Dear Chestermere:
I am writing a love letter this week to you, and to Alberta. Thank you for your faith in our ability to unite conservatives this past weekend. It was an extremely emotional and overwhelming feeling to be in the middle of this epic and historical decision. This was your decision, the electorate’s. We had phone issues, and PIN issues, terminals shutting down, and all manner of technical difficulties at both the Wildrose and PC offices, but you stayed on the phones as long as you possibly were able. When your calls were dropped, you still tried. Thank you for contacting me with your PIN issues, as it was our pleasure to try and help you out. My son Akesh and I spent the last night on July 21 pumping out texts and answering phone calls until 12:45AM along with volunteers that had been there for weeks doing this job, and making a difference in our province. I am just completely overwhelmed with task that has been accomplished by our amazing volunteers. One of our very own Wildrose Constituency Association members Alessandra Predolin was at the office volunteering for 8-10 hours a day for 3 weeks or so. Amazing!
Out of the 24,598 Wildrose members who cast a ballot, 23,466 said “yes” and 1,132 said “no.” The party said 57.7 per cent of eligible voters weighed in.
On the PC side, 27,060 members voted with 25,692 saying “yes” and 1,344 saying “no.” There were 24 spoiled ballots.
Here is what your Government had to say to Albertan’s who voted for the unification of the conservative family:
Premier Rachel Notley re-tweeted the tweet from Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman (who famously said Albertans are sewer rats).
“The Minister of Health:
#ucp offers combination of #pcaa entitlement plus #wrp extremism & cuts. It all adds up to pain for #Alberta families. #ableg@albertaNDP”
And further, for the Alberta Party leader, this isn’t a unity, it’s a hostile takeover.
“It’s no longer the party of Peter Lougheed, it’s the kind of thing Peter Lougheed fought against, Albertans reject polarized politics, they want a government that will look out for their neighbour and balance a budget…and enthusiastically defend minority rights.”
Or:
“A united right tolerates intolerance.
Not full Trump. But there’s legitimate concerns and we want to make sure that breed of politics doesn’t entrench itself in Alberta for sure.”
Note that 49,158 Albertans voted for unification. The Alberta Party received 33,221 votes in the 2015 election.
I want every Albertan to know that this rhetoric, besides being untrue, is slap in the face to every Albertan whether you are a conservative or not. There is always time for debates over policy, especially poorly crafted policy that endangers our way of life, our natural resources and our Alberta culture. What is disappointing and shows little grace is when a Minister and a party leader are unable to be gracious to the 95% of Albertans that voted in favour of this agreement. I hope that they will see that we are collaborative and willing to work together as we have always said “we are here to help”.
This is a historic moment where conservatives from diverse backgrounds gave each other a chance to put the past in the past and move forward with a moderate, and fiscally strong party that will answer the call to govern this beautiful province in the way is was meant to be governed. Where the voice of the people matters, and you do matter. Where local decisions matter, and big government does not get involved. Where government works with industry to create an environment for investment. Where we appreciate our natural resources, treasure our environment, and make sure we have choice in education. When you hear about this new political landscape being divisive and polarized, remember that this is the rhetoric that people will use to try and counteract the legitimacy of what was accomplished by Albertans this past weekend.
This is about our future, and not just replacing one government with another. This is about being awesome, not an alternative. This is about being able to feel like your government represents you, not its own best interests. Albertans will not be satisfied with just sitting by and watching government any more. We are not complacent. We are tolerant, inclusive, and loving. We have so much work to do to earn the most important thing – your trust. I would like to personally thank every person in public service who has come before me and dedicated their life to the province, to represent their constituencies and their municipalities. This is my last letter to you as your Wildrose MLA, and I look forward to representing you as your United Conservative Party MLA.
As always, we love to hear from you.
