Kenney unsure if all Tory MLAs ready to move to new party

Tory Leader Jason Kenney says he’s confident a new United Conservative Party is about to be launched, though he isn’t sure if all PC MLAs will be on board.

Progressive Conservative members will begin three days of voting on Thursday on whether to ratify the agreement with the Wildrose that would see the two parties unite to form the new UCP.

Wildrose members will vote on the deal Saturday either in person or remotely in a special party meeting in Red Deer.

If the agreement is approved July 22, PC and Wildrose MLAs are expected to come together to form a single UCP caucus in the legislature, which will elect an interim leader.

However, Kenney said in an interview Tuesday he did not know if all PC members will move to the new caucus.

“I haven’t spoken to all of our caucus members but I hope they do. But I’ll respect their individual decisions,” he said.

Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, who finished a distant second to Kenney in this year’s PC leadership contest, recently said he still has major concerns about the unity deal. He said he would make a decision on his political future after the July 22 vote.

Financial documents posted on the Elections Alberta website Tuesday showed Kenney raised a whopping $1,052,185 during the leadership race and spent just a bit more, ending up with a $3,618 deficit for the campaign. Kenney’s camp also says it raised a further $508,000 through its United Alberta organization in the pre-writ period.

Starke, in contrast, raised and spent $192,602.

Kenney’s leadership campaign and unity push was endorsed by Calgary MLAs Mike Ellis, Prab Gill, Dave Rodney and Richard Gotfried.

PC caucus leader Ric McIver has also backed the unity deal. Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser said Tuesday he will vote in favour of the agreement and join the UCP caucus.

The remaining MLA in caucus, Wayne Drysdale, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, who spoke at a unity rally in Calgary on Tuesday night, said there is not 100 per cent certainty in politics but he expected all 22 members of the Wildrose caucus to become UCP MLAs.

“My expectation is always to consult and to find common ground, and to find a way to unify and move forward on that common ground, and I believe we’ve done that with our caucus,” Jean told reporters.

Jean also believes the deal will get the thumbs-up this weekend, despite Wildrose having a 75 per cent threshold for it to be approved. The PC party requires only a simple majority vote.

Beyond the two caucuses coming together, ratification will set off a leadership race. Jean told the crowd of more than 100 at the Crescent Heights community hall that if the deal is approved, he will shortly thereafter resign the Wildrose leadership in order to seek the UCP’s top job.

With Kenney also set to run, the incipient leadership contest has hung over the unity process.

Kenney said Tuesday that comments made by Jean last week appeared to be “a prelude to the leadership election.”

The Wildrose leader caused a stir among some conservatives when he told Postmedia there is no appetite for an ideological “hard right” government in Alberta, casting himself as a “common-sense conservative” who would not make radical budget cuts.

Kenney said Jean shouldn’t be using the “pejorative” language of the left, saying there will be time for the party to hash out its differences in the leadership race after ratification.

“When I describe a big-tent coalition, that implies there are going to be different views occurring within it and those views will become evident if the unity agreement is ratified,” said Kenney.

Jean said his focus is on the unity vote.