Alberta Party hoping to cash in
The leader of the Alberta Party says the ongoing turmoil with the Progressive Conservatives has created a strategic opportunity for his party to court disenchanted MLAs and supporters.
“We are going to be aggressive,” Greg Clark said Thursday during a stop at the legislature. “A lot of Albertans who supported Alison Redford and the PC party don’t have a political home right now.”
Clark said Redford’s decline over the last month has led to an increase in fundraising and expressions of interest in joining the Alberta Party, which currently has no elected members. He said preliminary talks have been going on with politicians from other parties.
“This gives an opportunity to take those conversations out of the shadows and to have a discussion with elected MLAs and supporters of other parties about how we are going to build the future of this province,” Clark said. “What I’m seeing is significant interest in the Alberta Party with conversations I’m having. People are telling us that we need something different, we need to break the log jam.”
Clark said his party is set to launch a new online campaign in the next couple of weeks.
The provincial Liberals are also trying to capitalize on the Tories’ recent dip in popularity.
Leader Raj Sherman sent a letter to supporters Friday vowing he would personally match any donation made to the party this month up to a maximum of $15,000.
“The possibility of an early election is very real now. The next PC leader will be under a lot of pressure to go to the polls to get a mandate from the people,” Sherman wrote in the email.