EDMONTON - A former member of Premier Danielle Smith's government caucus says Elections Alberta has approved the name for a new political party, after the government banned a list of monikers it could use, including "conservative."
Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie announced in a social media post on Thursday evening that the new party will be known as the Progressive Tory Party of Alberta.
"That's right. There will be another conservative option on the ballot in the next election -- one that's socially reliable, fiscally responsible and answers to all of you," Guthrie said in a video with the post.
Earlier this month, the governing United Conservative Party passed legislation that restricts names of new parties after Guthrie and fellow Independent MLA Scott Sinclair wanted to establish a new iteration of the Progressive Conservative Party.
The legislation lists distinctive words and phrases that new parties are prohibited from using, including communist, conservative, democratic, green, independent, liberal, reform, republican and wildrose.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery said it was a non-partisan change being done to avoid confusing voters, and he alleged that some are purposely trying to deceive Albertans.
Guthrie said in an interview Friday that the UCP missed synonyms when it passed the new law.
"They had just about every abbreviation and acronym covered, but they missed nicknames and synonyms, and 'tory' was just a natural fit for us," Guthrie explained.
He said he doesn't think voters will confuse the Progressive Tory Party with anyone else, noting there are no other parties with "tory" in their name.
Pollster Janet Brown said she thought it was clever to substitute "conservative" with "tory," but said leaders are more important than what parties are called and questioned the attempt to resurrect the PC brand.
"It's an old brand. It hasn't been around for a very long time," said Brown, who added that "tory" is outdated, too.
"You have to be a bit of a political nerd to even know what the word 'tory' means. It's a word we used a lot 20 years ago, but we don't use it anymore."
The UCP has said the PC Alberta name, logo and history legally belong to them and they have a responsibility to protect it.
Guthrie admitted "tory" is an older nickname, but it's familiar to former Progressive Conservative supporters. He said in field testing, younger Albertans thought it sounded young and fresh.
The United Conservative Association, which operates the UCP, is suing both Guthrie and Sinclair, as well as Lindsay Amantea, president of the Alberta Party, accusing them of conspiring to damage the party's image and mislead the public.
The statement of claim says that Guthrie and Scott did not get the necessary signatures to apply for a new political party, so they allegedly teamed up with Amantea to use the PC Alberta brand "with a view to usurp the goodwill and reputation associated" with the UCP.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Brown said the UCP is worried about a repeat of the 2015 provincial election when the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party divided right-wing votes, allowing the NDP to come up the middle to win a majority.
She wondered why the new party didn't just call itself the Alberta Party, which has previously fielded candidates as a centrist alternative to either the UCP or the NDP.
But Guthrie said "Alberta Party" might be confused with support for separation.
"We're a pro-Canada party, one that supports defending -- vigorously defending -- Alberta's rights but also understands that we're stronger within Canada."
Guthrie resigned from his position as infrastructure minister in February in protest of Smith's handling of health-care contracts and procurement. He was later removed from caucus.聽
Sinclair was expelled from caucus in March after refusing to support the UCP budget.聽
The UCP, as well as a spokeswoman for Amery, said they were preparing responses when asked about their reactions to the new party's name.
Guthrie, who is leader of the Progressive Tory Party, said more information on the new party, including a logo, will be coming in the new year.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Dec. 19, 2025.
