And the winner is.....Jason Kenney

tay

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Mr. Kenney, 49, won it last night on the “first ballot” – although there wasn’t really any such thing in this case, more like the first run through the computer – with 61 per cent of the vote. Again, this was no surprise.

And so the double-reverse hostile takeover of Alberta’s two main conservative political parties is now complete, first of the Progressive Conservatives by the Wildrose Party, then on the Wildrose Party by the Conservatives, in each case with Mr. Kenney, the consummate political insider, as the catalyst.

Mr. Kenney’s supporters will party tonight, and so too may the NDP Government’s political strategists – for, while they realize re-election will be an uphill fight, and despite Mr. Kenney’s formidable talents as a campaigner, the social conservative baggage the new UCP leader carries is heavy, and may well not appeal to Alberta’s increasingly liberal silent majority.

Mr. Kenney’s victories did not come without flaws and controversies.

In a distasteful exhibition, candidates for the PC Party leadership who seemed to present a real threat to Mr. Kenney were bullied into leaving the race. One joined the NDP, another left the party completely, another has made her peace with the UCP.

The pleas Thursday night to halt the vote by Mr. Kenney’s two remaining opponents in the UCP leadership race, Mr. Jean and Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer, also highlight practices that are questionable at best, unsavoury at worst.

The right-wing media echo chamber will be onside in the run-up to the next Alberta general election, of course. The financially troubled Postmedia newspaper corporation’s last gasp may well turn out to be the full-court press for Mr. Kenney that has already begun in its pages. Last night, one of Postmedia’s columnists was already calling this entirely predictable result “a miracle”!

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Alberta PoliticsJason Kenney wins, completing double reverse hostile takeover of Alberta
 

Retired_Can_Soldier

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`The N.D.P.'s defense strategy will likely be the tried and tested strategy of both the N.D.P. and the Liberals.
Fear.
A return of the conservatives will likely result in Gays in cages. Back alley abortions. Cuts to education. Union busting.
And on and on it goes.

Kenney's United Conservatives should take note of one thing. Conservatives no longer have a monopoly in Alberta. The reason they were punted was because many Albertan's were sick of the arrogance and corruption.
 

Cannuck

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Winner ? None of the players will be good for Alberta,and Kenny likely being the worst .
A lump of dog shyte would be better than Notley. I wish the social conservatives would f$#k off and go away. That's unlikely. I can only hope that Jason acts like a fiscal conservative but talk is cheap so I won't hold my breath.
 

Twin_Moose

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UCP calls on ethics commissioner to probe NDP press conference at Lethbridge hospital

The United Conservative Party is calling for an investigation into an NDP press conference held at a Lethbridge hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Premier Rachel Notley spoke at Chinook Regional Hospital, where she criticized comments made by UCP leader Jason Kenney earlier in the week, when he said he was open to competition and allowing some private companies to perform publicly funded health-care procedures.
Kenney raised concern on Twitter that the premier was holding a partisan news conference in a public hospital, which is against Alberta Health Services policy.
"It is an unethical abuse of public resources for the NDP Leader to hold a partisan news conference in a public hospital, as she did today. Those are party, not government signs," he wrote.
"This is explicitly prohibited by AHS policy. Stop campaigning at public expense. Call the election."
Enacted in 2012 the policy reads, "AHS facilities shall not be used for any political activity, including, but not limited to use for the purposes of canvassing, campaigning, making political announcements, touring and other activities."
Notley's spokesperson, Cheryl Oates, responded to Kenney on Twitter, saying the announcement was done in a public area of the hospital and no tax dollars were spent to do it.
"Not a single tax dollar went to this announcement. The nurses who came to speak out about the dangers of @jkenney plan to privatize health care, came on their own time because they are worried about what he will do to front line services," she wrote.
"The event was done in a public area of the hospital, but we understand the concern and will ensure future campaign events are not done at AHS facilities."
UCP house leader Jason Nixon issued a release Sunday, calling for an investigation.
"Saturday's NDP campaign event was not just a clear violation of AHS policy, but it also seems probable that the Premier and her staff broke Government of Alberta rules that prohibit them from using their influence to host a partisan event in a public hospital," Nixon said in a release.
"I have written to Alberta's Ethics Commissioner to ask for an immediate investigation into this event and I'm calling on Alberta Health Services and the premier's office to explain this clear violation of AHS policy for the benefit of the Notley NDP."
Saturday was just the most recent incident of Kenney accusing the NDP of campaigning before dropping the writ for the spring election campaign.
Once an election is called, the campaign will last 28 days.
Under the province's fixed-date election legislation, the next provincial election must be held between March 1 and May 31, 2019.
 

Twin_Moose

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Notley says Kenney unfit to lead Alberta with his party under RCMP investigation

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says Jason Kenney is unfit to lead the province as the United Conservative Party is under RCMP investigation.
"I think the best way to evaluate the significance of the RCMP investigation is if the shoe were on the other foot and a politician seeking to lead the province and either he, or people close to him, were under investigation by the RCMP, what would Jason Kenney suggest, what would he say?" the premier said in a scrum in Calgary on Friday.
"I think he would say that person is not fit to be premier. And I think he would be right."
Alberta's Office of the Election Commissioner has turned over to the RCMP its investigation into allegations of irregular political contributions involving the so-called "kamikaze" campaign of United Conservative Party leadership contender Jeff Callaway.
It's alleged that Callaway ran with the intent of knocking former Wildrose leader Brian Jean out of the UCP leadership race, leaving a clear path forward for Kenney.
Both Kenney and Callaway have denied any collusion between their campaigns.
"It is very significant that we've had credible confirmation that there is an RCMP investigation into this, and I think Mr. Kenney needs to come clean on all the different elements of this," Notley said.
Kenney said he, his staff and the UCP have not been asked to speak to RCMP.
"Obviously, we'd cooperate with any kind of investigation and we'd fully expect people would comply with all of the elections laws," he said, pointing to a candidate that was removed from the UCP after it was discovered he wasn't "forthcoming" about his donations to Callaway's campaign.
Notley also questioned why Kenney had called for the province's upcoming spring election to be called at the earliest possible date.
"I think, quite frankly, he was hoping the election would be done and dusted before this stuff started to come out," Notley said, adding that the election will be held in April or May.

I don't think Albertans will vote Notley back in even if Kenney is in jail
 

Ron in Regina

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