Starke mulls his future as parties attempt to woo province’s last PC MLA
Political parties are courting MLA Richard Starke, who has held out as the last sitting Progressive Conservative member of the Alberta legislature.
Starke said Thursday he hasn’t decided whether he’ll be running in the next election, nor has he decided what banner he would run under.
He said he won’t run for the United Conservative Party, which he refused to join last year after the unification vote between the PCs and Wildrose members. He has called the UCP a “Franken-party.”
“The new party is further to the right than either the Progressive Conservative or the Wildrose parties,” Starke said.
“There certainly are a number of people that joined who have very specific views on issues that I don’t know are mainstream Alberta views.”
It leaves many Albertans looking for a home, he said.
“I talk to people that lament that virtually every day,” he said. “They’re not enamoured with the current government … but they have real reservations about the UCP.”
Starke said he needs to talk with his wife before deciding his next move.
At least one party would welcome Starke into the fold.
“I have always thought very highly of him,” said Alberta Party house leader Greg Clark. “The Alberta Party is growing.”
Starke said Albertans who aren’t in the NDP or UCP camps will have to look at alternatives, whether it’s the Alberta Party or the Liberal Party. “I’ve chatted with (Alberta Liberal Leader) David Khan … but I’m not fundamentally a Liberal,” Starke said.
Freedom Conservative Party Leader Derek Fildebrandt, who launched the party in the summer, also courted Starke. “I have been approached by Derek, but I politely declined,” Starke said.
ALBERTA ENERGY REGULATOR’S CEO TO RESIGN
Jim Ellis, CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator, will resign his position effective Jan. 31, said a Friday news release.
He joined the newly-formed regulator in 2013 and is recognized as helping to build the organization from the ground up.
“Jim’s leadership and strategic vision has been vital to the launch and growth of the Alberta Energy Regulator,” said AER chairwoman Sheila O’Brien in a statement.
The decision has been in the works for several months and the AER board will soon start the search for a new head, the release said.
On Thursday, the AER apologized for estimating it would cost $260 billion to clean up after the provincial oil and gas industry, calling the numbers a “hypothetical worst-case scenario.”
The sector’s accumulated environmental liability is currently estimated at $58.65 billion, it said in a statement.
“This particular estimate was created for a presentation to try and hammer home the message to industry that the current liability system needs improvement,” said a news release.
“Using these estimates was an error in judgment and one we deeply regret.”
ALBERTA FIREFIGHTERS HELPED OUT IN B.C.
Alberta sent more than 680 firefighters to British Columbia this wildfire season along with aircraft and equipment, said a government news release Thursday.
Firefighters travelled to B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Idaho, Montana and Washington in an effort to quell wildfires.
Due to temperate weather and wildfire monitoring as well as prevention measures, Alberta was “lucky in the fire stakes this summer,” said the release.
“As we look back at the end of another fire season, I’m proud that our world-class firefighters and experts were able to step up where they were most needed,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier said in a statement.