On Dec. 17 Premier Jim Prentice and former Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith announced the “unification of Alberta’s conservative parties” as nine Wildrose MLAs, including Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson and Smith, crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives (PC). The floor crossing had Airdrie residents Dave Pollard and Kevin Hughes in “disbelief.”
Pollard said part of his disbelief is because Anderson crossed the floor once before on Jan. 4, 2010 when he left the PCs to join the Wildrose.
“I’m outraged,” said Kevin Hughes, who spoke with Airdrie City View prior to the official announcement. “To me, if he crosses, it has nothing to do with anything except he’ll do anything to stay elected. It’s just a power grab.”
“There is disappointment in part with the cavalier attitude he has with his constituents,” Pollard said, adding it seems Anderson “goes where the wind blows” when it comes to which political party he aligns himself with.
“I was disappointed in Rob when he crossed the floor the first time because I voted Tory,” Pollard said.
“I can only imagine the same disappointment for those that voted for him as Wildrose.”
The Wildrose suffered a landslide loss in October when the PC won all four seats in the Calgary byelection. In November three Wildrose MLAs quit the party to sit either as Independent or PC.
Anderson issued a release on Dec. 17 stating he left the PCs in 2010 because he felt the party leadership had “abandoned most of the core conservative principles.”
In the agreement the PCs will be adopting several policies and principles agreed upon with the Wildrose crossover MLAs. The reason behind the reunification agreement appears to be Premier Jim Prentice.
“When I became Wildrose leader more than five years ago, I did so with one singular objective in mind: to return to government the conservative values and principles that I had spent my life defending,” Smith said in the release.
“Under Premier Prentice’s strong leadership, I believe we can work together to lead Alberta with a renewed focus on the values and principles that we share.”
The mass floor crossing will leave the Wildrose as a shell of its former self. Prior to the unification the Party held 14 seats to the PC’s 63. Though the Prentice/Smith release states a transition team will work with the new members joining the PC caucus, by press time there was only a short statement released from the Wildrose stating Smith had resigned. The Wildrose will remain the Official Opposition, with only five members holding seats.
“It’s sad because even though I disagree vehemently with some of the Wildrose policy and politics, they have been an effective opposition and raised some good questions,” Pollard said.
“My only hope is there is some progressive relationships and the Liberals and NDP (New Democratic Party) get together (to form a new Official Opposition),” Pollard added.
“It might not be a bad thing (if Wildrose and PCs unite) because we could get into a real debate of what Alberta could be, not who’s more conservative.”
“( …) (Anderson) will never, ever get my vote again,” Hughes added.
