Some Tories ready to bolt from party if Kenney wins
Longtime members of Lougheed’s PCs planning to ‘cut up’ their memberships
As Jason Kenney appears increasingly likely to become captain of the Progressive Conservative party, some longtime Tories are prepared to jump ship.
Kenney, the former federal cabinet minister running on a platform of uniting the PCs with the Wildrose, has claimed to already hold a majority of the delegates to next month’s leadership convention in Calgary.
While the other candidates in the race — MLA Richard Starke and Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson — are pushing back against the narrative that Kenney has it in the bag, there’s little question the former MP is in the lead.
Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk said he has no doubt that Kenney will win at the March 18 convention.
“The first thing I will do … is cut up my PC membership and proceed to engage in a constructive, positive dialogue wherever the platform may be,” he said in an interview this week.
“Whether there will be one to join or there will be one to create, I am not sure yet. But I’m sure that there will be one for me to find a home.”
Kenney’s plan calls for negotiations with the Wildrose to reach a unification deal that would be approved by membership of each party. Since Elections Alberta says party mergers aren’t allowed under provincial law, Kenney is advocating the formation of a new single united conservative party.
The idea of winding down the PC party, which governed Alberta for 44 years before its 2015 defeat by Rachel Notley’s NDP, doesn’t sit well with many Tories. There is also a concern among many, including Lukaszuk, that Kenney’s plan for a new party will include a significant rightward shift, especially on social issues.
Former PC MLA, leadership candidate and senator Ron Ghitter said he gave up on the Tories months ago when he saw the writing on the wall that Kenney would win.
“My party’s being stolen away from me,” said Ghitter with a wry laugh.
Ghitter noted that while Kenney says he wants to rebuild the coalition that existed under former premier Peter Lougheed, he “bears no resemblance” to the Alberta political icon.
“(Lougheed) always said you win elections and you provide good government by being in the middle. There’s none of this right or left; you do what is right for people. So when someone like Mr. Kenney invokes the name of Peter Lougheed, I don’t accept that,” said Ghitter.
Another former MLA who served under Lougheed said he will wait and see whether Kenney wins and how he proceeds.
“There are three ways a person can deal with their vote; they can vote for the party they voted for before or they can switch to another political party or they can stay at home,” said former cabinet minister Jim Horsman.
“And I’m considering all three options.”
A number of PCs say they will give Kenney a chance as leader but acknowledge they are prepared to walk out the door if they don’t like what they see.
“I would kind of want to see where Jason Kenney takes us in terms of issues that are important to me,” said Susan Elliott, who managed the party’s successful 2012 provincial election campaign.
“He and his supporters have a tendency to say ‘well, we agree on 80 or 90 per cent of things.’ And that may or may not be true, but the 10 or 20 per cent of things on which we don’t agree are important. Some of it is just a tone or attitude,” said Elliott.
Kenney has said from the start of the campaign that he wants to build a big-tent coalition that will welcome the progressive wing of the PCs but acknowledged that some will fall away.
In an interview earlier this week, Kenney said his success so far in the race is due to having support within all factions of the party, noting the large number of former MLAs backing him.
“But we need to keep reaching out and I intend to do that. That’s what I’m doing for much of the next month. There is a very deliberate effort to reach out to the folks who have not supported us to date to encourage them to stay involved. There’s a critically important role for them in this party,” he said.
Kenney has dismissed concerns he would take the party in an overtly social conservative direction, noting that as federal minister he had introduced the first program to resettle gay refugees and in nearly two decades as an MP he never proposed a motion or gave a speech about abortion.
Joey Oberhoffner, a former member of the PC board, acknowledged Kenney has struck a reassuring note in the campaign but yet at the same time retains strong support from groups such as antiabortion activists.
He said he’ll give Kenney an opportunity if he wins, but admits it’s likely he will end up leaving the party he joined when Ralph Klein was leader.
“I don’t hold out a lot of hope that I’m going to hear a lot as a social progressive that gives me cause for optimism that I have a place at the table,” said Oberhoffner.
So when someone like Mr. Kenney invokes the name of Peter Lougheed, I don’t accept that.