Kenney says former Tory MLAs in his camp
Supporters feel merger best way to topple NDP, candidate says
Jason Kenney is touting the support of dozens of former Progressive Conservative MLAs as he continues a Tory leadership campaign predicated on replacing the PC party.
On Wednesday, the Kenney campaign released a list of 52 former MLAs who have endorsed the former Conservative MP, who is running for leader on a platform of uniting the PCs with the Wildrose in a new party.
Among the names on the list are Klein-era cabinet ministers such as Steve West, Ty Lund and Stockwell Day.
It also includes a number of former MLAs who lost their seats in the 2015 election that saw the end of the four-decade-old PC dynasty, including Calgary members Moe Amery, Neil Brown, Christine Cusanelli, Gordon Dirks, Kyle Fawcett and Jason Luan.
“They understand that we must honour what’s best about our past, and learn from the mistakes of the past, without getting trapped in the past,” Kenney said in a statement.
Kenney said in an interview that he has been surprised by the number of former MLAs to sign on to his vision of a new united conservative party.
But, he said, those who have endorsed him remember that Wildrose members used to be part of the PCs’ big tent and realize the status quo is not acceptable.
The other contenders in the PC race — former St. Albert MLA Stephen Khan, Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson and Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke — oppose Kenney’s merger idea and are running to rebuild the party under the PC brand.
The endorsements have an additional significance in that former MLAs who live in Alberta and are party members are automatic delegates to the PC convention that will select a new leader next March.
PC party executive director Troy Wason said there are 230 living former Tory MLAs in total. There will be an estimated 1,700 delegates at the leadership convention.
Nelson said he wouldn’t be surprised if Kenney ends up with a quarter of the former MLAs in his corner, but he’s not worried about the effect of the endorsements.
He said Kenney’s pitch that uniting conservatives means a guaranteed win over the NDP in the next provincial election is appealing to former MLAs.
“The people that are buying Kenney’s message ... the ones that are actually pro-merger, tend to be the former people in power, whether it’s the backroom power or, in this case, elected power,” said Nelson.