 It was not only in agricultural policy that the UFA spread its influence . The organization had a strong progressive bent , and advocated direct democracy , women 's suffrage , and prohibition . In response to the first of these , Sifton in 1913 introduced the Direct Democracy Act . Though it went somewhat less far than the UFA would have liked — for example , it made no provision for recall of elected officials — it did allow for Albertans to call a referendum directly by submitting a petition including the names of eligible voters totalling ten percent of the votes cast in the previous provincial election , including at least eight percent in each of eighty @-@ five percent of the province 's ridings . The Conservatives were on record as supporting direct democracy , and could therefore criticize the bill only in detail . 
