During a Tuesday evening fundraiser for a charity attempting to construct a Canadian memorial for victims of communism in Ottawa, the Member of Parliament for Calgary-Midnapore reaffirmed his goal of a united political right in Alberta.
“We did this at the federal level when the Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance parties came together about 14 years ago to form one united, strong, free enterprise party,” said Jason Kenney following the Tribute to Liberty fundraiser in northeast Calgary. “We think the same thing should happen in Alberta.”
“I just want to encourage Albertans who are thinking along those lines to focus on what unites them rather than what divides them.”
Kenney says he has yet to decide what role he will play in the effort “to get Albert’s economy back on track with a pro-growth government” by bringing together the Wildrose and PC Albera.
“A lot of Albertans have urged me to play a role in bringing together free-enterprise Albertans in a united alternative so that we can get Alberta back on track,” said Kenney,“ but I also have a lot of friends across the country who’ve encouraged me to play a role in renewing the national Conservative party.”
“I’m going to have to make a decision in the very near future and I’ll be announcing that,” said Kenney. “One way or another, I want to contribute to the project of uniting commonsense conservatives in Alberta.”
Sandra Jansen, the PC MLA for Calgary-Northwest, says she’s against the idea of “socially conservative” Kenney leading the PCs.
“The Progressive Conservative Party, that I bought my first membership to 31 years ago, is a party that is socially progressive and fiscally conservative and those values are extremely important to me,” Jansen told CTV Morning Live during a Wednesday morning interview.
Jansen says the current 'Unite the Right' movement is a 'power grab' designed solely to form government with undefined values.
“If that’s your only goal, if the goal is to defeat the NDP, what does that (united) party stand for?” asks Jansen. “To me, your government should be more than just the idea of forming to defeat another government. That’s such a flawed concept.”
Kenney is scheduled to speak at a Wednesday evening event promoting conservative unity.