Alberta Party looks to provide ‘centre right’ alternative to UCP: former president

Lindsay Amantea on Alberta Primetime Dec 12, 2025

Former Alberta Party president Lindsay Amantea joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss Peter Guthrie’s leadership announcement, potential rebranding, and the road forward for the party.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: What has transpired to allow Peter Guthrie to announce he’s taking on that leadership role?

Lindsay Amantea: A couple of different things. My role was always meant to be temporary. I stepped into this role in order to make the Alberta Party something worth leading. The very fact someone like Peter Guthrie wants to come in and do that really speaks to the success we’ve had in making this a movement worth being part of. And it’s not only Peter but the hundreds of people who have joined the party, the thousands of dollars being raised.

With all of that and with the renewal and the increased interest from the public and from political participants, we figured it was time for me to step aside, and Peter wanted to be the leader. Those are the steps that have been taken internally in the party for him to do that.

MH: So technically he has been appointed to the role?

LA: I believe so, yes. I’m no longer the president of the party. We had an annual general meeting on Nov. 17. Dozens of people wanted to join the board, so I personally decided it was a great time to let some new folks step forward to bear some of the burden of fighting this good fight. I technically don’t have a role right now, so I was not in the room when this happened. But I am very encouraged to see it and happy about it.

MH: Now that you’re on the outside looking in, what do you feel this move represents to the Alberta Party?

LA: Exactly what we wanted it to. We wanted to become a movement people wanted to be part of, that they were inspired by, and was really going to provide a centrist, centre-right alternative to this current government.

Seeing the interest, the people coming forward, whether it was to be on the board, to wanting to be leader, wanting to be a constituency association president, simply volunteer. The support has been overwhelming. It really takes many, many hands, and I’ve shouldered this burden for a couple of years. Now I’m really happy to take a breath while everyone else capitalizes on this momentum.

MH: Is it your understanding MLA Scott Sinclair still fits into the picture?

LA: I believe. I haven’t had a chance to have a conversation with him personally, but I’m hoping to see more floor crossings in the near future.

MH: The government passed legislation banning the use of Progressive Conservative for the branding of new parties.

How do you see that sitting with membership?

LA: It’s incredibly sad this government is so scared of competition they would go so far as to try to limit that competition through legislation like Bill 14. I’m at a loss for words honestly, because it’s so problematic.

You have a sitting government trying to limit people from fighting against them, from organizing in ways they want to organize, particularly in a political arena. Freedom of speech is a Charter right and more importantly political speech is the highest form of speech. I would be really surprised if this legislation would hold up to a Charter challenge. If we see another use of the notwithstanding clause, which seems to be the modus operandi of this of this government, I wouldn’t be surprised by that.

I do think it’s going to make our political discourse poorer, and it is going to freeze out some voices who want to identify in a particular way, whether that’s conservative or liberal or communist. The list of names is quite extensive. It will limit the people who want to be involved. I don’t think that’s good for our society. I don’t think it’s good for our political process and it’s not something I want to see out of this government or any government.

MH: What does the road forward look like for the party? Is a name change still in the works?

How much of a makeover might be needed to recruit candidates, fundraise, attract new members?

LA: At the end of the day Bill 14 has passed. We’ve seen some amendments. I do think it’s a little cute and on the nose that it is retroactively coming into force the day before the original announcement. If anyone thinks this wasn’t aimed at what we’ve been trying to do, you are very mistaken.

There is going to be a way forward. I think people are fed up. They are tired of this. This is just one more black mark on the UCP. I think that it will galvanize people to continue getting involved. If they can’t let us call ourselves conservatives, we’re going to call ourselves conservatives in any way that we can. They don’t own that word. Trying to limit this discourse is just problematic.