For those of us that have any kind of political sense, something great is upon us. Since the conclusion of the last provincial election many people have been trying to get the provincial Progressive Conservatives, and the Wildrose Party together. After a few attempts, mostly through political action committees, Jason Kenney took matters into his own hands. Kenney threw his hat in the ring for leader of the PC Party and ran a unity campaign. Of course this ruffled a few feathers as he was obviously bringing an Alberta institution to a close. I, for one, applauded the initiative - others say this is all about his leadership of the new entity.
Speaking of leadership, I don’t think it is a fait accompli. Many of us supported Jason for the exact reason why he ran. With the formation of the United Conservative Party (UCP), we enter a new chapter. I expect to see many come out of the woodwork to take a shot at the top job. Don’t forget there is a guy by the name of Brian Jean who is at the forefront. He also happens to be the leader of the opposition.
Now to the task at hand, I was provided with a copy of the agreement between the two parties. At first glance, it looks very good - lots of solid conservative values that are representative of both parties. I have always said there really was only 10 per cent difference between the two groups but sometimes that 10 per cent is very polarizing. There are a few tricky parts, like how you dissolve two parties and start a new one without taking funds from these parties to start the new one.
A joint board will be built with equal representation from the legacy parties. From this you get to the dry but important side of party politics. These things include policy, finance, nominations and leadership committees. These are the inner working parts of a well-functioning political party. According to the agreement, the parties will use up existing funds to get this done and then start new once the UCP is created. The leadership convention will happen in October this year, and it will be one member, one vote with a lengthy cut off period. This will end the “two minute Tory” phenomena we have had to deal with in the past.
All this is carefully thought out with a bunch of good work from the unification committee. For politico’s like me, this gives a sense of solid ground that will provide traction going forward. Here is the important fact that may not be front and center - everyone that holds a membership in either party has to vote yes to make it go through. The PC side is very easy with a 50-per cent-plus one threshold. The Wildrose side has a 75-per cent-plus one ratification threshold so this really needs to have everyone behind it.
The problem in politics is simple. It is spelled P-O-W-E-R and runs from grassroots to leadership in every political entity known to man. There may be those that think that submarining this deal and going it alone is one way to proceed. If I hear how the Wildrose is polling high and they could win it tomorrow, let me remind people of what happens in politics.
Enter our current provincial government, Donald Trump, or even his worship Naheed Nenshi. These are all shiny examples of what I call political dark horses. Anyone that has a crystal ball in politics is completely misleading you, I can promise that. Run like you are 10 points behind is actually my favorite political saying.
