Wildrose MLAs Kerry Towle and Ian Donovan cross floor to join Tories
Wildrose MLAs Kerry Towle and Ian Donovan will cross the floor to join Jim Prentice’s Conservatives.
Towle, MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, was a high-profile, outspoken Wildrose MLA who tackled key opposition issues including the closure of the Michener Centre in Red Deer — a closure Prentice rescinded upon taking office last month.
Donovan is MLA for Little Bow, farmer and agriculture critic, has spoken out recently on farm safety issues.
It is not yet known what roles the two will take inside the Prentice government. A news conference is scheduled for 12:15 p.m.
The move comes after a fractious convention at which Wildrose members voted against adopting an equity policy protecting specific minority groups at the party’s annual meeting in Red Deer earlier this month.
Instead, members kept a simpler statement recognizing that “all Albertans have equal rights, responsibilities and privileges.”
The fallout after the vote has been swift. Critics and advocates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer community said the vote left a black mark on the party’s image. Last week, a Calgary riding executive left the party over its failure to adopt the expanded equality policy. Terrence Lo resigned as vice-president of communications for the Calgary-Glenmore Wildrose Constituency Association, saying as an Asian, atheist and parent of a gay son, he could no longer stay with the party.