UCP identity, future on line in Red Deer

Fildebrandt remains in chamber as only conservative to speak on bill

Planning to visit scenic Red Deer this weekend?

Take a pup tent.

Hotels and motels are booked nearly solid for what may be the biggest political convention in the province’s history — the founding meeting of the United Conservative Party.

EDMONTON The United Conservative Party stayed true to its word Thursday, refusing to debate or vote on a bill that will create protest-free bubble zones around abortion clinics.

The number of MLAs on the official Opposition side of the legislature see-sawed between four and eight over the course of the morning’s debate, but fell to zero when it came time to vote on an amendment proposed by Independent Conservative MLA Derek Fildebrandt. The member for Strathmore-Brooks voiced his displeasure with his former colleagues, saying he was “disheartened” to be the only conservative voice to speak on Bill 9.

“I think we have a duty as MLAs and elected officials to speak to legislation, regardless of if we like the bill or not. On this side of the house, we vote against a lot of government bills, but at least most of the time we show up to debate it,” Fildebrandt said, drawing scattered applause from a handful of NDP MLAs.

There are good intentions behind Bill 9, he said, but he worried it was too specific.

“I think almost all of us agree that protesting outside of an abortion clinic is an outright cruel and nasty thing to do, but a law should not target a specific group because we disagree with their political views,” he said.

Fildebrandt originally wanted to amend the bill to broaden its scope, but was told by parliamentary counsel that wouldn’t work.

As such, he proposed tabling the bill for a few days so Health Minister Sarah Hoffman could rejig it, and bring it back to the legislature Monday so it could pass before the end of session. That proposal didn’t fly, defeated 41-1.

It was a similar picture when the assembly revisited the issue following question period Thursday afternoon.

As Hoffman closed debate on second reading of the bill, all 10 UCP MLAs in the legislature stood and walked out.

They returned immediately after the vote, which passed.

Premier Rachel Notley labelled the move “absolutely ridiculous.” She said an entire party shirking its elected responsibilities demonstrated a lack of leadership.

“(It) shows a tremendous level of political cowardice and a failure to do their job,” she said.

UCP Leader Jason Kenney, a vocal abortion opponent, told reporters in April that he would abstain from voting on the legislation, and most of his caucus would follow his lead.

He accused the NDP of playing political games with “divisive social issues.”