Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

Jason Kenney Says He Would Welcome Harper Endorsement Of His Unite The Right Plan

The Canadian Press, 08 Jul, 2016 11:29 AM
    EDMONTON — MP Jason Kenney says his ex-boss Stephen Harper has "the ultimate credibility" when it comes to merging parties and a nod from the former prime minister would help his own efforts to unite-the-right in Alberta.
     
    "I think that Albertans would listen if he were to express himself on this, but that will be up to him to do," Kenney told The Canadian Press in an interview. "I would more than welcome that."
     
    Over the past few days Kenney has been promoting his plan to morph Alberta's once mighty Progressive Conservative party with the Wildrose into what he calls a new free-enterprise party.
     
    He pointed to Harper's own work negotiating the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives into the Conservative Party in 2003.
     
    "He has the ultimate credibility on this issue given the successful merger that he negotiated with Peter MacKay," said Kenney.
     
    "I do know from private conversations going back quite some time that Stephen very strongly supports the objective of unity."
     
    On Thursday, Kenney released a five-point plan that lays out a road map on how conservative-minded voters could come together in time to defeat NDP Leader Rachel Notley in the 2019 provincial election.
     
    The strategy calls for the PCs to hold a leadership vote in March. If Kenney wins he would negotiate a "framework agreement" with the Wildrose on a new united party.
     
     
    If grassroots members of both parties approve, a new party would be founded in the summer, followed by a leadership race that would wrap up in early 2018.
     
    Kenney's plan primes the pump with gloomy messaging that the "Alberta Advantage," a Tory slogan during the halcyon days when Alberta's budgets were balanced and surpluses were socked away, is under attack from NDP policies.
     
    The plan warns that as long as the two conservative parties compete against each other neither will be able to win a majority government.
     
    Kenney has been trying to avoid commenting on what policies a united right party would advocate, saying these should be left up to the grassroots to develop, but he made it clear the NDP's carbon tax would be cancelled if the new party were to win the 2019 provincial election.
     
    "We would scrap it and on this I am confident taking the position because it is the position of both the Wildrose and PC caucuses," he said.
     
    Kenney suggested the new party would also take a hard look at other NDP decisions, such as cancelling the flat income tax system and raising the corporate tax rate.
     
    "We would certainly revisit it in developing a platform for 2019, but I am not prepared to make any specific commitments on tax policy for three years from now today," he said.
     
    "We would want to reduce the overall tax burden and make it clear that Alberta is open for business, re-establish the Alberta Advantage."
     
     
    Kenney said he'll resign his federal seat on Oct. 1 — the day the Alberta Tory leadership race officially begins.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Man Arrested After Car Chase With Surrey RCMP Near The Pacific Highway Border Crossing

    Man Arrested After Car Chase With Surrey RCMP Near The Pacific Highway Border Crossing
    One person has been taken into custody after a police incident at the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C.

    Man Arrested After Car Chase With Surrey RCMP Near The Pacific Highway Border Crossing

    Worker Injured After Blast And Fire At Recycling Plant In Burnaby, B.C.

    Worker Injured After Blast And Fire At Recycling Plant In Burnaby, B.C.
    Fire chief Joe Robertson says the blast occurred when an acetylene gas tank was placed in a shearing machine at ABC Recycling.

    Worker Injured After Blast And Fire At Recycling Plant In Burnaby, B.C.

    No Parole For Dennis Bragg, Dangerous Offender With Violent Sexual Assault Convictions In Kamloops

    No Parole For Dennis Bragg, Dangerous Offender With Violent Sexual Assault Convictions In Kamloops
    Dennis Bragg, 50, applied for either day or full parole. He is classified as a dangerous offender who is serving an indeterminate sentence that began in 2013.

    No Parole For Dennis Bragg, Dangerous Offender With Violent Sexual Assault Convictions In Kamloops

    PM Trudeau Invited Royal Couple And Their Kids To Canada For Another Visit

      And this time, their young children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, are welcome to join them.

    PM Trudeau Invited Royal Couple And Their Kids To Canada For Another Visit

    New Trial For Man Claiming 'Sexsomnia' Defence In Assault On Younger Sister

    New Trial For Man Claiming 'Sexsomnia' Defence In Assault On Younger Sister
    That evidence includes a report by Dr. Jasbir Gill, a forensic psychiatrist who examined the man after he was convicted and concluded he likely suffered from sexsomnia.

    New Trial For Man Claiming 'Sexsomnia' Defence In Assault On Younger Sister

    Vancouver Police Arrest Amandeep Singh Grewal, 21, In Granville Street Stabbing

    Vancouver Police Arrest Amandeep Singh Grewal, 21, In Granville Street Stabbing
    Twenty-one-year-old Vancouver resident Amandeep Singh Grewal has been charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault

    Vancouver Police Arrest Amandeep Singh Grewal, 21, In Granville Street Stabbing