Last month, a survey found that 2/3 of respondents think that all the MLAs involved in the so-called Snowbird Scandal should be removed from the UCP caucus.
The Mainstreet telephone poll asked 1,003 adults which of the following 4 statements they agreed with:
- Jason Kenney, the former Minister and the 6 other MLAs should all resign
- Jason Kenney should remove all these MLAs, including the former Minister, from the UCP caucus
- Firing the minister was enough and the MLAs should remain in the UCP caucus
- This is not a big deal, and the minister should be reinstated back to the cabinet
Of those polled, 68% felt that at the very least, all the MLAs who had travelled to international destinations during non-essential travel restrictions should be removed from the UCP caucus for their actions.
And 60% of those think that Jason Kenney should also resign.
Not everyone agreed with removal from office: 12% thought that Tracy Allard resigning as Alberta’s municipal affairs minister was sufficient and that the other MLAs should remain, while 11% thought the entire scandal wasn’t a big deal. The remaining 9% responded with “other”.
Those calling for the removal of just the 7 MLAs were mostly older, with those 65 and older supporting this the most (32.6%). Younger people, on the other hand, were more likely than other age groups to include Kenney‘s resignation in the mix (48.8% for those 18–34). That being said, while those 65 and older were the least likely of all age groups to include Kenney, 34.4% of them supported it, which is higher than those in the age group who wanted only the MLAs gone.
As far as political part allegiance goes, the largest support for just the MLAs being turfed was among those intending to vote UCP in the next election. If you include Kenney in the mix, the greatest support was among the NDP.
| Just MLAs | Kenney, too | |
|---|---|---|
| UCP | 44.4% | 10.2% |
| Wildrose Independence | 39.0% | 54.9% |
| NDP | 35.3% | 100% |
| Alberta Party | 23.8% | 81.5% |
| Greens | 14.7% | 78.4% |
| Liberals | 11.1% | 79.9% |
| Other | 30.2% | 80.1% |
The poll It was conducted 6–7 January 2020 and has a margin of error of ±3.09% at the 95% confidence level. It was commissioned by The Western Standard, a right-wing online media outlet originally founded by Ezra Levant but currently under the ownership of Derek Fildebrandt, former UCP and Freedom Conservative Party MLA.
The FCP merged with Wexit Alberta last year to become the Wildrose Independence Party.
