Merger igniter Jason Kenney made an appearance at “ground zero” Oct. 18 – the Cochrane Legion – where the unity movement began 16 months ago, as the hopeful future leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) prepares for this weekend.
Kenney, the last leader of the now defunct PC Party and former federal cabinet minister, is running against former Wildrose leader, Brian Jean, and Calgary lawyer and social moderate Doug Schweitzer to become the first elected leader of what will be the official opposition party to the ruling NDP; Nathan Cooper is the current UCP interim leader.
Jean made his last stop in Cochrane earlier this month, advocating for UCP party members to register in order to be able to vote in the leadership race.
Voting is for UCP party members who registered to vote and begins today (Oct. 26) at 9 a.m. via online and phone and ends Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m.
“We have gone from 25,000 to 117,000 memberships,” said Kenney – which he said makes the UCP the second largest political party in the country. He added the grassroots-propelled movement is best qualified to ensure “this quadrupling tax-raising government” is “one and done.”
Kenney reiterated much of what he has highlighted about the perceived failings of the NDP government in his previous Cochrane stops since coming out of the gate with a pledge to unite the two provincial conservative parties in July 2016.
He incited applause when touching on hot-button topics including Bill 6, minimum wage hikes, rising taxes, the provincial carbon tax, the curriculum rewrite and politicizing in the classroom, regulatory uncertainty and the boost in reckless public sector hiring without adding sufficient front line resources and the inabilities of the province to stand up to the federal Liberals.
He spoke to the recent decision to quash Energy East and Eastern Mainline projects, shaking his head at what he referred to as “killing the dream of Canadian oil independence.”
The previous and current Alberta governments endorsed the major TransCanada pipeline project. The proposed 4,600-km pipeline would carry crude oil from Western Canada and Northwestern U.S. to Eastern Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the position that the project did not receive support from the majority of the 180 First Nations groups that would be impacted by the project and that it would have a negative impact on carbon emissions.
Kenney said if elected as UCP leader he will stand up to Ottawa and if the federal government fails to rein in the National Energy Board, he would follow in the footsteps of late PC premier Peter Lougheed and would look to hold a referendum to renegotiate the equalization payments Alberta continues to send to Ottawa.
“(I will) stop acting like a lap dog for Ottawa and start acting like a watchdog for Alberta,” said Kenney.
Conservative MP Blake Richards was also at the Cochrane Legion Saturday afternoon to share his concerns about federal tax increases and the impacts on small business, under the Liberal government.
Richards will be tuning in to the UCP leadership race this weekend and feels the party has a strong slate before them.
“I’ve been impressed by the campaigns of all the candidates for leader and know that, regardless of who wins, the United Conservative Party will be well positioned to win the next election and form the next government of Alberta,” said Richards.
The millennial reach has long plagued conservatives and was posed by an audience member as a perceived challenge at the Kenney rally.
Without hesitation Kenney responded that the outreach, namely through social media, is focused on the millennials who “shower after work, rather than before” and who can be reached through appeal to “libertarian sensibilities.”
“As one of Stephen Harper’s top ministers in Ottawa and by building the unity movement in Alberta, Jason has proven he has the leadership and experience needed to get Alberta back on track,” said Coun. Morgan Nagel, who is also Banff-Cochrane UCP constituency association president.
Following the UCP leadership election, where the results will be revealed at that Calgary Metropolitan Centre Saturday night, the party will soon hold its founding policy convention.
The Cochrane UCP constituency association will be hosting a policy workshop in the coming weeks. Interested parties can connect with the association through Nagel at [email protected].
