Anti-abortion group aims to tilt UCP policy
An Alberta pro-life group has begun a push to pressure a potential Jason Kenney-led provincial government to change policy on abortion — from within the United Conservative Party.
The Wilberforce Project is actively recruiting candidates to seek UCP nominations for the next provincial election, while also writing resolutions for the party’s policy convention in May.
It’s hardly the first time such groups have tried to influence a political party, but if Wilberforce succeeds in selling memberships and winning nominations, it has the potential to gain serious influence.
With one month left until Alberta Party members begin casting ballots for a new leader, the three hopefuls vying for that job faced off Wednesday night in Edmonton.
The first of two scheduled debates was a mild-mannered and polite affair. The next one is set for Feb. 8 in Calgary.
About 300 supporters listened to Rick Fraser, Kara Levis and Stephen Mandel weigh in on more than a dozen topics in a sold-out room at the Lister Conference Centre at the University of Alberta.
The debate swung the pendulum of public policy, from flat tax and health care to climate change, bullying, funding public education and the need to invest in transit projects such as high-speed rail.
The key message of the night was putting Alberta above ideology, and toning down the divisive rhetoric of provincial politics.
The leadership race had a slow start when former leader Greg Clark stepped down in November (he remains an Alberta Party MLA). A month later, only Levis, a Calgary energy lawyer, had put up signs and jumped into the contest.
Mandel and Fraser, both former Progressive Conservative MLAs, entered the race just days before the cut-off.
Still holding some of the baggage of the former PCs, Fraser admitted to past mistakes by his former government. Take rural Alberta. His party, when it was in power, failed to help communities transition to other industries as the end of coal-generated electricity grew closer, he said.
For Levis, the key word was courage, and considering plans other parties won’t. That included muttering the political equivalent of a swear-word when she proposed a value-added, point-of-sale tax.
Mandel, a former Edmonton mayor, slammed that idea, pointing out Alberta needs to learn how to spend less before imposing more taxes. Any proposal like that, he said, needs to go to a referendum.
The two-hour debate was the first chance for a good chunk of party newcomers to get to know who wants to be their leader, and their visions for the third-place party. That’s especially important for a party that has been slowly but steadily attracting members and donations since mid-2017, following the successful conservative unity vote between the PCs and the Wildrose.
Finally, candidates spoke about their visions for the party — an area on which they all agreed. To win, they said, the party must grow.
“It’s time to throw out the old political playbook, and do something different,” Levis said.
Members will cast votes in a preferential online ballot from Feb. 25, with the winner announced Feb. 27.