Kenney seeks quick Calgary seat
New UCP leader wants to battle NDP in legislature ‘without delay’
Newly minted United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney will immediately seek a seat in the Alberta legislature as a longserving Calgary MLA said Sunday he would step aside to clear the way for the former federal cabinet minister.
A day after Kenney’s decisive victory in the inaugural UCP leadership race, Dave Rodney, the MLA for Calgary-Lougheed since 2004, announced he would resign his seat as of Wednesday.
In a news conference with Rodney by his side, Kenney said he hoped Premier Rachel Notley will call a byelection to be held before Christmas, so he could “enter the legislature without delay as the leader of the Opposition.”
“I feel it’s my responsibility to do so,” he told reporters at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel.
“There is a constitutional responsibility for the Opposition to be prepared to be an alternative government. And the leader needs to be there.”
Calgary-Lougheed, in the south of the city, has long been an area of strength for conservatives, though Rodney only narrowly beat the NDP candidate in the 2015 election. The riding is adjacent to the area Kenney represented as an MP under the Reform, Canadian Alliance and Conservative banners for close to two decades.
Rodney, originally elected as a Progressive Conservative under former premier Ralph Klein, said he offered to give up his seat, though he isn’t ruling out running again in the future.
“Part of me finds it extremely difficult to step aside right now, at least for now, but I am confident that now is exactly the right time to do that ... Jason Kenney deserves a place in the legislature to share his vision with Albertans,” said Rodney, who focused on health and wellness issues in office and served briefly in Alison Redford’s cabinet.
Under provincial law, the byelection call must happen within six months of a seat becoming vacant.
Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman thanked Rodney for his service but was non-committal on a byelection timeline Sunday, saying that Notley will have a number of factors to consider.
In an interview she reiterated her congratulations to Kenney but suggested he expected to simply waltz into the premier’s office.
“He’s making a lot of assumptions about how easy this will be,” said Hoffman. “Albertans certainly responded to that culture of entitlement under the last government.”
Kenney will be at the legislature Monday for the start of the fall sitting, where he is expected to announce who will lead the UCP caucus in the house until he is able to enter the legislature. Kenney thanked Nathan Cooper, who has been the UCP’s interim leader since Progressive Conservative and Wildrose members voted to form the new party this summer, for his service.
The byelection, whenever it is called, will be just the latest election in a whirlwind year for Kenney. Kenney won the UCP leadership handily Saturday, taking 61.1 per cent of the vote to 31.5 per cent for former Wildrose leader Brian Jean and 7.3 per cent for Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer.
It was the culmination of 16 months of work by Kenney, who in July 2016 entered the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership race with a platform of uniting the PCs with the Wildrose.
After Kenney won the Tory leadership handily in March, negotiations between the two parties began shortly thereafter, ending in an agreement that was ratified by members in July.
Other issues now facing Kenney include reorganizing the UCP caucus staff and working with UCP MLAs — including Jean and the 11 MLAs who endorsed him — on the party’s strategy for the fall legislative session that begins Monday.
Jean, who did not speak to reporters at the leadership announcement Saturday, is expected to comment at the legislature Monday. Kenney said he wants to sit down with the Fort McMurrayConklin MLA and offer him “an important role” within the new UCP caucus.
In the longer run, the fledgling party needs to put meat on the bones of its policies, with a founding convention slated for May 2018.
Kenney promised during the leadership campaign to leave policy specifics to party members, but he did commit to scrapping the NDP government’s carbon levy, slashing spending and taking an aggressive stance against Ottawa or any province seen to be impeding pipelines.
Known as a staunch fiscal and social conservative during his time in Ottawa, Kenney has repeatedly called for a big-tent, inclusive provincial party.
But issues such as gay-straight alliances for students, where Kenney favours some instances of parental notification, and the recent debate over sex education in Catholic schools, could turn into potential flashpoints.
The NDP has already zeroed in on those positions, though Kenney dismissed their criticisms as “the NDP anger machine.”
It’s not just the NDP who have Kenney in their sights, however. Both the Liberals and Alberta Party are hoping disaffected moderates will have little use for a Kenney-led UCP.
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark suggested Kenney “represents a far-right view of Alberta.”
“His views on those socially conservative issues are very well documented,” he said. “A majority of Albertans reject those views.”
In the fall session, the NDP will introduce legislation that would forbid schools from notifying parents if their children join GSAs to prevent them from being outed.
Kenney said he would not comment until he sees the bill.