PHOTOS: A meeting of the Opposition Wildrose Caucus gets under way with Leader Brian Jean and Leader Lite Derek Fildebrandt explaining their differences to each other. Actual Alberta politicians of the right may not appear exactly as illustrated. Then again … Below: The real Mr. Fildebrandt;  Saskatchewan’s beloved Premier Brad Wall, the Great and the Powerful (greenish tint explained); and the real Mr. Jean (yes, that is an actual sword hanging over his head, photo from his Facebook page).

To Wildrose Party supporters here in Alberta, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is the great and the good, the topic of hundreds of social media paeans, a guy who can simply do no wrong.

I guess this shouldn’t be too surprising, seeing as their own party is tearing itself to pieces in a power struggle between Leader Brian Jean and The Young Pretender, Finance Critic (re-confirmation pending) Derek Fildebrandt.

Seriously, if this keeps up, Alberta’s whole “unite the right” question could be settled within a few days, with the old Progressive Conservatives the only registered political party of the right left standing!

DFThat wouldn’t be exactly what right-wing Godfather Preston Manning’s been hoping for, but it would probably be close enough to keep him happy. Heaven knows what those “unite the right” prosperity funds would do then … go on asking for donations, I suppose.

Not that I’m predicting this, mind, I’m merely acknowledging the possibility.

I mention Mr. Wall because a recent news story out of Saskatchewan has him musing about “transformational change” in that province’s health care system, up to and including, in the words of the CBC reporter who actually listened to him, “one single health region as exists in Alberta.”

The Wildrose position here has been the opposite, pretty much since the creation of Alberta Health Services, with lots of talk of restoring individual independent hospital boards, breaking the huge province-wide health care delivery system into the smallest and most chaotic chunks possible.

That said, what the official party policy is at this moment is less clear – the only current party document I could find last night that mentioned it called ambiguously for the government to “gradually decentralize the delivery of health care services to the local or facility level.”

Of course, health care services are delivered at the local and facility level now. The question is, who gets to run things, and from where?

Brad_WallWell, there’s not much point calling the party’s communications boffins just now – they don’t seem to be answering very many calls and emails.

But Wildrose supporters clearly support the smash-it-to-bits approach, leastways, if their reaction on social media to yesterday’s AlbertaPolitics.ca post about the appointment of Dr. Verna Yiu as president and CEO of AHS is any indication.

So what happens if Brad Wall takes up Alberta’s approach in Saskatchewan, where, according to the Wildrose right, everything is perfect in every way every day of the year? Does he break the hearts of his many Alberta fans, or do they wash their former party’s criticism of Alberta Health Services down the Memory Hole?

Or do they, as they often do now on other topics, simply hold “two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously … accepting both of them…”?

Getting back to the War of the WRP, Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell published a story yesterday suggesting Mr. Fildebrandt’s quote in the Wildrose Party’s kiss-and-make-up news release Tuesday was published without the renegade Strathmore-Brooks MLA’s approval.

The statement in the release attributed to Mr. Fildebrandt read: “We should move forward as a unified caucus and party behind the leadership of Brian Jean.” (Emphasis added.)

BJAccording to Mr. Bell, the party official and Fildebrandt ally who talked to him said the MLA, in the columnist’s words, “didn’t want to make that bold declaration until fences were mended and emotions cooled down.” From which we can safely infer, presumably, that fences are not mended and emotions have not cooled down.

Now, making up quotes in press releases is not unheard of, and may even be de rigueur in some circles. Publishing them without getting the permission of the figure quoted is not standard operating procedure anywhere.

It’s tough right now to assess what the heck is going on in the Wildrose Party, Mr. Bell observed, a statement with which anyone who is paying attention would agree.

Speaking in Calgary Tuesday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said that “with respect to the waffling back and forth in terms of whether Mr. Fildebrandt is in or out, or on side, or whatever it is today, I think we see a party that’s in a bit of disarray.”

That would understate things considerably.

She went on to observe that the infighting in Wildrose ranks “showed that they’re really not ready to engage in a national conversation on behalf of Albertans.” No kidding!

The Alberta right is fond of claiming Ms. Notley’s New Democrats were elected in a “fluke.” Has it occurred to anyone that the real fluke on May 5, 2015, was the election of the Wildrose Party, instead of the PCs, as the Opposition?

This post also appears on Rabble.ca.

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6 Comments

  1. My own theory is that Senor Fildebrand’s troubles stem from the fact he’s a creature of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation, an organization that has only five members. So every time he goes shooting his mouth off he can easily loose sight of the fact that his words are reverberating in a vast public forum and not sitting around Preston Manning’s kitchen table or whatever where the CTF holds its AGM.

  2. But then again, the fiscal conservative Brad Wall just announced a deficit of half a billion dollars in a province with a sales tax. He quipped that “Deficits are like potato chips, once you start you can’t stop.” He also stated that the deficit was due to low oil prices.

    Imagine that. Burning through taxpayer money is like eating potato chips.

  3. In terms of your final point: it should be remembered the PCs did beat the Wildrose in the popular vote. The Wildrose is a party that can occasionally do well in the polls when anti-incumbent sentiment is high and no other party seems like they have the strength to take over government. They do not have wide support for their policy positions. If the PCs get a leader of any reasonable quality, the Wildrose will be relegated to a third party stump.

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