Starke still not sold on PC/ Wildrose merger

A Progressive Conservative MLA and former leadership candidate says he still has major reservations about a proposal to unite the Tories with the Wildrose in a new party.

But Vermilion- Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke said in an interview he isn’t actively campaigning against the party’s agreement with the Wildrose, saying it will be up to party members to decide on the deal when they vote later this month.

Starke finished a distant second to Jason Kenney at the PC’s March leadership convention while standing firmly against Kenney’s call to unite with Wildrose.

“I continue to have many concerns that I had prior to the deal being released. Those concerns were not allayed by the terms of the deal that were announced on May 18. But ultimately it’s a decision for members to make,” said Starke.

PC members will vote on the unity agreement by phone or internet from July 20 to 22, with a simple majority needed for its ratification. Wildrose will require 75 per cent approval by its members in a special general meeting on July 22.

During the PC leadership race, Starke warned that unifying with the Wildrose would push the party to the right and end the Tory tradition of being a big tent party. He also assailed Kenney for running a “scorched earth” campaign during the contest.

Starke declined to elaborate on his concerns about the unity deal this week but said “if you were listening through the leadership campaign … they largely haven’t changed.”

Some longtime Tories have left the party since Kenney’s victory this spring, with former party president Katherine O’Neill currently leading an effort to unite centrists ahead of the 2019 vote.

Asked about his own future, Starke said “we’ll make that decision when the vote results are announced for both parties.”