Backers form fund to vault Jean into premier’s office
‘Fan club’ has already registered as third-party political advertiser
Political war chests are being readied for the expected leadership battle of a new united conservative party.
That party doesn’t even exist yet — it might not form at all — but a group calling itself the Alberta Fund has already registered as a third-party political advertiser. Its mission: To promote Wildrose Leader Brian Jean as the next premier of Alberta.
The fund is chaired by Calgarian David Yager, a longtime Wildroser who stood down from the party’s executive in January to pursue the project.
Joining him as directors are Richard Belt, owner-operator of Golden Acres Honey, and Robert Gazzard, who owns an industrial information technology company.
Yager said the fund started as a research and polling group to figure out if the election of an NDP government was a new trend toward the left in Alberta or a blip on the political radar.
It has since branched out, creating a website called JeanForPremier.ca.
Yager calls it a “fan club.” Whether Jean is up against Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney to head a new party on the right, or battling the NDP in the next provincial election, Yager said the Alberta Fund will be in Jean’s corner.
Yager is the largest donor and the fund hasn’t bought any advertisements to date, but it was registered with Elections Alberta on Feb. 17.
The only other registered third party is the Alberta Federation of Labour.
Under election finance changes made recently by the NDP, any group that partakes in political advertising has to register and report donations and advertising spending.
Christina Gray, the minister responsible for democratic renewal, said her government worked hard to get big money out of politics.
The new rules are fair and balanced, she said, and contain some of the strongest third-party legislation in the country.
When Kenney hit the road to market his idea of a united conservative party last year, his team started up Unite Alberta.
It raked in $500,000 in donations over the summer, spending it all before the PC leadership race officially began Oct. 1, but Kenney’s team says Unite Alberta’s future is unknown.
As with fellow PC candidates Richard Starke and Byron Nelson, Kenney has until May 18 to spend the cash he accrued during the leadership race.
His campaign must then report its finances to Elections Alberta.
Kenney said Sunday he would volunteer Unite Alberta’s financial records at the same time. But unless it starts advertising, Unite Alberta doesn’t have to register as a third party.
The rules define political advertising as a paid message that promotes or opposes a registered party or candidate, or takes a position on an issue with which a party or candidate is associated.
Drew Westwater with Elections Alberta said it’s “a fine line” between what does and does not fall into the political advertising category, but merely promoting the existence of a united conservative party doesn’t.
For Yager, the first meeting between Jean and Kenney “changed everything,” putting unity firmly in the cards.
Supporting politics from the sidelines, he said, has “turned into an absolute industry.”
“I think people are really getting organized.”