‘WE CAN WIN HERE’,
Kenney continues to reinforce narrative that he will protect Alberta from Ottawa
United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Brian Jean is appealing to ambivalent party members before they cast ballots, says a political scientist.
“What he’s trying to do is focus on the numerous polls that are indicating that amongst Albertans generally, he’s significantly more popular, more likely to be elected, than Jason Kenney,” Lori Williams, associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said Tuesday.
“We know there are cheerleaders for Jason Kenney and they’re not going to change their votes, but there are those who are looking at the bigger picture.”
The UCP will announce a leader Saturday, Oct. 28, after votes are cast in a one-member, one-vote preferential ballot system. Jean is facing off against Kenney, former leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, and Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer.
STRATEGY
On Tuesday, Jean announced his strategy to win the 2019 provincial election if elected as UCP leader. The news conference took place outside the Edmonton-Strathcona constituency office for Premier Rachel Notley, with the makeshift podium touting the slogan “We can win here.”
“It’s what some in our party call the heart of darkness for Alberta conservatives; it’s a riding that some say is simply unwinnable for conservatives in Alberta,” Jean said. “I say that’s nonsense.”
The former Wildrose leader said if he’s elected leader, he will begin work immediately to prepare for the provincial election expected in 2019.
We need a leader who will bring Albertans together in such overwhelming numbers that the NDP won’t stand a chance.
This would include tasking constituency associations to start searching for high-quality candidates and building a war chest responsible for taking on the NDP and outside interest groups, he said.
His third priority would be to create a platform out of policies decided upon by UCP members, he said.
“We need a leader who will bring Albertans together in such overwhelming numbers that the NDP won’t stand a chance,” he said.
Jean urged party members to vote for him, suggesting he would have the best chance of winning across the province in the future — “conservatives ignore the opinions of the general electorate at their own peril.”
Williams said conservatives who voted to merge the Wildrose and the Progressive Conservative parties “for pragmatic reasons” — believing a united party would more likely win the next provincial election — may be persuaded.
Two significant messages that polling is sending to the party are “that the conservatives in Alberta think they are entitled to govern, which is a problem for them, and that the UCP is too socially conservative,” Williams said. “Apparently, they’re bigger problems for Jason Kenney than for Brian Jean.”
Kenney arrived in a blue pickup to a town hall in Edmonton on Tuesday night, where he reiterated the messages he has delivered along the campaign trail, criticizing the NDP’s carbon tax and curriculum overhaul.
He told supporters they would need to decide who has “the right experience, temperament and skills” to be an effective premier.
“Perhaps most importantly, we will need a premier who can stand up with skill and strength and defend our province and her economy from the growing attacks from Justin Trudeau and the Ottawa Liberals,” he said.