Exiled Fildebrandt would be wasting his time seeking UCP nomination: Kenney
Jason Kenney says ousted MLA Derek Fildebrandt is wasting his time as he makes noises about fighting for a United Conservative Party nomination.
The UCP leader had in February barred Fildebrandt, the Independent MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, from returning to the UCP caucus or running for the party in the 2019 provincial election because the MLA had not disclosed to him that he faced illegal hunting charges.
But Fildebrandt said in an interview last week that he may seek the UCP nomination in the redrawn riding of Chestermere-Strathmore in any case.
Kenney told Postmedia Monday that Fildebrandt is welcome to try, but he won’t get anywhere.
“If he’s a party member, he could always submit his paperwork, I suppose. But like every candidate, he has to go through the pre-screening process and I’ve already indicated he would not be approved at the vetting stage because he lied to me about outstanding legal issues,” said Kenney.
Kenney said he promised during his run for the UCP leadership that the party would have a rigorous screening process for candidates.
Fildebrandt did not rule out a potential legal challenge over the issue and also said he could run as an Independent in the 2019 election.
On Monday, he announced that Speaker Bob Wanner had agreed to designate him as an “Independent-Conservative” in the legislature.
Fildebrandt believes he has support of his constituents in his riding, but said in a statement that they are being stymied by a “central party elite.”
“Unfortunately, the reality is that in no instance are local members able to select a candidate completely unencumbered from interference of the central party office. More often than not the central party dictates who is an eligible candidate with no ability of local party members to influence the choice,” he said.
The MLA insists the real reason he was blocked from running is that Kenney did not want him to fight Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer for the UCP nomination in the new riding, a suggestion dismissed by the party and Kenney’s office.
Fildebrandt was first elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2015 and was one of the most high-profile members on the Opposition benches as the party’s finance critic.
But the outspoken MLA ran into a series of controversies over the past year, including renting out his taxpayer-funded apartment on Airbnb, double-dipping on meal expenses and being fined $402 last December for backing into his neighbour’s van and driving away.
Kenney dropped the hammer on Fildebrandt in February after he pleaded guilty to the illegal hunting charge, saying he had “misled” him and “exhibited a pattern of behaviour” that did not live up the standards expected of an MLA.