Small “c' conservatives are hoping the axiom “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” will lead to a new government in the future.
Small “c' conservatives are hoping the axiom “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” will lead to a new government in the future.
Members of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties both voted 95 per cent in favour of merging to form the United Conservative Party over the weekend.
“What an overwhelming result,” said Pat Stier, the Wildrose MLA for Livingstone-Macleod. “I wasn't too surprised by the PCs, but a bit surprised by the numbers on our side. We had thought there would have been more dissension than there was.”
The Wildrose needed 75 per cent support to accept the merger.
The merger was an attempt to unite Alberta conservatives after the Rachel Notley-led NDP knocked out the Progressive Conservative government in the 2015 election after 44 years of the PC being in power. At present, the NDP has 55 seats, the official opposition Wildrose has 22 and the PC has 8. When the new party is confirmed it will have a caucus of 30. The next provincial election is scheduled for 2019.
Stier was part of a joint PC-Wildrose team to establish the framework of a potential merger.
“We made it very clear that we were not meeting in the backroom doing a top-down type of directive,” Stier said. “We were leaving the policy and the constitution up to the new members and the grassroots.”
The new party chose Wildrose MLA for Olds Nathan Cooper as interim leader during a caucus meeting in Edmonton Monday. Members will choose a party leader in October. He or she is expected to be selected before the next seating of the legislature in late October.
Wildrose Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson said the overwhelming support for the merger sets the path for the future.
“The level of support from Wildrose and the same thing from the PC party — 27,000 people voting and 25,000 voting in either party — 95 per cent yes for unification sends a strong message in Alberta that we are unified and ready to move forward,” he said. “It shows Albertans are tired of this NDP government and are ready to move forward.”
While the new party will set its sights on the NDP, when the Wildrose was formed in the 2000s it was formed to take on the PCs.
“We accomplished a lot of the things that we set out to do in the original mandate of 2008-2009 — we were worried about the fiscal management of the PCs at that time, property rights and the royalty review,” Stier said. “All of those things have been addressed more or less.”
Anderson agreed.
“In 2006, when Mr. (Ed) Stelmach rolled into his (PC) leadership role we saw a couple of years that the PC party was becoming a little more diluted with what we called “Red Tories,'” said Anderson, a former PC member. “We became disenfranchised with the regime.”
He said that alienation was inflamed with some of the controversies of the Alison Redford PC government.
That's yesterday's news.
“A lot of the folks who were with the PC party at the time have now moved on,” Anderson said. “Now a lot of people have parked their egos and stayed focused on the right thing.
“The right thing is to get rid of the NDP and bring back the Alberta Advantage.”
George Groeneveld was the last elected PC Highwood MLA. Groeneveld, who calls himself a fiscal conservative, was pleased with the results.
“It couldn't have worked out better,” he said. “It is good balance there — there is none of this, “We did better than you did,' kind of thing.”
Groeneveld said he was concerned the Wildrose would not hit the 75 per cent threshold needed to dissolve the party.
“We cleared that hurdle very well,” he said.
Groeneveld said one result is the United Conservative Party could lose members of the further right portion of the Wildrose and left-leaning PCs.
“No doubt we will drop some far righters and some social conservatives,” Groeneveld said. “That won't hurt to lose those.”
The former agriculture minister said he has mixed feelings about the death of the Progressive Conservatives.
“I didn't like what happened after I left,” said Groeneveld, who did not seek re-election in 2012. “To me, they got more to the left. They weren't even close to centre as far a I was concerned.”
Leslie Mahoney ran for the Highwood seat for the NDP against Anderson in 2015. She said Albertans were ready for a change in 2015 after years of PC rule.
She believes the Notley government can survive running against the united conservative front in the next election.
“I think the same as 2105, a statement was made in what they want in Alberta,” Mahoney said from Victoria. “A progressive trustworthy government, quite innovative. Something different than the usual right-wing policies that have been running for the past 40 years.”
She said Albertans will also be concerned about potential cuts to services under the new party. She readily admitted the new party will likely do quite well in the Highwood.
Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith won the Highwood seat in 2012. She would become the last PC member to represent Highwood when she crossed the floor in December 2014.
Brian Jean and Jason Kenney, the leaders of the Wildrose and PC parties respectively before the merger vote, are expected to seek the leadership of the new party. They cannot run as interim leader.
Stier added having the new party in place now will help it get organized if an election is called before 2019.
