Smith confirms UCP expelled Jeffrey Rath over code of conduct breaches

The United Conservative Party has revoked Jeffrey Rath’s membership after the party’s executive director found he had breached its code of conduct multiple times, Premier Danielle Smith confirmed Friday.

Smith, the UCP’s leader, was asked about Rath, the Calgary lawyer and Alberta independence advocate, at the end of an unrelated government news conference. She said the executive director, who has the power to cancel memberships, told the party’s board of directors on Thursday that he had found “multiple instances of a breach of the code of conduct that we require of our members.”

“It was his decision to pull the membership and cancel his AGM registration, and I’m supportive of that,” Smith said.

‘We are not an independence party’

Asked whether others calling for a leadership review could also be removed, Smith said Rath’s opposition to her was not the issue. She noted he has never supported her, in the leadership race or since, and called that irrelevant.

“What is relevant is that he has said publicly things like he wants to come to the AGM to turn the UCP into an independence party, and we are not an independence party,” she said.

“Somebody whose objective and mission is to turn us into something we are not is not following the objective of our party.”

Smith said she understood UCP executive director Dustin van Vugt made the decision “after a lot of evidence and compilation.”

Smith’s comments can be seen starting at about the 45:40 mark of the Government of Alberta’s video of the news conference.

What the party’s rules say

Under the UCP’s membership rules, the executive director can suspend or revoke a membership “for Cause,” which includes unethical conduct and any act that harms the party or brings it into disrepute. Reasonable adversarial debate and respectful disagreement do not count as cause.

The party’s Code of Conduct Committee must confirm or overturn a revocation within 48 hours of the member being notified.

Rath calls it an attack on free speech

Rath, who has spent the weeks since the Oct. 19 referendum campaigning to remove Smith as leader, posted Friday that van Vugt “purports to terminate” his membership and that Smith was claiming members who advocate for independence are not welcome in the party.

Earlier in the day, before the party’s decision was public, Rath wrote on X that he had received an email refunding his AGM ticket, calling it democracy and free speech in action.

He told the Western Standard that calling for a leadership review is expressly allowed under the party’s bylaws and predicted the move would backfire on Smith. He said he has not decided whether to appeal and still plans to attend the AGM, which runs Nov. 27 to 29 in Calgary.

Weeks of open conflict

About 75 per cent of Albertans voted Oct. 19 to remain in Canada. On referendum night, Rath said Alberta would never be independent while Smith, whom he called an “avowed federalist,” led the UCP. He has since urged constituency associations to call for a leadership review and pushed for a special general meeting to remove her.

Smith has told separatists in the party to accept the referendum result or leave. Earlier this week, asked about a new requirement that board candidates pledge to abide by the result, she said: “If you’re going to be a member of our party, you have to accept what Albertans told us.”

The dispute escalated this week when Rath posted screenshots of text messages he said Smith sent him in June 2025, while the province was changing its citizen petition rules. Rath claimed the message was meant for Thomas Lukaszuk, the former deputy premier who led the Forever Canadian petition. Lukaszuk said he was never in contact with Smith and argued the texts showed she had helped the separatists instead. In question period, Smith said she had explained the changing petition process to several people who asked.