One of the men convicted for his role in the southern Alberta border blockade during the COVID-19 pandemic has joined the United Conservative Party’s board in Calgary-Acadia, a riding the governing party lost by 22 votes in last year’s election.
Marco Van Huigenbos joined the constituency association in mid-August and became the chair of its fundraising committee. The Fort Macleod resident was the face of the two-week protest near the U.S. border at Coutts, where disgruntled residents gathered to protest COVID-19 restrictions in early 2022.
The UCP lost Calgary-Acadia and eight other seats in Alberta’s largest city in the 2023 election as urban residents rejected the party’s shift further to the right under Premier Danielle Smith, a direction supported at the time by Mr. Van Huigenbos.
“I understand that me being there could be a sore spot or a bit contentious,” Mr. Van Huigenbos said in an interview. A Lethbridge jury convicted him of mischief over $5,000 in April for blocking Highway 4 near the U.S. border. He and two other protest ringleaders Alex Van Herk and George Janzen will be sentenced in September.
Tyler Shandro, the riding’s former MLA and provincial health minister during the height of COVID-19, resigned from the constituency association’s board on Tuesday, according to a letter obtained by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Shandro traded the health portfolio for justice about two weeks after a police raid in Coutts resulted in arrests and protesters abandoning their stations. The former minister remains a target for residents still angry over COVID-19 restrictions and arrests related to the pandemic.
The letter said he would be unable to attend the September board meeting because of another commitment, and noted he missed the meetings in August and June because of work and family. He predicted that family obligations would prevent him from attending most board meetings and, therefore, he stepped down.
“But I am happy to assist in the future as a volunteer,” the letter said.
Mr. Shandro, who lost his seat in the Legislature to the NDP in the 2023 election, declined to comment.
Lindsay Davis, the UCP president for Calgary-Acadia, said the board welcomes “UCP members from all walks of life to contribute” and is grateful for previous volunteers.
“As a coalition of principled conservatives, we value family, faith, free enterprise, fiscal accountability, personal freedoms and charity,” she said in a statement.
Dave Prisco, a spokesman for the UCP, did not return messages seeking comment.
Ms. Smith captured the UCP leadership in the fall of 2022 after courting the party’s right flank, including Mr. Van Huigenbos. But some of those allies, including Mr. Van Huigenbos, are now disillusioned with Ms. Smith’s government. They argue she has failed to make good on a number of campaign promises and other policy pursuits, such as her pledge to give amnesty to people facing charges or fines tied to COVID-19, cut income taxes and implement an Alberta pension plan.
Evan Menzies, a vice-president at Crestview Strategy’s Calgary office, noted the UCP has roughly 2,600 board positions across the province. He said Mr. Van Huigenbos’s new role is “certainly interesting” but not necessarily reflective of the party.
“I wouldn’t say it speaks to the broader composition of the conservative movement in this province,” he said.
Mr. Menzies said if UCP supporters in Calgary-Acadia are turned off by Mr. Van Huigenbos’s position, they should follow his lead and get involved in the board.
David Parker, the leader of Take Back Alberta, encouraged swaths of socially conservative voters like Mr. Van Huigenbos to get involved in constituency associations in order to exert influence over provincial politics. Mr. Van Huigenbos embraced TBA, a third-party advertiser that threw its support behind Ms. Smith, serving as its chief financial officer, although he and Mr. Parker parted ways after last spring’s election.
Mr. Menzies expects the party and Premier to pay close attention to Calgary-Acadia given its members will select the UCP’s candidate for the next election in 2027, and conservatives want to retake the riding. This means mitigating issues within the riding now, so the UCP can focus on winning.
“Time is on their side,” Mr. Menzies said.
Mr. Van Huigenbos, aware that some voters in Calgary may consider him toxic, insisted he joined the board to help the UCP win back the riding, rather than convince others to see the world his way.
“I’m not there to push my views. I am there to provide expertise.”
Mr. Van Huigenbos said his résumé includes seven years as a town councillor in Fort Macleod and experience as vice-president of fundraising and events for the UCP’s constituency association in Livingstone-Macleod.
“I’ve always had a bit of knack for exciting things,” he said.