Return of the PCs: Alberta Party changes name with former UCPers

By Lethbridge Herald on September 11, 2025.

Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A name from Alberta’s political past has been resurrected – at least somewhat – thanks to a pair of ousted former UCP caucus members.

In late August, members of the provincial Alberta Party voted 94 per cent in favour of changing its name to the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party after teaming up with Scott Sinclair, MLA of Lesser Slave Lake, and Peter Guthrie, MLA of Airdrie Cochrane.

The pair were working on reviving the Progressive Conservative party in July after both were expelled from the UCP caucus earlier in the year. They have been serving as independent members of the Legislative Assembly ever since.

They were collecting signatures in hopes of getting enough to submit to Elections Alberta, under the impression they were creating a new party in good legal standing. 

But 12 days later, they were presented with a cease-and-desist letter from the UCP, which claimed ownership of the PC name. The UCP was created in 2017 after a membership vote combined the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties into the United Conservative party.

Not long after being shut down, Guthrie and Sinclair were approached by members of the Alberta Party to discuss a collaboration. 

Guthrie says after exploring their options, he and Sinclair concluded that joining the Alberta Party would be the most expedient option.

“We explored that and we decided that it would get us to official party status a lot quicker and give us a name change.”

He says he wasn’t surprised with the UCP’s action’s towards them, especially given the impact another conservative party could have on the dynamics of political power in Alberta.

“I was aware of the impact this has on them, so it wasn’t a complete surprise.”

A Calgary man held the name “Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (PCA),” the previous name of the PC Part,y with Elections Alberta, so the UCP were aware the PC name was available if a new party did emerge.

Guthrie says he has received a lot of positive feedback from Albertans who don’t align with UCP principles and disagree with actions government has taken since being elected in 2019.

“I think people are uncomfortable with the ideological stances that you see on both sides (of the political spectrum); there’s constant battles and uncertainty that’s been created.”

He adds that he hopes to capture voters in the middle of the spectrum who are undecided and looking for a party that represents their values.

Guthrie says the Alberta Progressive Conservatives will strike a balance between fiscal conservativism and 

moderate social values, much like the previous PC party that ruled the province for the better part of two generations. He hopes to create the competent government Albertans are looking for.

Obtaining the name is just the first step in a long road ahead for the Alberta Party. Guthrie hopes to have the name in place by the end of September and then the party can move forward with driving memberships, creating constituency associations and eventually finding candidates and holding a leadership race.

While there is a lot of work ahead, Guthrie says there’s a lot of enthusiasm about the return of a PC Party in the province.

“There’s so many people that are just looking for something else, and now you see this in the amount of undecided voters there are out there.”