Igniting a Prairie Fire?
June 14, 2007 · By jaunque
Speaking of Alberta’s epic political shifts, it appears Link Byfield is fixing his sights on Alberta’s provincial political scene.
With Alberta’s political scene being void of a bona fide conservative contender since the Socreds cratered in the ’70s, will Byfield find the backing to give the Tories their first real challenge in decades?
Link Byfield hinted a couple of weeks ago during an interview on CTV’s Question Period that there was something afoot in provincial politics; his most pointed comments were (seemingly) directed toward the Alberta Alliance, which he described as “one party with two leaders,” without elaborating as to what that meant or its relevance.
But, any effort by Link Byfield to start a new party would inevitably come into conflict with the Alliance; unless, of course, they are part of the process.
If Link and the Alberta Alliance have something up their sleeve, it had better have something to do with the Social Credit party. As the Soceds have shown in the Drumheller-Stettler by-election that they are still a minor player in rural Alberta ridings.
I would doubt Link’s new venture has anything to do with the Alliance.
Specifically, I’d be surprised if Link wants anything to do with Alliance president Randy Thorstensen, one of the “two leaders” he was no doubt referring to. He left the Socreds in tatters, sunk the Alberta First Party after he formed the Alliance, and almost sunk the Alliance after losing a third election- a victim of his misguided “Blame Ralph” campaign.
As for the Socreds, they had a strong canddiate in D-S, but would no doubt lose most of this support if a credible alternative surfaces. Should Byfield and Co. enter the poltical scene, the Socreds will continue to function as a glorifed political debating scociety- refusing to merge, co-operate or bow out gracefully- and will eventually fade away.
If Byfield forms a party, I just hope he is able to salvage the seemingly available “Alberta Party” name from the scavaging Liberal Party- who I’m sure would love to scoop that up in their ongoing attempt to mislead the Alberta populace into thinking they’re not Liberals.
The Alberta Party was\is in merger negotiations with the Alberta Alliance; there was, apparently, a vote on the merger at the Alliance’s general meeting a few months ago, but they opted to defer until the AP’s legal wrangling was cleared up.