Editorial
The shocking defection of nine of its MLAs, including former leader Danielle Smith, to the Prentice PCs is a heavy and unprecedented blow for the Wildrose party.
Whether the party can survive the defections and rise again to a position where it represents a viable alternative to the ruling Tories remains anyone's guess.
What is known is that despite former leader Smith's call for the PCs and Wildrose to merge, the party's remaining MLAs and other party leaders appear determined to fight on as a stand-alone party.
In accepting the position as Wildrose interim leader on Dec. 22, Heather Forsyth vowed to carry on with the hope of returning the party to its past glories.
“We are not giving up the fight for Albertans,” said Forsyth. “We are here to assure Albertans that we are going to continue to hold this government to account.”
Forsyth, a former Tory MLA, crossed to the Wildrose in 2010, and calls the months leading up to the next provincial election “pivotal for Alberta.”
While vowing to fight on, Forsyth has also made clear that she believes the defection of Smith, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Bruce Rowe and the seven other former Wildrose MLAs represents a dark chapter in Alberta politics.
“I have to tell you that there is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Albertans feel hurt and they feel that their noble notion of public life has been shattered,” Forsyth told this newspaper.
“Alberta deserves an Opposition and it's not only the 440,000-plus Albertans who voted for us in the last election.”
For his part, Premier Jim Prentice is all smiles these days, appearing to have little to worry about from any of the three opposition parties he now faces.
In fact, bolstered by the defection of Smith and her colleagues, the PCs seem right on track to score yet another large majority victory in the next election, whether it is held as scheduled in 2106, or comes earlier in a snap election in 2015.
No question, for the Wildrose to regain the initiative over the Prentice PCs after the recent string of crushing defeats will take a monumental turnaround the likes of which have never been seen in Alberta politics.
And as the case of Jim Prentice's rise to power shows, a party hoping to reverse its fortunes needs, above all else, a strong and confident leader at the helm.
The big question now for the Forsyth-led Wildrose is whether the party can find and elect such a leader, one capable of going toe to toe with the now even mightier Prentice PCs.
