yabut... the godfather spoke!
How Preston Manning convinced Wildrose MLAs to join mass defectionThen he called in Preston Manning, the founder of the Reform Party. The man who oversaw so many fractious attempts to unite the right throughout the 1990s.
“I met with them earlier this week and there were two basic things I said to them: One is that they should take pride in their accomplishments. That Wildrose really forced changes in the PC leadership by holding two of the previous leaders accountable for their behaviour,” Mr. Manning said. “And secondly that by getting 440,000 votes in the last election, they have pushed things on to more fiscally responsible grounds, which enabled the current premier to move there.”
Mr. Manning praised the disheartened Wildrosers by pointing out that the statement of unification essentially committed to most of the opposition’s platform — and especially to a balanced budget.
“The big picture, and this was certainly in their mind, and in the mind of the premier, is that the province is heading into deep water, and it’s absolutely essential to get the budget balanced as fast as possible,” Mr. Manning said.
Mr. Anderson said Mr. Manning’s pep talk was the moment that turned the tide.
“The vast majority of Wildrose caucus members look at him with a great deal of affection, as someone who is a statesman, a man of impeccable integrity, and someone we care a great deal about,” he said.
