Alberta conservatives have put wokeness in their crosshairs with a host of red meat policy resolutions adopted at the United Conservative Party convention.
A record-setting 3,800 members signed up for the two-day annual general meeting, at which Premier Danielle Smith delivered the keynote speech.
Many of the 29 policy resolutions endorsed by UCP members touch on key culture war issues – gender, free speech, and affirmative action.
It was clear pandemic policy was looming large, with delegates endorsing a policy to protect the right of medical practitioners to “research, speak and write” without the threat of suspension of their medical license and also to protect doctors who wish to prescribe drugs off-label “using their best discretion,” a nod to physicians who’ve been sanctioned by regulatory colleges throughout the Covid era.
Other resolutions included one to “protect an individual’s right to informed consent decisions regarding their own body” and to protect privacy and confidentiality of health information.
The policies passed by UCP members are now part of the party’s official policy declaration.
While these policies are not binding on the UCP government, Smith has said knowing where the members are is an important part of the policy development process, along with caucus deliberations and consultations with Albertans as a whole.
Most of the motions passed by significant margins, though there was still debate.
A black delegate warned that a resolution to “ban post-secondary institutions from using race as a factor in any admissions program or procedure” made the party seem “anti-black or anti-BIPOC.”
In reply, a Metis delegate got large applause for saying he would “rather be recognized for my hard work and perseverance” than for his race. The resolution passed decisively – as did a subsequent resolution to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices from publicly funded universities and colleges.
“This is knocking the knees out of the woke, brainwashing infrastructure,” the resolution’s sponsor said.
A resolution advocating for parental consent for students under 16 to change their name, gender, and pronouns in school, passed by a large margin. Smith has not yet committed to enacting this policy, though she did receive a standing ovation during her speech that “parents are the primary caregivers and educators of their children.”
A resolution supporting a “bill of parental rights” also passed, along with a resolution seeking to ensure inmates are jailed based on biological sex rather than self-determined gender identity.
UCP members also voted to protect the right to use cash over digital currency, protect conscience rights as the federal government expands its assisted dying criteria, and to prohibit development projects that would “restrict movement of residents.”
Some ‘no’ votes came from people who didn’t think policy resolutions went far enough.
A resolution to ban electronic voting machines and tabulators in provincial elections passed, though former member of parliament Rob Anders spoke in opposition to it because it didn’t include municipal elections.
Only one of the thirty proposed resolutions was struck down. A resolution supporting school vouchers was rejected, in part over concerns from members that it didn’t adequately protect parents who homeschool their children.
