Ousted UCP member will head new Freedom Conservative Party

CALGARY A former member of Alberta’s Opposition has been acclaimed as the leader of the Freedom Conservative Party.

Derek Fildebrandt launched the FCP in July after he was turfed from the United Conservative Party following expense scandals and court troubles.

A news release from the FCP says Fildebrandt was the only candidate who successfully completed and submitted the application and deposit.

The Brooks MLA says in the release that he’s humbled to be given a mandate by the new party’s membership, and will now focus on nominating candidates and building a platform for next spring ’s election.

He says that means completely abolishing the carbon tax, cutting government spending, protecting choice in education and taking back provincial control over immigration and justice.

Fildebrandt has previously said the new party will only run candidates in some constituencies, ideally with no party winning a majority of seats, allowing his Freedom Conservatives to join Jason Kenney’s UCP to govern.

“We will give Albertans a clear choice that is neither the big government NDP or the old establishment Tories, but is, instead, dedicated to a free and autonomous Alberta, within Canada, that will build a new Alberta Advantage for the 21st century,” Fildebrandt said in the news release.

Fildebrandt was elected under the Wildrose party banner in the 2015 election, and was a vocal Kenney supporter when the former federal cabinet minister spearheaded a merger of the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose last year to create the new United Conservative Party.

But he quit caucus to sit as an Independent after he was found to have been subletting his taxpayer-subsidized accommodation on Airbnb and double-expensing some meals. He was also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife after he shot a deer on private property.