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Kenney brings 5 Point Unity Plan to Lethbridge ahead of PC leadership launch

Sep 30, 2016 | 9:57 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta officially launches its Leadership election campaign Saturday night in Lethbridge.

There are currently four people seeking Alberta’s Tory party leadership.  They include Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson, Tory house leader Richard Starke, former Troy MLA Donna Kennedy-Glans, and former Calgary M-P Jason Kenney.

Ahead of the leadership launch, Kenney held an open house at the Lethbridge Lodge Friday night to promote his 5-point unity plan.  

While there were a few who had questions about the wisdom and necessity for the plan, most of those in attendance were convinced by his speech that the alternative to a new united Conservative party, would be four or five more years of an NDP government, which was something they were not willing to risk. 

Kenney wasn’t adverse to doing a little name-dropping.  He says he has been thrilled with the response “From what Ralph Klein would call severely normal Albertans.”

“We need to unite free enterprisers to make sure the NDP does not win a second term – we need to have a broad coalition of free-enterprise Albertans, based on our province’s traditional belief in hard work and free enterprise, in order to replace the NDP and get us back on track and restore the Alberta advantage.

He says his team has signed up thousands of members and have been to every corner of the province and have turned the PC leadership race into a debate about the future.

“It’s about whether we stay with the status quo as the third place party, and allow the NDP to get re-elected through a vote split, or whether we come together with like-minded free enterprise Albertans, in one broad, tolerant, diverse coalition.”

Kenney says he’s hearing over-whelming support for the idea of uniting the right.

“I’m not surprised – that’s why I got into this – I wanted to be a voice and a vehicle for a majority of Albertans who know that we have to bury the hatchet between the PC’s and the Wildrose, and to build in our province, the kind of coalition we have with the Conservative Party of Canada, which won 29 of 34 constituencies last October.”

The former M-P admits there is some degree of resistance from political insiders, who he believes are more focussed on the past than the future, and more focussed on party labels and brands, than on the economic future of the province.

“I’m saying, let’s park the partisanship, park the party labels, let’s let bygones be bygones in terms of the last few difficult years of politics in Alberta and let’s go forward, united and a in a broad coalition, that can defeat this job destroying NDP and bring confidence back to our economy.”

In an interview with LethbridgeNewsNow.com, Kenney was very candid.

“Right now, regrettably, the PC’s are third place at 20 per cent in the polls – it’s not connecting with Albertans”.

When it comes to uniting the right, some will equate the move to what transpired in the October 2003 union of the Canadian Alliance, lead by Stephen Harper and the Progressive Conservative party, lead by Peter MacKay.  That union of Conservatives went on to defeat the Liberals in the federal election the following year.

However, the success of that union meant one of the men would have to step aside from their leadership roll.  It turned out to be MacKay.

Would Kenney be willing to do the same?

“Well, yes, I would be more than willing to support who ever is elected the leader of the new broad conservative party that I’m proposing we create but, I’m proposing a five step unity plan.”

Kenney says the first point in the plan, is to elect a PC leader with a mandate to unite with Wildrose and other like-minded Albertans. Secondly, to negotiate a unity agreement like Peter Mckay and Stephan Harper did in 2003.

The third plank in the unity plan is to submit the agreement to the grassroots membership for their final say.

“Because they’re the bosses and we can’t do this as a backroom deal-making – this has to be a democratic process.”

The fourth step is to set up the party and the fifth task would be to elect its leader. Kenney noted that he would anticipate being a candidate for that leadership election.

“But, I’m not saying I am the only guy to do this – this is bigger than any one person – I believe if we create that big broad Conservative big-tent coalition we will attract a lot of very talented people to seek the leadership, and if I’m not chosen and somebody else is, they will have my undecided support, just as Peter McKay supported Stephan Harper.

Kenney is confident that he can get the concept across to Albertans.

“People I have been speaking to have zero patience or interest in things like party labels, brands and ideological labels, personality politics – they don’t care.  I am meeting people every day who have lost their jobs or are losing their businesses and losing hope and looking at leaving the province.”

Kenney recalled his meeting at a gas station with a 17-year old young man from Hardisty whose father had lost his job in the oil patch and was becoming depressed without work, and how the young man asked him how quickly he could deal with the NDP problem.

The teen is now the breadwinner for his parents and siblings, and he too was becoming demoralized.   

Kenney keeps that young man’s plight before him.

He noted 100,000 Albertans have lost full time jobs in the past year, insolvencies and bankruptcies are reaching record highs and 22 per cent youth unemployment, taxes going up, regulations shutting down entire industries and the people impacted don’t care about political wrangling.

“They just want a solution and they want to make sure the NDP doesn’t get a second term because it could do catastrophic damage”, said Kenney.

When questioned about the union and the potential differences in how the party’s might approach issues, Kenney said that it was more important to focus on the similarities.  He reminded those in attendance Friday night that so far during this current government, the PC’s and Widlrose have registered identical votes 90 per cent of the time in the legislature.

The next step for Kenney and the other contenders, is the run for the leadership of the party, with the leader to be chosen next spring.

One man at Friday’s town hall remarked on Kenney’s courage at taking on the party’s issues.  Kenney is going to need that courage, as none of his three competitors support uniting with the Wildrose.