Jean says until the PCs make up their mind about their future, Wildrose is the sure bet. That choice will be made next May 27, and the strategic thinking has been, after a strong performance by Interim Leader Rona Ambrose, that the party would be wise not to choose another middle-aged white guy to compete against the shiny object-ness of Justin Trudeau.
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At the annual Stampede Stomp for the Wildrose in Calgary last night, Jean reacted to Calgary MP Jason Kenney’s entry into the PC leadership race.
Kenney now represents the Calgary Midnapore riding in the House of Commons and served as a cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The former Conservative cabinet minister said he would also let his name stand in any race to pick the leader for a newly formed party.
But now they’ll leave the federal scene for Alberta, taking with them the tactics, the political savvy and, most importantly, thousands of contacts Kenney built up over 20 years serving in Ottawa.
Kenney said he will resign his federal seat for Calgary Midnapore when the official provincial leadership race begins October 1.
“Following a crash in the price of our most important commodities, the NDP government has chose to raise taxes on employers, to support Justin Trudeau’s huge new payroll tax, [and] to kill entry level jobs by rising the minimum wage during a recession due to their ideology”, Kenney said.
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.
A mischievous pollster could have a lot of fun by asking Albertans whether they would now rather vote for Rachel Notley or Ralph Klein. “My focus is on moving forward on the values we talked to Albertans about in the last election”, Notley said Wednesday.
Kenney said his organization is exploring whether it is legally possible to merge the PCs and Wildrose under Alberta’s election laws.
“The biggest challenge that I see he faces is he has to win over the rank-and-file members of the Progressive Conservative Party”, Smith said Wednesday afternoon.
About half a dozen others are considering a run for the federal party leadership.
The right-wing in Alberta politics has been fractured ever since.
Kenney hopes to change all that.
“It’s going to be an uphill battle for him. because of some of the positions that he has taken on conservative social issues in the past”, said Smith, who is now a radio host. “That man with a twinkle in his eye”, Kenney said. But the young supporters at his announcement are already confident in Kenney’s prospects.
“Wildrose supporters are not our enemies or our adversaries”.
Former PC ministers and potential candidates may threaten to quit the party if Kenney leads it, as Sandra Jansen did, or call for Kenney’s PC membership to be revoked, as Thomas Lukaszuk did.
The Wildrose emerged as a political force in Alberta about a decade ago when disaffected conservatives grew upset with the long-governing Tories and their perceived drift to the political centre.
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In September 2014, former Conservative MP Patrick Brown announced he would seek the Ontario PC leadership.
