The nomination process for Lac La Biche–St. Paul–Two Hills' new Progressive Conservative candidate is getting shaken up. The local nominating committee has been thrown out over closing nominations too early, and a new candidate, area MP Brian Storseth, has entered the race.
The nomination process for Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills' new Progressive Conservative candidate is getting shaken up.
The local nominating committee has been thrown out over closing nominations too early, and a new candidate, area MP Brian Storseth, has entered the race.
The nomination meeting, which was scheduled for Feb. 21, has now been moved to March 14. Storeseth, who did not enter the race during the initial nomination period, joins the four candidates who did: former Lakeland County councillor Jeff Dechaine, current St. Paul Mayor Glenn Anderson, St. Paul area school board executive Darrell Younghans, and Mallaig resident and Storseth's own step-mother Joanne Penner.
Storseth, currently the federal Conservative MP for Westlock-St. Paul, announced his intention to run for the provincial nomination at a meeting of about 40 friends and supporters at the St. Paul Lions' Den on Feb. 3
The race to be the PC candidate is decided by Progressive Conservative party members at the nomination meeting. The winning candidate will represent the party in the next provincial election, which many political experts think will be called later this spring.
“I think it’ s been a head-turning experience for all of us,” Storseth said of all the changes in the election process. He said he had been interested in seeking the nomination while it was open, but faced a “negative campaign” and personal attacks against him and his family.
Storseth announced last year that he did not intend to re-run for election as the Conservative MP in the newly created Lakeland riding, but he said concerns about the provincial health care system and oil's effect on the economy were factors in his decision to re-enter politics at the provincial level.
“It’ s too important to walk away at this time,” he said, noting it would be “naďve” however, to believe the campaign might not be negative.
Storseth publicly supported Wildrose candidate Shayne Saskiw in the hard-fought and divisive 2012 election that saw Saskiw prevail over long-time PC incumbent and former cabinet minister Ray Danyluk.
Storseth acknowledged in an interview after the meeting that this led to some bitterness post-election, but said he campaigned with Saskiw because he didn’ t support the premier of the time, Alison Redford.
However, he has worked with Prentice, a former federal cabinet minister, and calls him “the real deal.”
“I truly believe he is the right choice to lead this province,” he said.
He spoke of the need for new energy in the constituency, seeking to distance himself from past politics, saying, “I’ m not part of the old boys’ club.”
As for the removal of the local nomination committee and chief returning officer, executive director of PC Alberta Kelley Charlebois said it was a difficult decision.
“I think to the best of my knowledge, I think there was a bit of a misunderstanding and an interpretation of the rules to perhaps suit the local needs.”
The local nomination committee was fired, and the local nomination process halted, when the provincial PC association learned that the local group had ended nominations on Jan. 26 in advance of a planned Feb. 21 nomination meeting, a violation of the party's rule that only 14 days was allowed to pass between these two dates.
The local nomination committee was headed by returning officer Don Schultz, as well as former constituency MLA Ray Danyluk, Dennis Bergheim, Johnny Lypowy and Bart Clark. A new committee will be appointed by the provincial PC association, likely from a neighboring constituency.
Local constituency association president Ron Rudkowsky says the mix-up in dates was a misunderstanding between Schultz and Charlebois. As Rudkowsky tells it, Schultz was directed by the local riding association to hold the nomination meeting quickly, and Schultz believed a date of Feb. 7 was likely to be approved.
The local association then bought ads in area newspapers advertising the nomination meeting on Feb. 7. After the ads were placed, they were informed by the provincial PCs that they were to hold the nomination meeting on Feb. 21, to coincide with similar meetings across the province in order to generate more media buzz.
That's when communication broke down. Rudkowsky believed the local association would be allowed to close nominations on the date they had already planned, Jan. 26, so long as all candidates in the race agreed with the longer break between the close of nominations and the nomination meeting.
"All of the candidates agreed that it's alright and they were happy with that because it gave them more campaigning time," said Rudkowsky.
But Charlebois said that option was never on the table - he had only instructed Schultz to make sure the candidates were aware of the initial mix-up regarding the meeting date.
Rudkowsky said he e-mailed a copy of the candidate information package to the provincial PC association, which included the waiver regarding dates that all four declared candidates ended up signing. But Charlebois said he and the provincial PCs didn't learn of the date discrepancy until after nominations closed on Jan. 26. By that time, he said the only thing he could do was to throw out the committee and restart the process from scratch.
Charlebois says he learned of the date issue after Jan. 26 because someone in the riding complained the process didn't follow the rules. He said he couldn't reveal whom the complaint was from, or any details, but confirmed that it was not sent by anyone interested in entering the race themselves.
He says following the party constitution is hugely important - because if it's ignored, it could open the party up to liability.
"It brings the whole process into question, and frankly exposes us to the opportunity for somebody to take legal action after the process is over if they're one of the people who wasn't successful, or if there's someone who legitimately wanted to run in the process that wasn't able to," said Charlebois.
But Rudkowsky said he's disappointed the local committee is getting the boot: even though they didn't follow the constitution to the letter, he believes the local decision-making that guided the process should be honored.
"It comes down to, should decisions be made by the local people, or should these decisions be made by somebody in Edmonton or Calgary," said Rudkowsky.
With files from Janani Whitfield
