Foes step up opposition to unity deal
With the plan to unite Alberta’s provincial conservatives into one party going to a vote in two weeks, some Wildrose members are stepping up their opposition to the party’s deal with the Tories — and making preparations for a new party if it is approved.
The pact to unify with the Progressive Conservatives in a new “United Conservative Party” requires 75 per cent approval of Wildrose members at a special meeting of the party that will be held July 22.
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, often accompanied by members of his caucus, is criss-crossing the province to sell the agreement, and no Wildrose MLAs have publicly opposed the plan.
But a number of constituency association presidents and other Wildrose members are now speaking out against the deal.
David Inscho, the president of Wildrose’s Lac La Biche- St. PaulTwo Hills constituency association, said the unity agreement — which was negotiated behind closed doors by representatives of each party — is a “top-down” deal that doesn’t respect the grassroots nature of Wildrose.
“This goes 100 per cent against everything that the Wildrose stands for,” said Inscho, a former member of Wildrose’s executive committee.
The agreement, if approved, will see Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney appoint a number of committees to address issues such as nominations, policy and a leadership contest that will culminate in an October vote. The new UCP will fully develop its policy in a convention tentatively scheduled for early 2018.
“If this gets voted in and goes forward, you have absolutely no idea what you’re going to have as a party. There’s no guarantees, there’s absolutely nothing,” said Inscho.
Brad Jarovsky, president of the Wildrose constituency association in Whitecourt- Ste. Anne, said he can’t support an agreement that would link up Wildrose with the Tories’ “old boys and gals club.”
“Wildrose is more of a movement than a political party and the PCs are always a political party and I think that the two don’t mesh together,” he said in an interview.
Jarovsky said under no circumstances would he join the UCP.
Marilyn Burns, one of the founders of the Wildrose in its original incarnation in 2007, said that if the unity agreement goes ahead, a meeting will be held on July 29 with the aim of starting a new party that will carry on with Wildrose principles.
“There are so many people in the Wildrose who want the Wildrose to continue,” Burns, president of Wildrose’s Edmonton- South West constituency association, said.
The local Wildrose officials are also critical of Jean — who was not made available for comment — over his leadership on the issue, accusing him of plotting ways to unite the right under his leadership rather than strengthening Wildrose.
Earlier this year, Burns filed a complaint with the party seeking to have the leader’s Wildrose membership suspended for registering the Conservative Party of Alberta Association as a society in 2016.
Wildrose’s 75 per cent threshold has been seen as the biggest hurdle to the unity deal being approved.
In contrast, the PCs only need a simple majority in their phone and internet vote, which will run from July 20 to 22.
The anti-unification Wildrosers have differing takes on whether the deal will win approval within their party, with Jarovsky resigned to it happening, Inscho believing members are split and Burns saying she “wouldn’t even bet a chocolate bar” on what the outcome will be.
But Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House- Sundre MLA Jason Nixon, who sat on Wildrose’s negotiating team for the unity deal, said he’s confident the deal will be ratified and those opposed to it don’t represent any kind of groundswell within Wildrose ranks.
He said the concerns about the plan are misguided.
“The deal itself puts the membership of the new party, including the Wildrose members, 100 per cent in the drivers seat,” said Nixon.
“In the end, there’s no guarantee in anything. There’s no guarantee under the current Wildrose framework other than that the membership gets to decide what direction the party goes in. And that guarantee is carried over to the new party if members choose to ratify the deal.” jwood@postmedia.com