Over a dozen residents wanted to learn more about the Wildrose Party, and where they are going from here.
On Thursday, Feb. 16, Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr hosted a town hall to discuss the options of the Wildrose Party moving forward. Constituencies across Alberta are holding similar meetings to find out what residents are thinking, and what they believe is the best method of action out of a number of possibilities, including Unite the Right.
Unite the Right is a movement making its way through the province with Jason Kenney at the helm. The effort would see the Progressive Conservative (PC) and Wildrose parties in Alberta unite and form one larger party, in an attempt to change the government come the next election in 2019.
“Just because this Unite the Right conversation is being demanded to be had by Albertans across the province doesn't mean it is right for our party,” said Cyr. “I believe that Wildrose could form government in 2019.”
Cyr continued, that he is confident in his party's abilities, and he knows that his constituency isn't in favour of the NDP serving another term. However, he is aware the Wildrose doesn't have the vote of every Albertan.
Although the party has a strong hold on rural Alberta, they are failing to meet the equivalent when it comes to urban centres.
“If you talk to the cities, they are saying ‘we are split in where we are going with this,'” explained Cyr, adding this means they haven't decided where their loyalties will fall.
This is one of the reasons why the Wildrose is favouring joining the PC party, in one way or another. This could mean creating an entirely new party made up of dissolved PC and Wildrose members, or shelving the parties temporarily with the same result.
“That is by far, the one way that has actually worked,” said Cyr.
He used Alberta's neighbouring province as an example, when the Saskatchewan Party was formed out of the Liberal and Conservative parties.
“They saw the damage that the NDP was doing to Saskatchewan, they put their differences aside and they said, let's move this along,” Cyr added.
Another option is to shelf one of the two parties and move the members to the other party. In this case, it would likely be the Wildrose party absorbing the PC, picking the stronger of the two parties based on funding.
The third possibility is the opposition coalition, where the PC party would choose 26 constituencies within Alberta, and Wildrose would choose a different 26. In this case, only one candidate would run in those areas.
“This one isn't one of my favourite ones… When it comes to coalition I believe that it is against the grassroots, because in the end you're telling people that they cannot run a candidate,” Cyr explained. “You could be a Wildrose supporter in Bonnyville-Cold Lake, but because the PCs have chosen this area, you can't vote for the Wildrose candidate because there wouldn't be one here.”
The benefit to this route, he noted, is the fact that both parties are able to maintain their identities, working together.
The final option is continuing as is, with both parties going their separate ways.
“We would move forward as the Wildrose, we would go strong, and eventually the PC brand will die out and we will end up with all of them anyways,” Cyr noted.
John Ilchuk attended the event to learn more about the party's plans and their options.
“It is always good to stay on top of everything, to get the information and listen to what people are asking and saying, and be a part of the direction that the party is going, rather than just be a silent minority.”
Ilchuk said overall, he learned about the variety of choices the party has, and hopes regardless of their next move, they begin to work on getting younger voters.
“I think Wildrose is really seen as a rural party, and I think if it stays as is, or if they unite, we are going to have to work hard to make sure we are getting the young vote.”
