Tag: Alberta Progressive Conservatives

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Alberta Politics

Why there is unlikely to be a Conservative Party of Alberta anytime soon

As prospects of a merger of Alberta’s two estranged conservative parties appear more and more unlikely, Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean has suggested that his party may consider rebranding with a name change before the 2019 election.

Postmedia has reported that Mr. Jean’s party has registered the names Alberta Conservative Party Association and Conservative Party of Alberta Association with the province’s societies registrar.

While these names could help the Wildrose Party further align with the Conservative Party of Canada in the eyes of Albertans, there is a possibility the name change could be denied by the Chief Elections Officer because the new name could likely be confused with the other conservative party, the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.

Section 7 (3.1) of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act states that:

If a registered party changes its name, the Chief Electoral Officer shall not vary the register accordingly if, in the Chief Electoral Officer’s opinion,

(a) the proposed name or the abbreviation of the name so nearly resembles the name or abbreviation of the name of a registered party as to be likely to be confused with the name or abbreviation of that registered party,

(b) the proposed name was the name of a registered party whose registration was cancelled or whose name was changed since the last general election, or

(c) the proposed name or abbreviation is unacceptable to the Chief Electoral Officer for any other reason.

Barring the dissolution of the current PC Party, it might be unlikely that a separate Conservative Party would be allowed to register with Elections Alberta.

The PC Party was officially registered as the Provincial Conservative Association of Alberta until when it added “Progressive” to its name in 1959, to conform with a similar change made by the federal party in 1942.

The Wildrose Party was known as the Alberta Alliance Party (a nod to the Canadian Alliance) from 2002 until 2008 when it became the Wildrose Alliance Party after merging with a group of disgruntled Alberta Alliance members who had formed the Wildrose Party of Alberta in 2007 (the first version of the Wildrose Party was never officially registered with Elections Alberta). According to Elections Alberta, the party’s name was formally changed to the Wildrose Party effective February 3, 2015.

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Alberta Politics Canadian Politics Candidate nominations

MLA Janice Sarich not jumping into federal politics

Janice Sarich
Janice Sarich

Edmonton-Decore Progressive Conservative MLA Janice Sarich released a statement this morning announcing that she will not seek a Conservative Party nomination for the next federal election.

The two-term backbench MLA and former school trustee had until recently been considered a contender for the nomination in the new Edmonton Griesbach riding.

Before today’s announcement, the provincial New Democrats, Wildrose and Liberals had been itching for an opportunity challenge the Redford Tories in a by-election in the working-class north Edmonton constituency. While Ms. Sarich was elected with healthy margins in the past two election, Edmonton-Decore had previously been represented by Liberal and NDP MLAs since the mid-1980s.

Two other PC MLAs could also make the jump into federal politics in the next election. Calgary-Foothills MLA Len Webber is seeking the Conservative nomination in Calgary Confederation, and Edmonton-McClung PC MLA David Xiao is expected to announce his intentions in Edmonton-West in the coming weeks.

Here is Ms. Sarich’s statement:

After a thorough exploration I have decided not to pursue a nomination for the federal Conservative Party of Canada.

I have been asked about the possibility on many occasions lately, and I want to try to address the questions by giving a sense of why I came to this conclusion.

I had been encouraged by many people to contest the nomination for Edmonton Griesbach riding, and in many ways it would have been a logical move and an interesting new challenge, given my work as an elected representative at the local and provincial levels since 2001.

I took the possibility seriously, and explored it very carefully. In the end, the constituent’s of Edmonton-Decore have been very good to me, and we have built a strong connection over the years.

The factor that made the biggest difference was that the issues and concerns that mean the most to me are at the provincial level. It is not that federal issues are not important – foreign policy, defence, and international trade are of course very important. But to me, issues related to education, health care and human services are simply much closer to my heart, and I think they are more crucial to the people I represent as well.

I have consistently focused on trying to support the development of healthy and well-educated families in strong and safe communities.
After much thought, it is quite clear to me that I have far more opportunity to do so at the provincial level.

I have genuinely appreciated all of the offers of support to pursue the federal nomination, and I want to thank all of those who offered encouragement and assistance. I hope this explanation will clarify my decision, and I want to encourage others to pursue the federal nomination in order to address the important issues at the national level.

Sincerely,

Janice

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Alberta Politics Satire

What a year 2014 has been in Alberta politics!

Alberta Legislature 2014

This year was a tumultuous time in Alberta politics. What does 2015 have in store for Albertans?

December 20, 2014

Story by: Dirk Pranter, Edmonton Journal-Sun

Building the next Alberta

With the new year just weeks away, speculation is rampant Albertans could go to the polls early next year, less than four years after the last provincial election.

Premier Alison Redford returned to Alberta this week between stops in Washington D.C. and Beijing, fuelling the rumours of the impending election. While in the province, she joined Deputy Premier Mike Allen in announcing the construction of new schools in Airdrie, Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie, Grimshaw, and High River.

It is the sixth new school announced this month by Redford’s government as part of a promise to build 50 schools and modernize 70 more by 2016.

The schools announcement coincided with the launch of a new government advertising campaign titled “Building the Next Alberta.”

“Building the Next Alberta is different than Building Alberta,” a Redford spokesperson said, “it’s about Building the Next Alberta.”

When asked why the blue and orange colour patterns on the government billboards spell the words ‘re – elect,’ the spokesperson would only say that “a limited colour pallette” was responsible for the design.

Wildrose on the rise

Concluding another year of incredible fundraising returns, the Wildrose Party led by Danielle Smith is hoping for good tidings in the new year. Recent polls show the official opposition party in a dead heat with the PCs in Calgary and rural Alberta.

In anticipation of an early election the Wildrose campaign bus rolled into Edmonton this week without incident.

University of Red Deer professor of political science Rick Dunderland believes the early launch sends a message that the Wildrose war chest is overflowing with cash from this past year’s fundraising efforts.

“With such successful fundraising this year, the Wildrose has decided not to wait for the Redford Tories to call the election,” Dunderland said.

Shermanmania?

Interim leader Laurie Blakeman took up the reigns of the Liberal Party since Raj Sherman announced he will run for the federal Liberals in the Edmonton-West riding.

Hoping that Justin Trudeaumania with also translate into Raj Shermanmania, Sherman said his experience as an Emergency Room Doctor will make him a strong voice for Edmonton in Ottawa.

After a surprise surge in support in this year’s federal by-election in southern Alberta’s Macleod riding, the Liberals are hoping to make gains in Alberta.

Meanwhile, merger negotiations are underway between the provincial Liberals, the Alberta Party, and the Green Party to run a joint slate of candidates in the next election. Sources indicate the slate could be called “the Green Liberalbertans.”

NDP now pro-pipeline

Planning to spend more time in the Okanagan with his wife and family, NDP leader Brian Mason announced his retirement from politics after serving twenty-five years in provincial and municipal elected office. The NDP leadership vote, scheduled for early 2015 has attracted the interest of the party’s three other MLAs and a handful of outsiders. No candidates have officially entered the race.

Many Alberta New Democrats were shocked at their federal leader’s sudden change of heart on pipeline development this month. With Thomas Mulcair’s NDP poised to form government in next year’s federal election, the federal NDP released a new pro-pipeline policy book.

“The difference now is that, instead of just saying what we don’t like about the old pipelines, we’re also saying why we’re in favour of more pipelines,” Mulcair told reporters in a year end press conference.

As the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline moves forward at a brisk pace, energy industry experts are relieved that the project’s future is not likely to be threatened with a change of government in Ottawa.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesperson called the ploy a cynical move. “No one supports pipelines more than strong, stable, majority Conservative governments in Ottawa,” she said.

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