Karen Peters has been disqualifed from the United Conservative Party nomination contest in Grande Prairie-Wapiti, making first-term MLA Ron Wiebe widely expected to be acclaimed to run for re-election in the 2027 provincial election.
Peters was the UCP constituency president in the northwest Alberta riding and has posted on her personal Facebook page about chemtrails and vaccination conspiracy theories. These posts raised eyebrows among political watchers but neither issue is grounds for disqualification in the current UCP.
Peters is believed to have had the support of separatist UCP members in the region — an issue that has divided UCP voters in the province ahead of the October 19 referendum.
The party did not officially announce Peters’ disqualification or make public the reason for her departure from the race but she did publish a statement on Facebook:
“But today, the deepest hurt I feel is not for myself. It is for you. It is for the people of Grande Prairie–Wapiti who were told they would have a choice. For every person who bought a membership, volunteered, made a phone call, knocked on a door, or simply believed they would be able to cast their own ballot for the person they wanted to represent them. That choice has now been taken away. Once again, Grande Prairie–Wapiti faces the prospect of having an MLA without an open nomination vote by local members. That should concern every one of us. Whether you supported me or not.”
The previously scheduled September 1 nomination meeting in Grande Prairie-Wapiti was supposed to happen concurrently with a vote in the neighbouring urban Grande Prairie riding.
The Grande Prairie nomination race has first-term UCP MLA Nolan Dyck facing a challenge from local business owner Robin Coward.
Coward hosted a signing location for the separatist Stay Free Alberta citizen initiative petition in his Grande Prairie firearms shop and shooting range and played a supporting role in Central Peace-Notley UCP MLA Todd Loewen’s bee removal adventure in 2020.
Grande Prairie and Grande Prairie-Wapiti are widely considered safe UCP-voting ridings, with Dyck earning 63.9 per cent of the vote in urban riding and Wiebe winning 76.2 per cent in the mostly rural riding that includes parts of the city in the last election. Securing the UCP nomination in these ridings almost certainly guarantees a win in the next election.
The Grande Prairie ridings were previously represented by UCP MLAs Tracy Allard and Travis Toews from 2019 to 2023. Allard served as Minister of Municipal Affairs from 2020 to 2021 and Toews served as finance minister for most of his term in office and ran against Smith for the UCP leadership in 2022. Both politicians opted to not run for re-election in 2023.
Premier Smith in Grande Prairie next week
Premier Danielle Smith remains popular among UCP members but she might get an earfull from some supporters unhappy with the nomination decision when she travels to Grande Prairie for the UCP’s annual Leader’s Dinner on August 26. The $300 per ticket fundraising dinner being held days before the September 1 nomination vote will feature Smith, Dyck and Wiebe.
Smith will be in Valleyview earlier that day for a lunch-hour fundraiser with Central Peace-Notley UCP MLA Todd Loewen.
Note: I reached out to Karen Peters for comment about her disqualification but had not received a response at the time of publication.
UCP board director Irma Roberts enters Calgary-South East nomination contest
Lawyer Irma Roberts is the third candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in Calgary-South East. Roberts has served as a regional director representing Calgary on the UCP’s provincial board of directors since 2023.
Roberts’ campaign is being run by right-wing political organizer Craig Chandler, who recently ran Mike Derry’s successful campaign for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw. Chandler is also running Erin Averbukh’s UCP nomination campaign in Calgary-Acadia.
Alabi Adenekan and Stephen Burry (who served as Chief of Staff to former Freedom Conservative Party MLA Derek Fildebrandt) are also running for the UCP nomination in this riding.
