Recall effort deserves more than just the invisible man
By Lethbridge Herald on December 9, 2025.
Scott Sakatch
Herald Editor
Regular readers might remember my column in the Nov. 28 Herald, where I talked, in part, about how I believed the recall efforts across the province were “A Mickey Mouse attempt to overturn the results of a free and fair election…Most of them have very little depth and don’t offer anything even remotely close to a compelling case to recall the politicians at which they’re aimed.”
At the time, I couldn’t have imagined how prescient those words would prove to be. We’re now two weeks into the recall campaign against Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf, and the term “Mickey Mouse” doesn’t go nearly far enough to describe the utter irresponsibility of Ryan Tanner, the “organizer” behind the petition application.
As we reported in Saturday’s Herald, dozens of local residents have been trying for weeks to get in touch with Tanner, only to get a form email in response saying that he was “swamped” by people trying to join the campaign. Now, under some circumstances, that would be understandable; for example, Forever Canadian organizers found themselves swamped by people volunteering to help with that petition effort over the summer and fall. Folks are itching to get involved, especially here in Lethbridge.
But here’s the thing: some people got that form email about the campaign being swamped the day after Elections Alberta approved it. How “swamped” could it possibly be after just 24 hours, especially when hardly anyone knew about it? Several of the people who got that email belonged to a group of dedicated individuals who’d been working on a recall application of their own, gathering volunteers and getting their ducks in a row, building a website and signing up canvassers. Some of these folks were part of the Forever Canadian movement and were experienced in organizing and gathering signatures. You know, like you’re supposed to do with a recall petition, or any serioous endeavour.
As I’ve said before, I managed three election campaigns between 2008-15, and I can say with absolute certainty that volunteers are the lifeblood of any political effort. When a volunteer walks through the door of a campaign office, a smart manager stops whatever they’re doing and welcomes them aboard. You show them respect, you try to give them work that aligns with their experience and interest, in many cases you feed them and supply them coffee, and you do whatever is necessary to keep them.
The one thing you absolutely do not do is ignore them.
So to recap: there was already a group of smart, organized people ready to start the recall effort, only to find out they’d been scooped by Ryan Tanner’s application. Then, when those people immediately tried to get in touch with Tanner and join his efforts, they were told that the campaign was “swamped” and that someone would get back to them.
That was two weeks ago, meaning we’re now two weeks closer to the Feb. 23 deadline for gathering the required 13,000 signature for the petition and nothing has happened. Not for lack of people who want to get involved, but for lack of response by the person who claims to be behind a serious recall effort.
If you’ve been following any of the many, many social media posts on the subject, you know that there’s no end of conjecture about what’s going on. I won’t go into any of those theories here because newspapers and other legacy media outlets are bound by strict ethical rules, not to mention libel laws, that force us to stick to provable facts.
So I won’t suggest here that there is anything not above board going on with Ryan Tanner’s recall campaign. I’ll leave that to Facebook and Reddit.
But I will absolutely state flat-out that the “campaign” is, at best, a ridiculously disorganized, amateurish, even bumbling attempt at what should be a deadly serious undertaking. You don’t try to oust a duly elected member of government by ignoring the army of people who are pounding at your door trying to help. You don’t hide behind a computer terminal and send form emails while steadfastly ignoring any and all attempts to contact you in person or on the phone.
The fact that such an unserious campaign was approved by Elections Alberta is infuriating, especially since this is the only chance people will have to use the legislation enacted by the UCP themselves to recall one of their own. Recalls are democracy in action, whether Danielle Smith likes it or not, and if this campaign falls apart due to ineptitude, then it will be democracy denied.
If that happens, you can thank Ryan Tanner — assuming you can find him, of course.
15-14
Need a little more than I walk by his office and he is never there, he never answers my phone calls and “you mad”. So far there is a full request for 16 million m the taxpayers to deal with the fit, EA”s on average in Alberta make about 33,000 a year. That equates to roughly 485 EA’s who could possibly be hired for those classroom issues. How about your dig into that Mr. Editor. How about Rocky View having a 3.4 million surplus where they are recalling their MLA. How about digging into that.
Probably because it is no longer a ‘news’ paper but an NDP propaganda rag the editor has turned it into!
All part of of the insurrectionists plan to assist bringing down an democratically elected government, no matter the cost to the taxpayer!
Just as long as the NDP can gain power!
The costs:
“Elections Alberta confirmed the cost is estimated at around $1.1 million per petition“
18 recalls X $1.1 million = $19.8 million
That is just for the recalls, now there has to be byelections and the costs of them X 18.
This whole movement to bring down the government will cost taxpayers $35 million to $40 million.
That is the respect they have for the taxpayer! Give me, give me, give me NDP’ers are always demand more and more and more, while they kill every project to generate revenues to pay for their demands.
They think money just falls from the skies!
This is a complete abuse of the recall system and it will put in jeopardy the future of a recall system for those with legitimate concerns.
The editor mentions ethics, perhaps he should read the Code of Ethics for Journalism, because he is by far unbiased and sadly will run the Herald into the ground as it barely stays afloat in todays world of closures of local papers. Sad to see one of our city’s long time and once respected media get buried by poor ethics in journalism!
So the “insurrectionists” are trying to throw out the separatists. I hope we succeed.
Your posts often don’t make sense but this one needs a recall.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. From a party known for its unethical approach to politics, this phony recall fits. I hope the Herald keeps digging on this one.
All Neudorf has to do is say he had nothing to do with Tanner’s petition.
Neudorf’s silence and Tanner’s refusal to follow thru with his petition says volumes about how low the UCP will stoop to avoid a recall.