This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It has been just over a year since two former United Conservative Party (UCP) members tried to revive the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and the province passed legislation banning certain words – including Conservative – from being used to name new political parties. Now, the new Progressive Tory Party of Alberta – formerly the Alberta Party – is asking the United Conservative Party (UCP) to drop a lawsuit against it after the Canadian Intellectual Property Office decided the UCP’s claim to exclusive trademarks over the PC brand should be expunged. Peter Guthrie, Independent MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane and leader of the new Progressive Tory Party of Alberta, discusses the decision with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins. Michael Higgins: With this decision, how much of a legal victory can you lay claim to here, especially considering Bill 14 still exists? Peter Guthrie: The UCP sued us. They were alleging trademark infringement, and they were seeking injunctions to stop us from using the PC name, and they were demanding $500,000 in damages. Now we had done our homework. We knew the trademark was inactive and that the UCP had not kept up with their filings. So Lindsay Amatia, a lawyer and our board president at the time, she filed with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to challenge that claim. Earlier this week, it was determined that the UCP failed to provide evidence beyond just their bare assertions that the trademarks were still in use. So the registrar ruled to expunge the PC trademarks, which now makes them effectively available for anyone and everyone to use. So effectively, this makes the premise of the UCP lawsuit moot and so we’re wondering why they haven’t dropped it yet. Michael Higgins: We did reach out to the United Conservative Party for reaction to this development. It is considering whether to appeal, and stated: “This decision does not affect the party’s claim against Mr. Guthrie and others related to their unauthorized use of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta’s brand, reputation, and goodwill. “The United Conservative Party will continue to defend against attempts by Mr. Guthrie to confuse Albertans into thinking he played any role in the former PC Alberta and will oppose any attempt to unlawfully draw upon its goodwill.” Peter, how do you respond to that? Peter Guthrie: The lawsuit has made a lot of strange claims. It also said that there was a conspiracy that took place to compete against them. You know, there was no evidence provided on this and those other allegations, by the way. It was the UCP that changed the laws. They’re the ones that threatened legal action. They’re the ones that went after Elections Alberta with a court injunction to slow them down, it was the UCP that used government resources to suppress political competition by banning the word Conservative, and keeping it for their own exclusive use, and they did that through Bill 14. So, if there’s any conspiracy here, the UCP’s behaviour towards the Tory Party is really what comes into question. Michael Higgins: Is it that you still want to adopt the Progressive Conservative identity and into the name of the party you are now building? Peter Guthrie: We would still have to overturn Bill 14, and there are some aspects of it that we think that that can be questioned and challenged, but for now, Bill 14 prevents us from using the PC name as our official party name. We’re still in the game here. We are the Tory Party and we’re here to compete as Alberta’s progressive conservative choice. Michael Higgins: You do carry that very banner, Alberta’s progressive conservative choice. How much pushback have you received in that regard? Peter Guthrie: Really, very little. They may be able to stop us from using the terminology that we put on a ballot, but they certainly can’t change our values. Michael Higgins: How challenging has it been to make the transition from Alberta Party to Progressive Tory Party of Alberta? How does Tory resonate with Albertans? Peter Guthrie: For those who are of the older generation, they know full well that Tory is synonymous with PC. I can tell you, we’ve been out knocking the doors in Calgary-Shaw, and we’re getting very good reception. So this has been our opportunity to introduce ourselves for the first time. We are feeling that people are upset with the government. The UCP are doing just about anything to advance their own political objectives, and they’re not taking care of the problems that we’re seeing around the province: health care, affordability, education, our finances. All of these things are continuing to get worse, and instead of actually governing the province, we’re getting things such as referendums and wedge politics. It’s just a constant fight. Michael Higgins: You are running a candidate in that Calgary-Shaw by-election called Kyle Joseph. What’s your party looking to get out of that exercise, and what’s a realistic result? Peter Guthrie: We’re here to compete. This is the first time that Albertans are getting to take a look at us. Kyle Joseph is a local person. He grew up in the area. He went to school at Mount Royal. He actually teaches right there in Calgary-Shaw at Chaparral Middle School, so he’s a great representative for us. We’re just so proud to have him out there introducing the party. Keep an eye out for us. We’re out there every single night banging on the doors, letting Albertans know about us. And we’re looking forward to Sept. 14.
