Kenney pushes unity at Tory fundraiser
Jason Kenney says he’s concerned by what drove the surge of support for the Labour party in Thursday’s British election and he sees some parallels with what happened in Alberta in the 2015 provincial vote that brought the NDP to power.
The Progressive Conservative leader spoke at a local Tory constituency association fundraiser Friday evening and was asked by a crowd member about the British campaign, which saw a loss of seats by the Conservative government and a hung parliament with no majority party.
Kenney said he was disturbed that Labour under the “unapologetically socialist” Jeremy Corbyn — “the most radically left-wing leader in the history of the Labour party ” — took over 40 per cent of the vote in the United Kingdom.
“It disconcerts me deeply that there are I think a number of firsttime voters ... who have not experienced economic deprivation or adversity and have no historical memory of it or knowledge of the catastrophic failure of socialism in the last century,” he told the crowd of about 75 people gathered at the University of Calgary.
“And who have been able to take for granted being born into the highest standard of living in all of human history and have little or no economic literacy and seem to think that wealth comes from a metaphorical ATM, and that when politicians offer free stuff you vote for it and you get it. ”
Kenney said Alberta NDP policies such as a tuition freeze and a $15 minimum wage look attractive to young voters but damage the economy and leave them struggling to find a job.
He said conservatives need to do a better job of selling the benefits and principles of their policies to youth, and a unified conservative government is needed to reverse NDP policies that hurt the economy.
In May, Kenney and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean unveiled a deal to join their members together in a new United Conservative Party.
Tories and Wildrosers will vote on July 22 whether to give the goahead to the agreement. The PCs require only 50 per cent plus one in a party-wide referendum but Wildrose needs 75 per cent approval from members at a special meeting.
While much work needs to be done, Kenney said he expects both parties’ membership will strongly endorse the deal.
He’s encouraging Albertans to buy a membership in whichever of the two conservative parties they like best — or join both the PCs and Wildrose — to vote for the unity agreement.
Both Jean and Kenney have indicated they will run for the leadership of the UCP, as has Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer.
In the crowd at the event was Wildrose MLA Grant Hunter. The Cardston-Taber-Warner MLA said he won’t endorse anyone in the leadership race until there’s an actual party, but he’s confident Wildrose members will back the deal.
“I think we’re going to do it,” he said.