Peter Lougheed Wouldn't Recognize the UCP's "Traditional Values"
Peter Lougheed with Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Grimm at the 1976 Premiers' Conference. Lougheed built a dynasty. Grimm built much of modern Medicine Hat.
Courtesy of the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre / Beny family fonds (0083.0041)
The man who took a party with no seats and built a dynasty. The premier who stared down Ottawa and won. Peter Lougheed is the gold standard of Alberta conservatism.
Lougheed once called a federal policy "stupid and discriminatory" and went to court to fight it. He didn't weaken the rule of law to make his point. He used it.
The UCP weakened the rules. Then nearly three million Albertans had their personal information exposed.
You don't need us to tell you what Lougheed would have called that.
On May 1, 2026, Elections Alberta confirmed that the Centurion Project, founded by David Parker, had obtained and used Alberta's voter list without authorization. Under the Election Act, unlawful use of the voter list can result in fines up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year.
Millions of Albertans had their personal information exposed. Domestic violence survivors. Law enforcement. Journalists. People fleeing abusive relationships. Their addresses, their phone numbers, their safety.
All compromised.
This is not a mistake. This is not an accident. This is what happens when a political culture normalizes the idea that rules don't apply to "our side."
We're not saying conservatism is bad. There's nothing wrong with balanced budgets, personal responsibility, or wanting government to mind its own business. But what's happening in Alberta right now isn't conservatism. It has become a cult that demands loyalty instead of thought. Something that silences anyone who asks a question.
The separatists claim to defend traditional values. But Peter Lougheed wouldn't recognize what they mean by that.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that demands loyalty instead of thought.
They put people in danger
Let's be clear about what the voter list leak means.
The Centurion Project didn't just break a technical rule. They obtained a list of nearly three million Albertans and then published it. The home addresses of judges, Crown prosecutors, and the province's top elections official were on that list.
Think about who else is on that list:
A woman hiding from an abusive ex-husband.
A police officer whose safety depends on not being found.
A journalist who has written critically about the separatist movement.
A transgender person whose home address is now in the hands of people who have called for violence against people like them.
The Chief Electoral Officer said it himself: "people are unhappy, scared, and anxious."
This is real harm done to real people by people who claim to defend "traditional values."
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that changed the rules and ignored the warnings, allowing this to happen.
The UCP made it easier to get away with it
Remember Bill 54? It raised the bar for investigating electoral breaches to a criminal law standard called "reasonable grounds."
The Chief Electoral Officer warned them. In a letter dated May 9, 2025, he told the Legislature that this change would make it "practically" impossible to investigate complaints unless the complainant did all the work first. He said it would hurt Albertans' trust.
They passed it anyway.
Now we know why that mattered. The RCMP is investigating. Elections Alberta says their hands were tied because of Bill 54, because the government made it harder to investigate.
You cannot call for accountability while leaving the tools of accountability broken.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that made it harder to investigate wrongdoing.
"Those responsible should be held accountable" - but will she name him?
A day later while still overseas, Premier Smith issued a statement.
She said: "Those responsible should be held accountable under the law."
Smith attended Parker's March 2023 wedding. A sitting premier doesn't do that for a stranger.
The legislature reconvenes May 14. Albertans are waiting to see if she will denounce David Parker by name, promise changes to Bill 54, or act on the privacy commissioner's long-standing call to bring political parties under Alberta's privacy laws.
Peter Lougheed never made it harder to investigate his party. He built a party with integrity. He didn't change the rules to protect himself or his allies.
Lougheed set a high bar.
The PCs who followed lowered it, scandal after scandal, from illegal donations to travel abuses to shredded documents.
Then Kenney's UCP drove it even lower: kamikaze campaigns, fired investigators, sexual assault charges, ballot-stuffing, and an RCMP probe.
Then Smith's UCP came along and said
"hold my beer."
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that protects its friends instead of demanding accountability.
Where are the voices?
Here is something else worth noticing.
Days have passed since we learned that nearly three million Albertans had their private information exposed. Domestic violence survivors. Judges. Crown prosecutors. Journalists.
And where, in all that time, has the en masse condemnation been from UCP MLAs?
Not a chorus. Not a public breaking of ranks. Not a single statement from the majority of the government caucus saying: "This is wrong. David Parker should be disavowed. The Centurion Project has no place in Alberta politics."
We can all see what is not happening.
Take Medicine Hat's other MLA, the Honourable Justin Wright. His social media has been active, with posts celebrating community events and the obligatory statements on government actions. And yet, on this, a breach affecting nearly three million Albertans, an RCMP investigation, the premier's own carefully worded statement, there has been nothing. Not a share. Not a comment. Not a repost of the premier's words.
Peter Lougheed allowed his MLAs to speak freely. He believed that a healthy party could tolerate disagreement. He believed that accountability meant being able to criticize your own side.
The fact that we are watching a legislature-wide exercise in silence, punctuated only by the premier's carefully worded, name-free statement, tells you everything about the culture of that party today. It is not a party of free thinkers. It is not a party of conscience. It is a party where the leader's friends are protected, and everyone else is expected to follow along without question.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that muzzles its own MLAs.
Peter Lougheed built something better
Peter Lougheed built Alberta's public healthcare system. There's a hospital named after him in Calgary.
He also helped bring in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the notwithstanding clause. He insisted on it as a safety valve. For rare emergencies. Not for routine use. Not as a weapon.
And here's the thing.
Lougheed never used it.
Neither did Don Getty, Ralph Klein (except once, reluctantly, on a symbolic issue), Ed Stelmach, Alison Redford, Jim Prentice, Rachel Notley, or Jason Kenney.
Danielle Smith used it four times in two months.
Lougheed was a pro-life Catholic. But he kept his faith out of public policy. He believed in public, universal medicine. He believed in the rule of law. He would be horrified to see a group tied to members of his own party illegally accessing the private information of nearly three million Albertans, including domestic violence survivors, law enforcement, and journalists.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize a party that used his safety valve as a weapon.
So what are "traditional values" really?
The UCP says one thing. Their actions, and their silence, say another.
Traditional values used to mean the rule of law. Then the government used the notwithstanding clause four times and passed Bill 54. Bill 54 has backfired, putting many people at risk and they are quiet.
Traditional values used to mean protecting the vulnerable. Now domestic violence survivors have had their addresses exposed. The premier has spoken about accountability, but most MLAs have been silent.
Traditional values used to mean keeping faith out of policy. Now Catholic hospitals funded by your taxes deny women care.
Traditional values used to mean listening to constituents. Now they mean cutting the mic on a teenager.
Traditional values used to mean welcoming debate. Now they mean removing seniors from town halls.
The separatists claim to defend traditional values.
What if "traditional values" meant the values of traditional conservatives?
Peter Lougheed. The rule of law. Public healthcare. Keeping faith out of policy. Protecting the vulnerable. That tradition is still there, waiting to be reclaimed.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize this party.
Take Back Alberta? No. Take Back Conservatism.
We know most of you aren't extremists. You're not looking to leak voter lists or silence teenagers. You just want a government that balances the books and stays out of your life.
But look at what's happening. Look at who is being put at risk. Look at who is staying silent.
What happened to the rule of law?
What happened to protecting the vulnerable?
Lougheed never had to say "don't tolerate a group tied to your party illegally accessing voter lists." Because his government never made that necessary.
You have the right to question your leaders.
You have the right to demand answers.
You have the right to vote them out when they stop earning your trust.
Loyalty is not a birthright. It is not something you demand. It is something you earn. When a party demands blind obedience and punishes questions, that is not conservatism. That is a cult.
Peter Lougheed would not recognize this party.
Do you?
