Alberta’s Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties have agreed to work toward unity after former federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney won the PC leadership Saturday.
It’s a move Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson believes will succeed in uniting the two parties under one banner, with the ultimate goal of defeating the NDP in the next provincial election in 2019.
“I think it’s going to be an interesting spring time and we’ll see what comes out of it,” he said. “But, I think that eventually conservatives will unite in Alberta.”
Anderson said the NDP would have less of a chance of re-election if the two parties merge. He also believes there is a clear interest among many Albertans for the two parties to come together.
Kenney won the PC leadership race, defeating Richard Starke and Byron Nelson with 75 per cent of the vote on a promise to seek a merger with the Wildrose Party.
Kenney and Wildrose leader Brian Jean released a joint statement on March 20 agreeing to work towards party unity.
Both leaders agreed to create discussion teams mandated to reach an agreement. They also agreed to co-operate in the legislature to oppose the NDP government.
“Brian and I had a very constructive, positive meeting,” Kenney said in a prepared statement. “I am encouraged to see that we share a common view about the next steps in the unity process.”
The president of the Highwood Progressive Conservative Association said the group is ready to move forward, though it hasn’t heard anything from Kenney.
“We’re here waiting as a constituency to move on to the next step,” said RJ Sigurdson.
He congratulated all three leadership candidates on their campaign.
Sigurdson said there was a robust discussion on all sides among those in the association during the leadership race, though he doesn’t know how board members voted individually.
He said he supports conservative unity in Alberta.
“There was a lot of debate on both sides and I couldn’t comment for any of the other board members,” he said.
One former Highwood MLA is fully behind the proposed merger.
“From day one, I was on that bandwagon,” said George Groeneveld, a former Alberta agriculture minister.
He said the two parties agreeing to sit down and begin discussions is an important first step.
Groeneveld argued proposals by some leadership candidates not to merge the two parties and instead co-ordinate campaigns would have failed.
Starke proposed agreeing with the Wildrose Party to run candidates in some ridings without an opponent from the other party.
“I couldn’t support any philosophy that might let this NDP government back in,” Groeneveld said.
He said it would’ve been difficult to achieve a suitable agreement and it would’ve opened the door to political deal making.
“How are you ever going to get a bunch of politicians to agree to that? Groeneveld said.
