Could the right unite once again in Alberta?
Rumours have been swirling of late about members of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties chatting about the possibility of teaming back up.
Thomas Lukaszuk, former PC cabinet minister and St. Albert resident, is vehemently against such a move. He’s been vocal about his opposition to the concept of “unite the right.”
Lukaszuk said the idea is driven in part by a desire to form government again, something he said is shallow.
“It’s not driven by what the province should look like,” he said.
There are some fundamental differences between the Wildrose and PC parties, he said.
“There’s a reason why Wildrose split and formed itself,” he said. While there are some similarities on fiscal policy, when it comes to social policy he thinks there are big differences, especially with files like supports for LBGTQ students in school.
That said, he worries that “some are willing to drop the progressive part” to get back into power.
“Some simply long for the good old days of being in power, and they will go to bed with anyone just to get there again,” he said.
“We don’t need to unite the right, we need to unite the right people,” he said.
It would be easier for federal Conservatives if the right in Alberta was united, he said. But pressure to unite the right also is coming from those provincial Tories who are willing to consider combining.
Lukaszuk suggested the Wildrose needs the Tories because of a planned seat redistribution, which could increase the need for the Wildrose to develop more appeal in urban Alberta.
There might be some merging or some movement, but Lukaszuk said he didn’t believe that Progressive Conservatives “who actually have the best interests of the province at heart beyond just getting into government would bite the bait.”
Former mayor Richard Plain is a board member of the St. Albert Progressive Conservative constituency association and said there have been no formal moves for the parties to join up.
“There’s some informal chats back and forth, but there’s no party discussion,” he said. The Progressive Conservatives are getting ready for an upcoming policy meeting in Red Deer he said.
Jaye Walter, a Wildrose Party member who ran as a candidate in May’s provincial election in the Spruce Grove-St. Albert riding, is certainly in favour of the idea of unification.
While Walter made it clear he was speaking only on behalf of himself, not the party or the constituency association he is now president of, he said he was “absolutely” in favour of the idea.
“This isn’t about ego or power, but about the future of this province. A united Conservative party would grow the economy and create opportunities for everyone,” Walter said.
He speculated that if the NDP governed from the centre rather than what he called the “radical left” there’d be less chance that such talks would be occurring.
Walter said he’s had a number of conversations with Wildrose Party members, the business community and PC members, and he worries that continuing down a split path could do “irreparable damage” to Alberta.
He said as a constituency association president, he is supposed to go out and talk to Progressive Conservatives about the idea of unification.
Liam Connelly, who finds himself in the position of having been asked to sit on local boards for both parties, also hopes for unity.
“I am at the stage where I feel I can be a member of both parties. I really don’t know if I want to get tied fully to a party executive at this stage, because I would rather see a unified front,” he said.
“Conservatism in Canada is really a three-legged stool, made up of fiscal, social and progressive conservatives,” Connelly said. That stool has split, he said, and he thinks it needs to be put back together.
“We need to bring those sides back together again. Unfortunately I think some are going to come kicking and screaming,” he said.
He said an entirely new banner is needed, rather than doing it under the Wildrose or Progressive Conservative standards.
“If the conservatives in Canada want to be back in government, and want to properly govern, they have to be able to encompass the fiscal, social and progressive side of things,” Connelly said.
Connelly said for someone like Lukaszuk to say no, he thinks it appears Lukaszuk is moving too far to the left.
