Alberta legislature. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

15 UCP MLAs voice opposition to new COVID restrictions

Apr 7, 2021 | 3:06 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A quarter of the United Conservative caucus are speaking out against their own party’s public health measures.

On Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney announced new COVID-19 restrictions as variant cases have surged across the province recently.

READ MORE: Kenney announces new COVID restrictions as variants surge

It was a decision that not everyone was happy with as 15 UCP MLAs have penned a public letter.

Some of the members from Southern Alberta include Michaela Glasgo from Brooks-Medicine Hat, Drew Barnes from Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Roger Reid from Livingston-McLeod.

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They state that they believed the government’s previous step-by-step plan for implementing/easing restrictions based on COVID hospitalization numbers represented a “clear path forward.”

The MLAs say that plan took the public health threat of COVID-19 seriously but helped to restore confidence in small businesses and communities.

The new strategy, however, bases this on what percentage of the overall Alberta population has been vaccinated against the virus.

“We believe that yesterday’s announcement to move our province backwards, effectively abandoning the plan that Albertans had worked diligently over the past months to follow, is the wrong direction,” the letter states.

According to the elected officials, their constituents want them to defend their livelihoods and freedoms, and, despite their efforts to communicate this to the province, the approach of the government has remained the same.

“As MLAs, we are calling on our government colleagues to recognize the plea of our constituents. After 13 painstaking months of COVID-19 public health restrictions, we do not support the additional restrictions imposed on Albertans yesterday, and we will continue advocating for a transparent path forward that provides certainty to Alberta families, communities, and businesses.”

The full letter can be read below:

(Image posted by MLA Drew Barnes on Twitter)