Discord among Wildrose Party ranks grows as unity vote nears
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said Tuesday the deal to merge his party and the Progressive Conservatives into a new United Conservative Party can’t be changed, despite growing unrest within Wildrose ranks.
The president of the Wildrose party, Jeff Callaway, told Postmedia this week that there is increasing concern within the party over provisions that would see the Wildrose and PC leaders appoint the members of the new party’s interim joint board, policy committee, nomination committee and leadership committee.
Those concerns could be enough to sink the deal in the July 22 ratification vote, which requires 75 per cent approval from Wildrose members at a special meeting, said Callaway, adding the provisions give Jean a leg up in the leadership race that will be immediately underway if the UCP is approved.
But speaking to reporters Tuesday, Jean said those details were hammered out by the negotiating team from each party and that neither he nor Tory Leader Jason Kenney were at the table during the talks. He said he had wanted the board and committee positions to be elected, but each of the leaders are bound to honour the details of the deal.
“We need to follow through with those terms of the agreement. I understand that was part of the agreement in order to get an agreement,” Jean said after speaking at the Global Petroleum Show.
“I believe in unity and I hope that people don’t put obstacles in the place of unity.”
But Callaway said Tuesday that the idea of appointing the board and committee positions came from Jean’s leadership team.
The party president said the wording of the agreement doesn’t need to be changed. Rather, Jean should simply commit to appointing board and committee members who are elected by the party’s executive committee, said Callaway.
“It’s becoming a bit of a germ that can fester and grow, and it’s important that it be dealt with quickly and immediately because it is the absolute primary objection to this deal,” he said.
“I support this deal. I want it to pass. We can address this simply and Brian can agree to it simply as well, and we’re off to the races.”
Other prominent Wildrose members are also chiming in on the issue. The Strathmore-Brooks constituency association recently passed a resolution calling for the positions to be elected by the Wildrose executive committee, not appointed by the leader.
Derek Fildebrandt, the Wildrose MLA for the riding, tweeted that doing so “will help us get a ‘yes’ vote on July 22.”
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes said in an interview the current provisions are a significant stumbling block for a large number of Wildrose members, many already skeptical about the unity plan. While he’s prepared to hold his nose and support the deal at this point, Barnes would have liked a longer period of grassroots consultation to develop the new party before immediately moving into a leadership race.
“The leaders are saying, ‘trust us, trust us to get this right’ ... have these two earned the trust?” said Barnes, who believes the level of opposition within Wildrose might be enough to kill the deal if the vote was held today.
Lee Eddy, president of Wildrose’s Innisfail-Sylvan Lake constituency association, said party members in his riding are evenly split on the deal — with the leader’s power over boards and committees the major problem.
He, too, wants Jean to commit to appointing board members elected by the party executive.
“I’d be voting no, but if Brian came out with that I would switch my vote to yes,” said Eddy.
While the Wildrose must have three-quarters support for the deal to go forward, the Tories require a simple majority vote by its members. Blaise Boehmer, spokesman for Kenney, said in an email that while some Tories have sought clarification about the leaders’ appointment powers in the new deal, no concerns have been raised by PC members.