Pair of Tory MLAs cautiously accept melding of parties
Some Progressive Conservative MLAs are ready to give unity with the Wildrose a chance, even as they caution the proposed United Conservative Party can’t move too far to the right. Tory Leader Jason Kenney said earlier this week he didn’t know if all the MLAs in the eight-man PC caucus would move to the new UCP if the unity deal is ratified by PC and Wildrose members Saturday. Five Tory MLAs have vocally backed joining the Wildrose, but the position of other caucus members has been less certain. However, one of those MLAs, Grande Prairie-Wapiti’s Wayne Drysdale, said in an interview this week he will vote for the unity agreement. But Drysdale noted that even as he’s prepared to sit as a UCP MLA, he will be watching to see what direction the new party takes as it’s defined through its leadership contest and policy development. “My values and principles haven’t changed ... and I don’t want the province to be governed by an extremist party,” he said. Drysdale said he’s made his feelings clear to Kenney, the former federal cabinet minister who won the PC leadership in March on a platform of unifying the PCs and Wildrose. Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser said he originally found the notion of unifying with the Wildrose “hard to swallow,” but he has since warmed to the idea and will vote for the agreement. “I have an open mind and hopefully my voice is respected at that table in terms of how I think we should move forward,” he said in an interview this week. Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt, a proponent of the unity deal who is contemplating a leadership run for the new party, has been swinging hard against what he calls “vanilla conservatism.” “If we don’t take immediate steps, it could be just another warmed over Alison Redford-style party of Red Tories,” he said in a fundraising email distributed through the controversial rightwing website The Rebel. Kenney, meanwhile, reiterated Thursday he has always advocated for a broad, open party and that it will be up to the members to decide what the UCP stands for. With Fraser and Drysdale saying they are on board to serve as UCP MLAs, that leaves Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke as the question mark in the PC caucus. Starke, who lost to Kenney in the PC leadership race this March, could not be reached for comment Thursday. But he recently said he continued to have significant concerns about the unity agreement and would make his future plans known after the vote. Meanwhile, the Crown has stayed an assault charge against longtime Calgary political organizer Alan Hallman, his lawyer said Thursday in a text message. Hallman was charged following a March 17 altercation involving security at the Telus Convention Centre, where Kenney had been elected the new Tory leader. Hallman had previously acted as a campaign organizer for Kenney, but was suspended by the party for one year for breaching its leadership code of conduct after posting tweets that were deemed inappropriate.