And so the Jason Kenney juggernaut continues unabated, crushing all opposition in its path.
The latest victims are Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer, trampled by the Kenney machine that carried him to an impressive victory in the United Conservative Party leadership Saturday night.
This is the latest in a string of victories for the former Conservative cabinet minister that gives him a political hat trick this year.
He won the Progressive Conservative leadership in March and was instrumental in forming the United Conservative Party in July.
His victory in the UCP leadership race was especially striking given he was up against Jean, arguably the most popular politician in Alberta.
But Jean wasn’t popular enough in his own party.
Of the almost 60,000 votes cast, Kenney won 61 per cent, Jean received 31.5 per cent and Schweitzer got seven percent.
“It’s another miracle on the Prairies,” declared Kenney, once again trying to channel the spirit of conservative icon Ralph Klein. “Tonight we are one stop closer to renewing the Alberta advantage and getting our province back on track. Tonight we are one step closer to re-igniting our economy so that Alberta is once again that land of opportunity.”
Kenney’s voice sounded like it had been run through a cheese grater, the result of countless speeches made while campaigning, for one thing or another, for the past 16 months.
Schweitzer spoke briefly with journalists saying he plans to sit down with Kenney to implore the leader to make sure the party does not become too conservative on social issues.
But Kenney had already signalled to Schweitzer he was willing to listen.
As he called the other two candidates to the stage, he praised the youngest candidate in the race for helping to make sure “this is a big tent, diverse free-enterprise coalition that reflects the diversity of today’s Alberta.”
But Kenney saved his most effusive praise for Jean who was hoping until the last minute for a miracle that would have seen him win on a second ballot.
Instead he lost to Kenney by a factor of two votes to one.
“Brian Jean has been a true champion,” said Kenney of the former Wildrose leader who kept the party alive after the disastrous floor crossings in 2014 where much of the party defected to the PCs. “We him owe a debt of gratitude.”
After the speech, a grim-faced Jean disappeared from the stage and reappeared only in a short Facebook post where he congratulated Kenney and declared “our party is united, it’s strong and together, we will bring prosperity back to Alberta.”
The next step for Kenney is a news conference Sunday afternoon where he’ll face a barrage of questions from journalists.
Among them: how will he run the party in the legislature when he doesn’t have a seat? Will he have a UCP MLA step down to so he can run for a seat in a by-election? Or will he simply tour the province the next year and a half raising money and support before the 2019 provincial election?
His victory speech did indicate how he’ll tackle another thorny issue: How to reach out to average, moderate Albertans after running a campaign focused on the most conservative of conservatives to win the UCP vote?
“We are trying to assemble a broad coalition of Albertans of all backgrounds and ages,” said Kenney to a cheering crowd. “We don’t care in this party what god you worship or who you love. What we care about as Albertans is how hard you work and how you will contribute to renewing this as a place of opportunity for generations to come.”
(This sounds suspiciously like something said many times by former PC cabinet minister Stephen Khan, a proud “progressive” while he was in the race for PC leader last year. But that’s a topic for another day).
The NDP was quick to congratulate Kenney and just as quick to dismiss the UCP as being too conservative for most Albertans.
But the UCP doesn’t really stand for anything right now except for vague salutes to free enterprise and personal initiative.
The party won’t hold a founding convention, with policies and positions, until early next year.
Based on his victory speech, Kenney will no doubt be busy between now and then making sure his party “reflects the diversity of today’s Alberta.”
And so the Kenney juggernaut rolls on towards its next target: Alberta’s NDP government.
And today an elected UCP MLA stepped down so Jason Kenney can seek or should I say WIN a seat in the Legislature.
A United Conservative Party MLA in Calgary is resigning his seat Nov. 1 to allow new party leader Jason Kenney to run for a seat in the Alberta legislature.
Dave Rodney, the MLA for Calgary-Lougheed, made the announcement with Kenney by his side in Calgary Sunday. Kenney said Rodney approached him months ago about stepping down, but the agreement was firmed up in the last 72 hours.
Rodney said it was important that Kenney be heard in the legislature.
"It's an opportunity for our friends and neighbours to witness Mr. Kenney in action in the legislature as he brings his incredible vision as the intrepid leader of our exciting new United Conservative movement," he said.
Kenney said he needed to be in the legislature as the leader of the Official Opposition and said he looked forward to speaking with Premier Rachel Notley about the byelection.
"I am confident she will respect the long-standing Westminster parliamentary convention of calling a byelection without delay when there is a party leader seeking entry to the legislature to be leader of the Opposition" he said.
Kenney, the former Conservative MP and cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, captured 61 per cent of the ballots cast in this week's vote to win leadership of the United Conservative Party, easily defeating opponents Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer.
Rodney was first elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA in 2004. He did not rule out returning to politics, but would not confirm whether he would run in the 2019 provincial election.
Founding convention in May
Kenney held a transition meeting Sunday morning and plans to meet with the UCP caucus Sunday evening and Monday morning. Kenney will announce who will lead the caucus in the legislative assembly for the fall session when it starts on Monday.
Kenney said the party's founding convention has been scheduled for May 4, 5 and 6 in Red Deer.
As for his leadership opponent Brian Jean, the UCP MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin and former leader of the Wildrose Party, Kenney said he wanted Jean to play an important and critical role within caucus.
"We need his voice and presence," he said. "I look forward to talking to him about his continued involvement, hopefully in the next day or two, and to invite him to play an important role in our shadow cabinet, and hopefully in our future government."
Kenney said he did not intend to "micro-manage" the UCP caucus during the fall session of the legislature. Instead, he planned to focus his efforts on building the party.
The next provincial general election is scheduled for the spring of 2019.
The UCP was formed in July after members of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties agreed to merge into a single right-of-centre party.
The party is Alberta's Official Opposition, holding 27 of 87 seats in the Alberta legislature. The NDP, led by Premier Rachel Notley, has 54.
The days of the NDP are numbered and slowly running down.The accidental NDP government will be kicked to the gutter next election and none too soon.
SR
The latest victims are Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer, trampled by the Kenney machine that carried him to an impressive victory in the United Conservative Party leadership Saturday night.
This is the latest in a string of victories for the former Conservative cabinet minister that gives him a political hat trick this year.
He won the Progressive Conservative leadership in March and was instrumental in forming the United Conservative Party in July.
His victory in the UCP leadership race was especially striking given he was up against Jean, arguably the most popular politician in Alberta.
But Jean wasn’t popular enough in his own party.
Of the almost 60,000 votes cast, Kenney won 61 per cent, Jean received 31.5 per cent and Schweitzer got seven percent.
“It’s another miracle on the Prairies,” declared Kenney, once again trying to channel the spirit of conservative icon Ralph Klein. “Tonight we are one stop closer to renewing the Alberta advantage and getting our province back on track. Tonight we are one step closer to re-igniting our economy so that Alberta is once again that land of opportunity.”
Kenney’s voice sounded like it had been run through a cheese grater, the result of countless speeches made while campaigning, for one thing or another, for the past 16 months.
Schweitzer spoke briefly with journalists saying he plans to sit down with Kenney to implore the leader to make sure the party does not become too conservative on social issues.
But Kenney had already signalled to Schweitzer he was willing to listen.
As he called the other two candidates to the stage, he praised the youngest candidate in the race for helping to make sure “this is a big tent, diverse free-enterprise coalition that reflects the diversity of today’s Alberta.”
But Kenney saved his most effusive praise for Jean who was hoping until the last minute for a miracle that would have seen him win on a second ballot.
Instead he lost to Kenney by a factor of two votes to one.
“Brian Jean has been a true champion,” said Kenney of the former Wildrose leader who kept the party alive after the disastrous floor crossings in 2014 where much of the party defected to the PCs. “We him owe a debt of gratitude.”
After the speech, a grim-faced Jean disappeared from the stage and reappeared only in a short Facebook post where he congratulated Kenney and declared “our party is united, it’s strong and together, we will bring prosperity back to Alberta.”
The next step for Kenney is a news conference Sunday afternoon where he’ll face a barrage of questions from journalists.
Among them: how will he run the party in the legislature when he doesn’t have a seat? Will he have a UCP MLA step down to so he can run for a seat in a by-election? Or will he simply tour the province the next year and a half raising money and support before the 2019 provincial election?
His victory speech did indicate how he’ll tackle another thorny issue: How to reach out to average, moderate Albertans after running a campaign focused on the most conservative of conservatives to win the UCP vote?
“We are trying to assemble a broad coalition of Albertans of all backgrounds and ages,” said Kenney to a cheering crowd. “We don’t care in this party what god you worship or who you love. What we care about as Albertans is how hard you work and how you will contribute to renewing this as a place of opportunity for generations to come.”
(This sounds suspiciously like something said many times by former PC cabinet minister Stephen Khan, a proud “progressive” while he was in the race for PC leader last year. But that’s a topic for another day).
The NDP was quick to congratulate Kenney and just as quick to dismiss the UCP as being too conservative for most Albertans.
But the UCP doesn’t really stand for anything right now except for vague salutes to free enterprise and personal initiative.
The party won’t hold a founding convention, with policies and positions, until early next year.
Based on his victory speech, Kenney will no doubt be busy between now and then making sure his party “reflects the diversity of today’s Alberta.”
And so the Kenney juggernaut rolls on towards its next target: Alberta’s NDP government.
And today an elected UCP MLA stepped down so Jason Kenney can seek or should I say WIN a seat in the Legislature.
A United Conservative Party MLA in Calgary is resigning his seat Nov. 1 to allow new party leader Jason Kenney to run for a seat in the Alberta legislature.
Dave Rodney, the MLA for Calgary-Lougheed, made the announcement with Kenney by his side in Calgary Sunday. Kenney said Rodney approached him months ago about stepping down, but the agreement was firmed up in the last 72 hours.
Rodney said it was important that Kenney be heard in the legislature.
"It's an opportunity for our friends and neighbours to witness Mr. Kenney in action in the legislature as he brings his incredible vision as the intrepid leader of our exciting new United Conservative movement," he said.
Kenney said he needed to be in the legislature as the leader of the Official Opposition and said he looked forward to speaking with Premier Rachel Notley about the byelection.
"I am confident she will respect the long-standing Westminster parliamentary convention of calling a byelection without delay when there is a party leader seeking entry to the legislature to be leader of the Opposition" he said.
Kenney, the former Conservative MP and cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, captured 61 per cent of the ballots cast in this week's vote to win leadership of the United Conservative Party, easily defeating opponents Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer.
Rodney was first elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA in 2004. He did not rule out returning to politics, but would not confirm whether he would run in the 2019 provincial election.
Founding convention in May
Kenney held a transition meeting Sunday morning and plans to meet with the UCP caucus Sunday evening and Monday morning. Kenney will announce who will lead the caucus in the legislative assembly for the fall session when it starts on Monday.
Kenney said the party's founding convention has been scheduled for May 4, 5 and 6 in Red Deer.
As for his leadership opponent Brian Jean, the UCP MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin and former leader of the Wildrose Party, Kenney said he wanted Jean to play an important and critical role within caucus.
"We need his voice and presence," he said. "I look forward to talking to him about his continued involvement, hopefully in the next day or two, and to invite him to play an important role in our shadow cabinet, and hopefully in our future government."
Kenney said he did not intend to "micro-manage" the UCP caucus during the fall session of the legislature. Instead, he planned to focus his efforts on building the party.
The next provincial general election is scheduled for the spring of 2019.
The UCP was formed in July after members of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties agreed to merge into a single right-of-centre party.
The party is Alberta's Official Opposition, holding 27 of 87 seats in the Alberta legislature. The NDP, led by Premier Rachel Notley, has 54.
The days of the NDP are numbered and slowly running down.The accidental NDP government will be kicked to the gutter next election and none too soon.
SR
