The Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta (WIP) is holding its first convention on Saturday with 478 members registered to attend the virtual gathering..WIP President Rick Northey said that their membership rolls have swelled by around 1,000 over the last month to a total of 6,500..The surge in memberships comes in the wake of the UCP Snowbird Scandal, which saw at least 10 MLAs and staffers jet off to sun and sand destinations while the rest of the province was in a pandemic lockdown..Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGM will be a virtual one, with events streamed through a YouTube channel..Members will be voting on the party’s constitution, put together by a committee that included Northey. The constitution will be voted on as a document in its entirety and requires the backing of 75 per cent of delegates to pass. Members will be go through with line-by-line amendments when law allows the party to hold an in-person gathering..The delegates will also vote on prepared policy documents, with a vote of 50 per cent needed to pass. Again, they will be fine tuned at a later meeting.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .The members will also vote on the board of directors and regional officers..One of those seeking a board seat is Dr. Dennis Modry, who gained notority in December when he wrote a letter to Premier Jason Kenney asking him to end the lockdown..The letter, reprinted exclusively on the Western Standard, was viewed hundreds of thousands of times..As a medical pioneer, Modry completed Alberta’s first heart transplant in 1985. He has been WIP’s VP of Policy and Governance..The AGM will end Saturday with a speech by interim leader Paul Hinman..The party was founded in June when members of Wexit Alberta and the Freedom Conservative Party voted to merge their parties into the new Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta..The party surged in a recently Mainstreet Research poll conducted for the Western Standard to nine per cent province-wide support..A leadership race is expected to be held between the spring and fall of 2021 to select the party’s standard bearer going into the next election..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
The Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta (WIP) is holding its first convention on Saturday with 478 members registered to attend the virtual gathering..WIP President Rick Northey said that their membership rolls have swelled by around 1,000 over the last month to a total of 6,500..The surge in memberships comes in the wake of the UCP Snowbird Scandal, which saw at least 10 MLAs and staffers jet off to sun and sand destinations while the rest of the province was in a pandemic lockdown..Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGM will be a virtual one, with events streamed through a YouTube channel..Members will be voting on the party’s constitution, put together by a committee that included Northey. The constitution will be voted on as a document in its entirety and requires the backing of 75 per cent of delegates to pass. Members will be go through with line-by-line amendments when law allows the party to hold an in-person gathering..The delegates will also vote on prepared policy documents, with a vote of 50 per cent needed to pass. Again, they will be fine tuned at a later meeting.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .The members will also vote on the board of directors and regional officers..One of those seeking a board seat is Dr. Dennis Modry, who gained notority in December when he wrote a letter to Premier Jason Kenney asking him to end the lockdown..The letter, reprinted exclusively on the Western Standard, was viewed hundreds of thousands of times..As a medical pioneer, Modry completed Alberta’s first heart transplant in 1985. He has been WIP’s VP of Policy and Governance..The AGM will end Saturday with a speech by interim leader Paul Hinman..The party was founded in June when members of Wexit Alberta and the Freedom Conservative Party voted to merge their parties into the new Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta..The party surged in a recently Mainstreet Research poll conducted for the Western Standard to nine per cent province-wide support..A leadership race is expected to be held between the spring and fall of 2021 to select the party’s standard bearer going into the next election..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694