Coun. Michael Oshry, who moved to Alberta’s capital from South Africa over 40 years ago, is a rookie civic politician with a background in business.
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Representing the riding of Calgary-Midnapore since 1999, Kenney says he’s not necessarily interested in taking over the leadership of the Alberta PC Party, and that his unity project is about more than just PC plus Wildrose.
“I think this was a spark today”. “I have concluded… that person can not be me!”
The apparent thinking goes that once Alberta tires of its left-wing experiment, and perhaps a future right-wing bid, Albertans will gravitate back to the political centre that PC founding saint Peter Lougheed often sought to occupy. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, an organization Kenney once headed, has suggested he should take an unpaid leave of absence.
“The Conservative Party of Alberta has a nice ring to it”, he said.
In his brief tribute to the legacy of the party he wants to lead, Kenney skipped over the other five premiers, citing only Lougheed and, yes, Klein.
Kenney highlighted his efforts as a member of the Reform party and later the Canadian Alliance, saying if that party managed to merge with the federal Tories in 2003, bringing together Alberta conservatives should be a “walk in the park”.
That was evident during the Wildrose floor-crossing in December 2014 when Prentice convinced party leader Danielle Smith and eight other notable Wildrose MLAs to join his caucus.
March 1, 2019: Under Alberta’s Elections Act, the window opens for the provincial general election call.
Given the history of the two parties, with the floor crossings and the nasty things that have been said recently, it’s nearly impossible to imagine either side giving up anything, even to form a united front against the NDP.
As a historical aside, the Snack Pack – so known, as the Wikipedia gently put it, “due to their relative youth and girth” – was almost a quartet, and would likely have included well-known video blogger Ezra Levant had Harper not decided he wanted the riding Levant had staked out for himself.
Kenney faces criticism though for not stepping down immediately.
But candidate and MP Michael Chong, whose stump speech begins with a story about being the child of immigrant parents, could shift easily into the space vacated by Kenney’s departure.
Then again, there was no particularly obvious logic in putting Kenney on the committee in the first place, so who knows how the party may decide to fill his barely-worn shoes, at least in this context?
“I think it would be presumptuous of me sitting here proposing this multi-stage process to start dictating policy for a party that does not yet exist and who’s members have not yet been consulted”. Wildrose Leader Brain Jean may be none too happy, and many of his party’s members may view these developments with feelings of suspicion and betrayal.
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Still, the prospect of another term with the NDP in charge may have concentrated the minds of the province’s right enough to give Kenney’s ambitions and his well-connected friends a hope for the main chance.
