With the resignation of Alberta Premier Alison Redford the battered Progressive Conservative party is forced to change course to erase a widespread public perception it's an ìOld Boys Clubî with a sense of entitlement, say local political insiders.
ìWhat I would like them to do is re-energize. We have to get rid of the perception of entitlement,î said Dennis Cooper, president of the party's Innisfail-Sylvan Lake constituency, who added a ìnumber of peopleî in his constituency were questioning whether Redford could lead them successfully in the next provincial election. ìWe have to get back to the people. We have to get back to our rural roots.î
Redford, who was being assailed in recent months on all political and public fronts ñ including from within her own caucus -- announced her resignation on March 19 after leading the Tories to a majority victory in the provincial election 23 months ago. Redford said she was stepping down because she did not want party and caucus infighting to get in the way of building a better future for the province.
While Cooper holds onto the fact the provincial Tories are still the governing party of Alberta for the next 24 months with a mandate to govern and work for Albertans, the Opposition Wildrose party believes the grim writing is clearly on the wall for the party that has directed politics in the province for more than four decades.
ìThe PC party is no longer Peter Lougheed's party, and there is no question they have lost touch with Albertans. Their sense of entitlement has outgrown the party and they are in disarray,î said Kerry Towle, the Wildrose MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
ìShe (Redford) came from the outside and was not a member of the Old Boy's Club. She wanted new and different change but reality is that she couldn't do what she intended to do because the party as a whole is in trouble and they wouldn't let anyone new come in.î
Cooper said Redford's downfall was largely due to her mishandling the criticism directed at her for the $45,000 it cost to attend the funeral last December of former South African leader Nelson Mandela.
ìThe public reacted very negatively to the flight. I think how it was handled was definitely the wrong way,î said Cooper, adding Redford ìwas not a really good team leader.
ìSome people are good leaders but not a leader of teams and she wasn't a good team leader,î said Cooper. ìShe is a very smart and passionate woman about Alberta but we are used to Ralph Klein and we are used to Peter Lougheed. She did win an election and she did win a majority but the first two years did not turn out the way I thought it should.î
He said the party, which will see deputy premier Dave Hancock as interim leader and premier, will now have to move quickly to select a new leader, one who will turn the shell-shocked ruling party's fortunes around.
ìIt can't run shorter than four months or longer than six. I am thinking you are going to see a shorter one rather than a longer one,î said Cooper, adding he does not have a personal preference as to who runs for leader. ìI haven't picked a person because what I would like him or her to do is more important than who I like right now.î
In the meantime, Towle said she felt ìbadî for Redford from a compassionate perspective but added the ultimate responsibility had to fall on the premier's shoulders.
ìSometimes in politics you make your bed and you have to lay in it,î said Towle. ìWhen you start taking trips to South Africa and use the government plane to go to PC party fundraisers you have to expect some kickback. The fact that she couldn't see, that she should have apologized and paid back the South African money, and the fact she couldn't see that, was wrong.î
