Wildrose convention delegates wooed by federal Conservative leadership hopefuls
Emma Graney
The lure of 500 or so small-c conservatives at the Wildrose Party’s annual general meeting in Red Deer over the weekend proved an irresistible temptation for federal Conservative Party leader hopefuls.
They walked the hallways of the event, shaking hands with Wildrose party faithful who are likely to be somewhat sympathetic to their cause.
Part of it was about getting their names and faces out there in a western province that is somewhat removed from political machinations of Ottawa. It was particularly worthwhile to be meeting with politically engaged folks who are likely to volunteer their time to a campaign, to knock on doors and spread the word locally.
Andrew Scheer, Kellie Leitch, Maxime Bernier, Andrew Saxton and Brad Trost all made an appearance over the weekend, invited to the conference by their former federal Conservative colleague, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean.
Jean remained mum on his pick for leader Saturday, saying only, “My money is on the people of Canada. I think they’re going to make the right choice for the Conservative leader.”
He wished them all good luck, but said he won’t be endorsing a candidate because he doesn’t think it appropriate to go into somebody else’s jurisdiction and play favourites.
It’s not the first time the Conservative leadership hopefuls have crossed paths at provincial rallies.
Some of them recently hit up the same functions in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and Scheer said the crew is getting used to running into each other at conservative events.
Sometimes there’s a “bit of a race for the best table,” he said with a laugh, but it remains cordial between the candidates as they jostle for volunteers and votes.
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Scheer said peddling the conservative message is easy at events like the Wildrose convention, because “it’s a double-whammy in Alberta” of the NDP provincial government and federal Liberals.
Pointing to Saskatchewan’s economy, he said conservatives on the prairies and beyond tend to appreciate the comparison between his home province, governed by the conservative Saskatchewan Party, which he said has weathered the financial storm better than NDP-governed Alberta.
Wildrose convention delegates wooed by federal Conservative leadership hopefuls