Only one Progressive Conservative candidate for party leader would repeal the Land Stewardship Act, former Bill 36, which created the Land Use Framework. That candidate is Rick Orman.
Orman ran the first four weeks of his campaign on a “listening tour,” where he heard “one very, very consistent message was that people were very unhappy with Bill 36,” he told the Journal in a phone interview.
People were upset with the concept of “confiscation without meaningful compensation” and with the process used to pass the legislation, Orman said. “It all had to do with the ministerial capability to confiscate land leases,” he said. “It would be arbitrary rather than arbitration.”
The government should start over with the land use legislation because people don’t want anything to do with it, he said. “It was like milk. It just soured and there was no way you’re going to make it right again.”
Bill 36 came under fire from a St. Albert lawyer, Keith Wilson, who toured the province over the last year with information meetings that also took aim at Bills 50 and 19.
“This is no way to run a government. We have to hold these people accountable for these actions,” said Orman on Bills 19 and 50.
Orman has been out of provincial politics for 18 years and a member of the PC party since 1971. Orman said the campaign has “peaked” in the past two weeks with membership sales going “very well.”
“Everything we do from here on in has to convert to membership sales. That’s just the way the process is structured and that’s how you win it.”
Orman said if he can provide the type of campaign and leadership that the people who left the party feel comfortable with they will come back, adding other former Wildrose members have joined his campaign.
Orman said the party can be changed from within. “I don’t need to leave the party. I just need to be true to its principles,” Orman said. “This has to do with our party being hijacked. It has nothing to do with anything other than that.”
PC leadership candidate Alison Redford has pledged to change the “government’s controversial land management legislation,” according to a press release from June 1.
The Bill 10 amendments to the Land Stewardship Act are not enough, she said, adding that she would improve consultation, add an explicit compensation model and access to the courts to Bills 19 and 36.
Redford would suspend Bill 36 until amendments to compensation, consultation and access to courts are passed.
On Bill 50, Redford told the Journal “we need to revisit what the needs are with respect to most of the projects, with the exception of the Heartland line.”
Ted Morton would “revisit” the transmission projects in Bill 50. “I will order an independent and impartial needs assessment by a panel of qualified experts,” Morton is quoted as saying on his website. Morton supports Bill 36.
Gary Mar would “remove the discretionary power of Cabinet under Bill 50 to establish Critical Transmission Infrastructure (CTI) requirements and place it with the legislature where all parties can debate and approve the action,” according to his website. Mar called Bill 36 the result of the government doing “too much telling and not enough listening,” at the forum in Fort McMurray on Thursday. “I would take Bill 36 and put it in a parking lot until you can resolve those issues.”
Doug Horner said he is still in favour of the Land Use Framework and that he wants to speed up the planning, at the forum in Fort McMurray on Thursday. Doug Griffiths said more consultation and discussion on water allocation is needed.
With cabinet ministers turning against decisions government has made, the province looks like a “banana republic,” according to Orman.
The government has been “absolutely inconsistent about their decision-making. This is part of the reason I came back because this is not who we are in Alberta. This is not the government that our party wants to lead us into the future. We’ve got to create the stability and certainty around decision-making,” Orman said.
While PC MLAs voted for the legislation, MLAs have told Orman “they got bullied into some of the stuff,” he said. “They had no idea of the implications.”
Albertans and the PC caucus still do not understand the implications of Bill 36, he said. “There was a lot of intimidation and bullying that went on.”
Orman said MLAs have told him they feel more like ambassadors from Edmonton than MLAs from their constituencies. “They’re sent out as ambassadors to sell stuff.”
Although critical of the PC government, Orman said he has not considered switching to another party, calling it a “chicken’s way out.”
Orman also proposes a new equalization formula for Alberta and Canada, saying since it was entrenched in the Constitution in 1982, there has been a net outflow of $100 billion to help pay government programs and services in other regions.
The federal government has committed to changing the formula in 2013 and Orman said he would be willing to wait. Orman believes Alberta could lead the country in a “thoughtful discussion on new principles for equalization,” his website reads.
Orman plans to visit Bonnyville and does not yet have plans to stop in St. Paul. Part of the reason for scheduling a stop in St. Paul’s northeast neighbour is Bonnyville town councillor Gene Sobolewski’s support.
Orman could be the candidate to rebuild the party, said Sobolewski.
