As the raucous fall session of the Alberta legislature came to a close, the term most often used to describe it was ‘polarized’. Kenney’s United Conservative Party government rammed through Bill 22 in only three days with a flair of arrogance usually reserved for parties that have been governing for years. Meanwhile, Rachel Notley sounded outright unhinged as she declared Kenney to be “The most corrupt and anti-democratic premier in the history of the country.”.What else can one expect when there are only two parties with seats and they are on opposite ends of the political spectrum?.It is a shame that the Alberta Party and the Freedom Conservative Party got shut out in the last provincial election. Conservative minded Albertans did not want to take any chances when voting to remove the accidental NDP government and coalesced around the UCP. Left-leaning Albertans abandoned the Liberals and the Alberta Party in a desperate hope that they could somehow keep the UCP from forming government. We ended up with a true two-party legislature which leads to a black and white discussion of all issues while grey is lost in the mix..Nothing keeps a government honest and humble more effectively than a strong and diverse opposition holding them to account..We have a number of registered political parties languishing in the political hinterland in Alberta, particularly independence-minded, right-leaning parties. We would all be better served they manage to set aside their minor differences and merged into a single, effective entity..On the independence-minded right we have the Freedom Conservative Party (FCP), the Alberta Independence Party (AIP), and the Alberta Advantage Party (AAP). The Alberta Advantage Party is invisible with only a handful of members and the Alberta Independence Party is an organizational basket case. The Freedom Conservative Party is seatless but is the best placed to form a credible conservative alternative right now..The movement making the most noise right now is “Wexit”. While they are collecting many names and holding some well-attended rallies, they have no partisan organizational structure to be seen at this point. Wexit is pursuing registration as a provincial party but this will take months and as far as can be seen, they are a single issue entity without the chops to go beyond where they are. They need depth to become a player on the political scene effectively..Just last week the Freedom Conservative Party put out a release with a plan to reach out to the other parties and pull them together into a single entity. With two of the three parties being leaderless right now, this is a good time to do this..Wexit founder Peter Downing immediately rejected the overture from the FCP as he felt that “They are just too timid. “.Downing also made it clear that he will never accept anything that doesn’t bear the catchphrase name “Wexit” and feels that he somehow has an internationally recognized brand in it..Ironically the independence movement needs unity. Merging parties and groups is easier said than done, but it is essential if the movement wants to grow..I remember the challenges all too well when I was on the Alberta Alliance executive committee and we negotiated a merger with the Wildrose Association. We fought for months trying to merge until we removed Randy Thorsteinson and Rob James from the negotiations. With the removal of just two intransigent people, we found ourselves able to come up with a merger agreement between the parties within a week. We then managed to take our little party from having one seat in the legislature into becoming the official opposition within a few years. Egos have to be set aside and concessions need to be made. That means identifying and sidelining those who are fighting unity efforts for their own personal, ego-driven reasons..Peter Downing is choosing the name of his group as the hill to die on in order to keep from merging independence groups and parties. Of all hills to die on, this is the smallest possible..“Wexit” is a catchphrase lifted from the larger, more established “Brexit” movement. Downing appears to forget however that there was no “Brexit” party when “Brexit” won the referendum. The partisan entity promoting Brexit was the UK Independence Party and the main lobbying entity was called “People’s Pledge”. If Downing does indeed want to mimic the path which led to Brexit’s success in a referendum, he should not be seeking to have “Wexit” as the front and center name of the party pursuing it. He should have “Wexit” as a strong and aggressive pressure group trying to win hearts and minds..There is a large and growing undercurrent of independence-minded sentiment in Alberta right now. People are eagerly looking for a rational party to lead Alberta on the path to independence. With a good plan and a solid foundation, an independence-minded party could soon break into the political landscape..It has to be remembered that this path will be one of years, if not decades. Rallies are fun but when push comes to shove, one needs a formal ground organization through a party if lasting change is to be achieved..Precious time is being wasted and a window of opportunity is closing as individuals choose to jealously protect their little political fiefdoms rather than considering compromise to build a broader movement..The Freedom Conservative Party isn’t proposing to simply absorb the other parties and movements, but has openly invited them to merge into a new, united party. Oddly enough, the Tories quietly slipped legislation into Bill 22 which now makes party mergers legal and easy in Alberta..The foundation for an immediate partisan entity is sitting in front of us all and inviting others to join it. They are registered and they have experienced organizers and members drawn from both the Wildrose and old independence movement. They are willing to hold a founding convention where new policies and a constitution can be adopted along with a brand new board. This is an ideal blank slate that can be used to get the independence movement truly running. Why put in the work to form a whole new political party which will only split resources and muddies the waters further?.The Freedom Conservative Party also proposes holding a leadership race. There would be nothing stopping a leadership candidate from campaigning on changing the name of the party. Attachment to a silly name is hardly a solid reason to dismiss unity. It seems more like a self-serving excuse to avoid it..Three-and-a-half years will go by quickly. It would be really nice if a well-organized party was coming up the right flank of the UCP to keep them on the straight and narrow. The time to organize such a party is right now, but nothing will kill it faster than petty infighting and egos..The groups need to work together and that means that folks in leadership roles need to get on the unity train or be pushed aside.
