Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith has revealed that one of the major reasons she left her party and defected to the Tories was because of a crucial vote that occurred at the party’s annual meeting.
Smith says that the gathered Wildrose members in Red Deer on November 15 voted down a proposed anti-discrimination statement.
She claims the proposal was nixed because a group inside the party wanted to teach her a lesson for walking in a Gay Pride Parade.
That’s when she realized that there was a splinter group of Wildrose members that wanted the party to go in a different direction from where she wanted to lead it.
As for her future with the PCs, Smith hopes that Premier Jim Prentice will consider her for a meaningful role in his cabinet.
Nevertheless, the backlash against Smith’s floor crossing has been intense. An online petition has been established to force her recall from legislature and call for a byelection in her riding.
The petition requires 20 percent of the people in her riding to sign before she is forced to step aside.