party. It comes after Guthrie, Sinclair and the Alberta Party tried last year to revive the Progressive Conservative party's once-dominant brand in Alberta. The UCP objected, saying that the name, logo and history of the Albert PC legally belonged to it as the UCP's legacy party.
The United Conservative Association, which governs the UCP, filed a lawsuit against Guthrie and Sinclair, as well as Lindsay Amantea, the party's Alberta president, accusing them of conspiring to damage the party's image and mislead the public.
None of the allegations have been tested in court. Both Guthrie and the UCP say they are working to resolve the dispute.
Government legislation passed in December prohibits new political parties from using distinctive words and phrases in their names, including the words “communist”, “conservative”, “democratic”, “green”, “independent”, “liberal”, “reform”, “republican” and “wildrose”.
Justice Minister Mickey Emery said it was a non-partisan change made to avoid voter confusion and said some were trying to defraud Albertans.
But Guthrie said the real goal was to create obstacles. “They are putting a huge number of obstacles in our way, trying to stop us and slow us down.
“You have no choice but to eventually adapt, and we did,” Guthrie said.
He said that's not the only obstacle. Recent legislative changes meant that registered Alberta political parties had until January 1 to register.
Guthrie said the Alberta election, however, provided a six-month extension to allow his party to prepare the paperwork.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2026.
