Alberta ag minister included in Operation Total Recall

The group is organizing recall campaigns against MLAs who supported the notwithstanding clause

A community group is targeting MLAs – like Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson – and his colleagues who voted in support of using a controversial part of the Charter.

Operation Total Recall tracks campaigns against 44 “MLAs who voted to use the Notwithstanding Clause against not just teachers, but all Alberta workers,” its website says, noting the number could change.

In total, initial paperwork against 10 MLAs has been approved, with another 12 being targeted for recalls.

All the MLAs in question represent the UCP.

Premier Danielle Smith is being targeted for a recall.

A recall is a mechanism allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before that person’s term has ended.

Alberta and B.C. are the only provinces with current laws allowing recalls.

To remove an official in Alberta, a petition must follow a seven-step process.

Part of the process includes the fifth step of gathering signatures.

Recall applicants must collect at least 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in a riding in the most recent election.

In Minister Sigurdson’s case, people in his riding of Highwood cast 26,110 votes in the 2023 election. This means the petition needs 15,788 signatures to move forward.

The recall against the ag minister is in the “initial paperwork approved” stage, the third of the seven steps. That approval came on Nov. 14.

As part of the recall process, Minister Sigurdson has until Nov. 21 to respond to the recall.

Recalls against two MLAs – Angela D. Pitt (Airdrie-East), and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, are in the signature gathering stage.

The Alberta government used the notwithstanding clause in October to end a teachers’ strike.

The related bill imposed new contracts on 51,000 teachers and prohibits teachers from striking until August 31, 2028.

A teacher, Molly Metcalf, is leading recall efforts in Sigurdson’s riding.

The work to recall the minister started after she felt ignored after trying to contact Sigurdson following the controversial vote in October.

“Quite frankly, RJ's job is to be present for his constituents and to be a voice for his constituents,” she told OkotoksOnline on October 31. “He makes a good amount of money, much more than I do, and he doesn’t do his job.” 

The UCP has responded to the ongoing recall processes.

Recalls are meant for more serious issues, not policy disagreements.

“The recall process should not be used to overturn democratic elections just because an individual disagrees with government policy. Recalls are meant to address breaches of trust, serious misconduct, or a sustained failure to represent constituents, not political disagreements,” the party said in a statement, Okotoks Online reported on Nov. 17. “Our United Conservative Caucus remains focused on what we were elected to do, which is standing up for Albertans by growing our economy, lowering taxes, and creating opportunities.”