Alberta PC MLA opts out of Wildrose merger
EDMONTON — One of Alberta’s eight Progressive Conservative legislature members says he won’t be joining the new coalition with the Wildrose.
Richard Starke says he has not been happy with the policy direction under PC Leader Jason Kenney and has no faith that will change under the new United Conservative Party.
“The tone and the direction and the statements of the (PC) party are not consistent with what I believe to progressive conservatism,” Starke said Monday in an interview.
“It’s demonstrating a hardness in its attitude towards a number of issues, and a level of partisanship that I don’t think is constructive and I don’t think is helpful for the people of Alberta.”
Starke cited Kenney’s comments earlier this year on gay-straight alliances in schools. Gay straight alliances are student-organized support networks to help students feel welcome.
Kenney has said schools should inform parents if their child joins a GSA as long as it doesn’t put the child at risk. Critics say that effectively outs a child and could put them at harm of family estrangement or worse.
“As far as I’m concerned (the GSA legislation) is there to protect vulnerable students and to be ambiguous as to whether schools would be informing parents is a fundamental problem,” said Starke.
He said he was also concerned that Kenney did not attend the recent Pride events last month. Starke went in his place.
Starke, a two-term member of the legislature, ran and lost against Kenney for the PC party leadership this year on a platform of social progressivism.
He said he has concerns with Kenney’s management style, focusing on a promise made by Kenney after his leadership win in March.
Starke said Kenney promised to the PC executive to strike a committee that would advise the bargaining team that ultimately brokered a merger with the Wildrose.
“I wanted to be on that committee and I was told I would be on that committee. That committee never met and was never constituted,” he said.
He said that underscored a lack of interest in competing viewpoints.
“I was willing to and in fact eager to provide input and advice,” he said.
Kenney’s team declined comment.
Starke said he will stay on in the legislature sitting as the lone member of the PC caucus.
Elections Alberta said he will be allowed to do so until the PC party officially deregisters.
Starke said he owes it to his constituents to represent what they voted for.
“I was elected as a Progressive Conservative member,” he said.
Over the weekend, members of the Wildrose party and the PCs voted overwhelmingly to join forces in time for the next election in 2019.
Members on both sides voted around 95 per cent in favour of joining forces in time to field candidates in time for the spring 2019 election.
The two caucuses were set to meet for the first time Monday afternoon and select an interim leader.
A new permanent leader will be picked on Oct. 28. Kenney, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and longtime conservative strategist Doug Schweitzer have already said they will run.