{"id":79936,"date":"2025-06-26T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=79936"},"modified":"2025-06-26T12:00:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:00:39","slug":"perceptions-of-american-connection-may-hurt-alberta-republican-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2025\/06\/26\/perceptions-of-american-connection-may-hurt-alberta-republican-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Perceptions of American connection may hurt Alberta Republican Party"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Cameron Davies, Republican Party of Alberta party leader, taken at the Alberta Republican Party’s Olds office on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. The Press sat down with leader Davies to discuss what the party is hoping to achieve and its controversial choice of name. (Photo by Carter Blatz\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite their choice in name, Alberta\u2019s Republican Party is not affiliated with its American namesake, according to party leader Cameron Davies and others.<\/p>\n

The party changed its name<\/a> on Feb. 10, 2025, ditching the old Buffalo Party label and reforming its ideological goals in the process.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Party \u201cwas focused on trying to get a better deal for Alberta within Canada,\u201d said Davies.<\/p>\n

As the name changed, the major goal of the party also shifted, and the Republican Party of Alberta began advocating \u201cto see Alberta as an independent Alberta republic,\u201d said Davies.<\/p>\n

He said that he recommended the change in party direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the board took that recommendation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Given the rocky state<\/a> of relations between Canada and the U.S., the decision to invoke the name \u2018Republican\u2019\u2014the current governing party south of the border\u2014could come back to haunt Davies, who says that he has seen enthusiastic support for Alberta separation.<\/p>\n

The number of separatism supporters has been rising in 2025,<\/a> but still sits around the 30 per cent mark according to Janet Brown Opinion Research.<\/a><\/p>\n

‘No connection’ say watchers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opinion editor for Western Standard and former chief speechwriter for Stephen Harper, Nigel Hannaford, says it’s not important that the Alberta party chose to name themselves after the American governing party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can call themselves whatever they want, can\u2019t they?\u201d Hannaford said.<\/p>\n

He added that has not subscribed to any separatist movement, though he does sympathize with the cause.<\/p>\n

He said he wants a serious dialogue about Alberta\u2019s place in Confederation, but the demonization of the separatist movement\u2019s supporters hurts honest discourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easier when you\u2019re not calling each other names,\u201d Hannaford said.<\/p>\n

Take Back Alberta<\/a> founder David Parker says the perceived connections are unfounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it’s the Republic of Alberta, not connected to the American Republicans. It’s not a 51st<\/sup> state party,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

Parker says he believes in Davies\u2019 skills as a leader and trusts his judgment on strategies to grow the party base and achieve success in coming elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best political organizers in the country,\u201d he said, saying Davies is responsible for \u201c45 MPs\u201d and \u201cdozens of MLAs\u201d getting elected. \u201cHe\u2019s a campaigner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker said the controversy can only be good for a new political party with little to no name recognition hoping to grow its base as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Some onlookers say the perception of a perceived connection with the U.S. Republicans may still negatively impact the party’s reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like the association with the American Republicans, real or perceived,\u201d said Paul Neumann, who calls himself a “reluctant separatist.”<\/p>\n

Stephen Carter, president of Decide Campaigns <\/a>and co-host of The Strategists<\/a> podcast, is baffled by the decision to change the party name.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not make sense to me at all,\u201d he said. \u201cMost Albertans don\u2019t identify as Republican. They don\u2019t identify with the Republican Party of the United States, let alone a Republican [Party] in Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter said the association, while providing a boost in the short term, will hurt them in the long run because \u201cthe brand recognition will be negative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The party has called for a non-binding referendum on joining the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just feels like it’s a 51st<\/sup> state discussion instead of a discussion about what is [in] the best interest of Albertans,\u201d said Carter.<\/p>\n

Davies, though, says that he is sure the name won\u2019t hurt them. He argues that calling themselves Republicans makes sense for a party that seeks to build an independent republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re advocating for a republic style of government, by definition that makes you Republican.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
A photo taken at the Alberta Republican Party’s Olds office on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Though the party says this is their Olds office, there is no signage to signify this, and in fact the “for lease” sign still sits just outside. (Photo by Carter Blatz\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite their choice in name, Alberta\u2019s Republican Party is not affiliated with its American namesake, according to party leader Cameron Davies and others. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":946,"featured_media":79944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Cater Alberta Republicans","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/946"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79936"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79983,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79936\/revisions\/79983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}