Brookman: Alberta Next panel needs to focus on right questions
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The company called a meeting of its executives to see what the problem was and, during the heated discussions, a young assistant said, 'Gentlemen, the dogs won't eat it. I have a dog and it doesn't like the food.'
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The current UCP Alberta Next panel reminds me of this story. It sounds good — a group of politicians and UCP supporters visiting Albertans to hear their opinions — but the people are not buying what they are selling.
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Living in Canada's richest province and enjoying the lowest taxes, the idea of separating from Canada is not only nonsensical, it is a non-starter with the vast majority of the public. Proud Albertans are also proud Canadians, and while we have our issues with Ottawa, separation appears to make no sense whatsoever except to a very small group of people who will never be happy.
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Each time someone tries to talk about an independent Alberta, I keep thinking of Boris Johnson and Brexit. None of us wants that outcome.
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But this Alberta Next panel has a great opportunity to do some excellent work as long as they are not trying to convince everyone that we need a new pension plan, a new police force and a separate country. Hopefully, they use this opportunity to learn what it is that the majority of Albertans are really hoping to emerge from these discussions.
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This past week, a good friend had to go to Saskatoon for back surgery. Now, there is a subject for panel debate.
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After so much study by both Conservatives and NDP, after billions of dollars invested and working for years to appease unions, why are we still having long wait times for surgeries, long lineups at emergency departments and Albertans having to travel to other provinces, the United States or even Europe to get much-needed work done? What does the panel have to say about that?
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Just throwing more money at this situation has not solved it, but somewhere there must be a solution or at least the seeds of a solution. Let's open that subject for debate.
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They thought there would be some synergies there so we started having some communications,' Guthrie said Friday morning on The Shaye Ganam Show on Corus Radio. 'Ultimately, partnering with them — it made a lot of sense to us. It was by far the most practical path.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Ultimately, partnering with them — it made a lot of sense to us. It was by far the most practical path." 2:10 MLA Peter Guthrie booted from UCP: 'Criticizing government comes at a cost' Guthrie and Sinclair, both voted out of caucus earlier this year for challenging UCP policies, said UCP leader and Premier Danielle Smith has lost her way and is catering to a narrow band of extremists and separatists, and that centrist conservatives need a place to park their vote. 'This is a brand new movement that we're starting. 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Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They're ignoring this large swath of voters in the middle who just feel like they don't have a political home. And I think that's where we fit." Guthrie thinks there are plenty of Albertans who want a more socially liberal but fiscally conservative option. 'I'm a centre-right conservative, fiscally conservative, moderate individual who just considers himself an average Albertans and we're looking for something better,' he said. 1:46 Estranged UCP MLAs hope to create new political party The would-be PCs have told supporters that the Alberta Party will take on new board members and begin taking steps to change the name to reflect a progressive conservative alternative in the province. Story continues below advertisement He added the Alberta Party is looking for a new direction, and the partnership makes sense. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We may be a couple of degrees off in our policy and platform ideas, but, you know, they had the infrastructure and we have the momentum,' he said. The partnership came down to three things, he said: one, joining an established party is quicker than starting from scratch. Two, he said it sidesteps the UCP's attempts to stall their efforts through litigation. Three, Guthrie has heard rumours of a possible snap election. 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What they could block is some of the logos and the colour schemes and the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, which was the legal name — but what if they changed it to the progressive conservative party of Alberta?' Guthrie said the letter shows the UCP is worried, and trying to intimidate those who want to move the province's political sphere back to 'normality.' 'For us, it signals fear. I think they're worried. They're worried that they've lost credibility with the public and that a viable third option, like the PC's, might actually resonate with voters. 'They're going to do what they can to slow us down, but we're not stopping.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They're going to do what they can to slow us down, but we're not stopping." UCP executive director Dustin van Vugt, in a statement, said the cease and desist letter was sent to protect the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta copyright and trademarks that belong to the UCP. 'The PC Alberta name, logo and goodwill were being used by people with no right to it,' he wrote. Van Vugt said neither of the ex-UCP caucus members were part of PC Alberta. Story continues below advertisement 'Their attempt to usurp the goodwill associated with our legacy party in order to confuse voters and avoid the hard work of building a political movement is particularly insulting to the thousands of former PC Party members and supporters who are now contributing members of the UCP,' he wrote in identical statements to both Global News and The Canadian Press this week. Guthrie said the UCP make threats but the new group is going to follow the laws laid out by Elections Alberta. 'Elections Alberta, they're the lead authority on elections law. So we're going to follow their direction. Ultimately it's not the UCP's opinion that's gonna determine the outcome, it's the law,' Guthrie said. Elections Alberta said a party can ask to change its registered name, but there are caveats. In a statement to Global News, it said the chief electoral officer will not approve the request if the proposed name or abbreviation resembles so closely as to likely to be confused with: The name or abbreviation of another registered party or local political party; The name or abbreviation of a party that has been de-registered since the last general election (the 2023 provincial general election, in this case); A reserved party name or abbreviation. Elections Alberta also said the chief electoral officer will also not approve the request if the proposed name was the name of a local political party de-registered or whose name changed since the last municipal general election or the proposed name or abbreviation is unacceptable to the officer for any other reason. Story continues below advertisement 2:22 Exiled UCP MLAs hope to revive a political dynasty The collaboration with the Alberta Party doesn't just mean a new name. 'There will be a leadership contest; the Alberta Party has a constitution that we'll abide. We haven't set the timing on that. But I would imagine getting something like that started this fall would make sense,' Guthrie said. Lindsay Amantea took on the role of Alberta Party leader on an interim basis last year and said the coming weeks and months will be an exciting time. She invited Albertans who feel the same to join their movement. 'The Alberta Party is first and foremost a party made up of pragmatic people who want to build a better Alberta, and we will do just that in whatever way we can,' she said in a statement to Global News. 'At this critical juncture in Alberta's history, we are exploring opportunities and partnerships that would raise the level of political discourse, and refocus the conversation on improving the lives of all Albertans, not just insiders. ' Story continues below advertisement 1:35 The West Wants In: Discontent in Alberta over Liberal election win — With files from The Canadian Press
