The United Conservative Party will elect a new Leader for the UCP on October 6 through mail-in ballots or with an option to vote in person at one of the five polling stations across the province. 

A polling location will be set up in each of the five provincial regions (North, South, Central, Edmonton, and Calgary). Exact locations and times are still to be announced. 

The election will see seven candidates strive to lead the party in the coming year: 

  • Leela Aheer 

  • Todd Loewen 

  • Rebecca Schulz 

  • Rajan Sawhney 

  • Brian Jean 

  • Danielle Smith 

  • Travis Toews 

What do all of the leaders stand for? How do they differ from one another?  

Leela Aheer’s official website states she stands for integrity, community, and efficiency. Her main message is to make sure things get done during her time with focus on reforming services for people with developmental disabilities and diabetes, combating inflation, and keeping taxes as low as they can go without leaving behind neighbours and families.  

Todd Loewen wants to prioritize the combat of inflation. Another key part of his campaign policy is democratizing the Public Health Act and its emergency orders. 

Rebecca Schulz, on her website, says “I’m running for UCP Leader to get our party back on track. We need to get back to our conservative roots, respect members, and start delivering.” If elected, Schulz plans to direct the surplus to long-term savings, get rid of the debt and take action on urgent needs like affordability. She also plans on eliminating the debt the province is currently facing.  

Rajan Sawhney's official website describes her as a modern, moderate conservative. Sawhney has five priorities outlined on her website: 

1. Global leadership in traditional energy, new energy, agriculture, and technology 

2. Take a deep dive into improved education and health care systems 

3. Invest in Albertans today while saving for tomorrow  

4. Address affordability crisis by indexation of benefits and taxes  

5. Transparent public inquiry into Alberta’s COVID-19 response 

For Brian Jean, in his policy he plans to help Albertans with the distribution and transmission charges on their power bills, making sure the usage of emergency power is more transparent and democratic. 

Danielle Smith says she is running because of her love for Alberta.  She says “This is my home and I feel passionate that the people of this province are not being treated fairly by Ottawa. We need to push back, regain our pride and have autonomy over our decisions,” One part of her policy is to create a health spending account of $300 per member each year so they can use this for the dentist, physiotherapist, and counsellors.   

Travis Toews’ policy, as outlined on his website, is to support Alberta farmers by introducing a non-refundable 12% Manufacturing and Processing tax credit for capital investments for agriculture and food processing to keep Alberta competitive with its neighbours while protecting taxpayers. Other key parts of his policy include strengthening health care in Alberta. Toews plans on doing this by decentralizing AHS and keeping the executives accountable, as well as making fuel tax and natural gas relief plans permanent.   

October will see the UCP choose a new leader, and that new leader will choose how the political party will define itself in the coming years.   

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