The CBC chimed in later to say they’ve confirmed it, adding hilariously that the announcement “would come just before the Calgary Stampede, a key cultural and political event in Alberta”.
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Much of Kenney’s speech appeared aimed at Wildrose supporters and touched on most of that party’s hot-button issues, including parental rights, the NDP’s carbon tax, plans to increase the minimum wage and farm-safety legislation. If Mr. Kenney can smooth over the fractures, he thinks it would be wise for Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives to rebrand.
First, he must win the leadership of the third-place PC party in Alberta, then try to convince the official opposition Wildrose party, which has its own leader, to merge with the PCs under his leadership.
“I’m going to depart from that convention to clearly demonstrate how committed I am to this project of uniting Albertans”, he told reporters in Edmonton. The PCs have changed the rules so that the victor is no longer chosen in a one-person-one-vote system where the general public could join the party to cast a ballot.
As for the new name for the party, Kenney offered his favourite, the Conservative Party of Alberta.
Jason Kenney fleshed out his plans for uniting the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties Thursday and said he will resign his House of Commons seat this fall once the PC leadership race formally gets underway. “And ultimately I am confident that the governing board of the party would respect the grassroots will of its members”, Kenney said. “So the Wildrose Party occasionally demonstrates relatively high levels of support over the past several years, on three occasions polling above 40 percent but in every instance that has slid back down demonstrating an electoral support that is not durable”.
Kenney launched his bid for the PC leadership yesterday in Calgary. “They are family. We are all family together”.
Notley wouldn’t be drawn into a direct comment on Kenney. “I am offering this grass roots guarantee, to make it absolutely clear that a new united party will only be created if approved by a clear majority of grass roots party members in a fair open referendum. So yes, I think that would certainly be a good choice”.
Smith suggested Kenney is “more of a social conservative” when it comes to abortion, LGBTQ rights, pot legalization and assisted dying-issues she calls “foundational for why people join political parties”.
“Albertans I meet can not believe that we have a government that is systematically destroying the Alberta advantage that made this province a magnet for risk-takers and wealth-creators”, Kenney said.
“I would support him in the sense that I’ve been working in the a year ago to try and find a way to unite conservatives”, he said.
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Two former MLAs who followed Smith to the PCs – Rob Anderson and Bruce McAllister – are keen to see Alberta’s right unite and believe Kenney is up to the task. Conservative MLA Sandra Jansen said she opposes the idea of a blended caucus and is concerned about Kenney’s values.
