By Jack Farrell
The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour says Premier Danielle Smith only has herself to blame for her United Conservative Party caucus facing more than a dozen recall petitions.
While Smith has said Gil McGowan and other labour leaders have been abusing the process in an attempt to overthrow her government, McGowan says the premier is making false accusations to justify potentially making changes to the Recall Act just as it’s being used against her government.
McGowan says the AFL hasn’t organized any of the active recall petitions, provided funding for them or bused people in to support signature collection efforts as the premier and some of her ministers have claimed.
He says while he had previously talked about organizing petitions after the government used the notwithstanding clause to end a provincewide teachers strike, he quickly realized that the law already prevents organizations like his from getting involved.
McGowan says all he has been doing is spreading the word about the active petitions and where people can sign.
There are ongoing signature campaigns to remove 14 members of Smith’s caucus, with many petitioners citing the use of the notwithstanding clause as a driving factor.
