WEXIT Alberta Leader Peter Downing says that the time has come for the province’s disparate independence groups to stop fight each-other and unite as a single party..Downing told the Western Standard, “The quickest, most practical way for us to defend Alberta, is to get together the different independence groups to become one, united independence party of Alberta.”.Downing said that the new party should include his own WEXIT organization, the Alberta Independence Party, Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta, “Alberta-First faithful within the United Conservative Party, and non-registered groups supporting independence..Downing’s call for unification was welcomed by Freedom Conservative Party President Bill Jones, who said that there must be “no conditions,” and that all parties in negotiations need to put everything on the table for it to work..Previous calls to unite the constellation of Alberta’s sovereigntist movement have been unsuccessful so far. Former Alberta Independence Party President Todd Beasley called for a merger in October of 2019, but was deposed soon after. The Freedom Conservatives released a “5-Point Plan” to unify the sovereigntist parties in December of 2019, but was rebuffed by Downing..“The FCP has never withdrawn the offer,” said Jones. “It’s always been an open offer.”.Asked why he dropped his opposition to a merger, Downing told the Western Standard that it was a “crucible of recent factors,” including the federal government’s potential cancelation of the Teck Frontier oilsands mine, worry that the province’s Fair Deal Panel will deliver recommendations “without any teeth,” and what Downing says is Premier Jason Kenney’s sudden about-turn on fighting Ottawa over the future of the oil and gas industry..“He [Jason Kenney] has abandoned Alberta. He has abandoned our energy industry.”.Patrick Reilly of the Alberta Independence Party rejected calls for merger and said that Albertans supporting secession should instead join his party..“WEXIT isn’t actually a provincial political party and the AIP can’t merge an organization that isn’t a political party”, said Reilly. “The Independence Party encourages all supporters of independence, including supporters of Wexit, to join the Independence Party and help to shape and grow the party. We think its a better use of people’s efforts than gathering signatures for a new party like Downing is doing. The Independence Party is open to working with any pro-independence group and is already actively working with several.”.WEXIT is not a registered political party with an elected executive or leader, but is conducting a signature drive with Elections Alberta..Since the 2019 provincial election, the three organizations have compete with one-another to emerge as the leading independence voice.
