Sources tell me that Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths is expected to announce his entry into the Progressive Conservative Party leadership contest at 10:30am tomorrow morning at Mackay Avenue School in Edmonton.
Mr. Griffiths, currently the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, was first elected to the Assembly in 2002, and at the age of 38 will be the youngest candidate in the contest. In 2010, he released his first book based on a popular speech, 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.
An avid social media user, Mr. Griffiths placed very well among readers of this blog in the first PC leadership poll in January. Known for his open-minded approach and discussing policy areas that that are not the most popular among his party’s establishment, like the potential for a Provincial Sales Tax, Mr. Griffiths is well positioned to tell PC Party members things that they may not like to hear, but need to discuss in order to renew as they approach 40 years in government. After Premier Ed Stelmach announced his resignation, a group of anonymous PC Party members started an online campaign to recruit Mr. Griffiths to join the leadership race.
Mr. Griffiths would be the third candidate to enter the contest, following Foothills-Rockyview MLA Ted Morton and Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert MLA Doug Horner.
15 replies on “doug griffiths expected to enter tory leadership contest tomorrow.”
Great up heads information and we are looking forward to the announcement.
Good news.
For the first time in my life I’m considering helping someone in the PC party.
Might help his run. Danielle would kick his —. Alberta HST coming with this d-bag
Alberta needs a new political image. Doug will bring a breath of fresh air to our democractic government and provide leadership for this province. His compassion, brilliance and belief in working with communties will inspire all Albertans!
[…] Daveberta’s story is here. […]
Doug Griffiths seems life a classy and intelligent person, he will do well wherever he runs. He seems to fit best with the AB Party as opposed to the Tories, but it is good to see people like him take a run at the leadership.
BTW, Griffiths stands in contrast to people like “Bob London” (see earlier comment) who illustrate that the Wildrose Alliance is a magnet for a group of cranky and uninspiring people who are more likely to polarize our province and take us back to a time of mean spirited governance. Good luck Bob, your party will need if people like you are making the decisions on your future.
If there was a ‘like’ button for G MacLellan’s comment, I would click it.
Doug will be honest, he’ll tell the truth. He won’t win because Albertans can’t handle the truth.
Good luck, Doug. You will make it interesting… that’s for sure.
He won’t win but not because Albertans “can’t handle the truth” but because the PC party has been dominated since Klein became leader by people on the far right. Dave Hancock’s poor performance in 2007 demonstrated this, and Griffith will also prove to be out of step with his party and government.
I hope PC party members realize Doug Griffiths is their only hope. Some of the “old boys” need to wake up and smell the future.
[…] This should make the PC leadership race an official barn burner. Griffiths has genuine charisma (the non-cheesy kind) and he just may be the “TSN turning point” in what many predict as the Tory free-fall in the coming years. […]
[…] like Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA Doug Griffiths is next into the race to replace Premier Ed Stelmach. I wonder where 630CHED/iNews880 “learned” of this […]
[…] to replace Premier Ed Stelmach as leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party. As I posted yesterday, I believe that Mr. Griffiths will be an interesting addition to a leadership contest that has so […]