Wildrose looks to be ready in the event of a snap-election

It was a candid evening with Alberta’s Opposition Leader as she spoke plainly about making sure her party was ready to step in for a Progressive Conservative dynasty that’s become stale, unstable and no longer able to govern.

Thursday night’s Calgary Leader’s Dinner with the Wildrose was sold-out as 1,000 individuals came down to the Telus Convention Centre to hear from Danielle Smith.

The fundraiser had been in the works well before the turmoil began within the Premier’s office and the Tory caucus forcing Smith to change or even tweak many aspects of her speech.

Smith first took time to address what had become the elephant in the room, thanking Premier Allison Redford for her service, praising her for her intentions.

“Never once did I doubt that Premier Redford was doing what she thought was best for Alberta,” Smith said.

Her 25 minute address to the party faithful, supporters and even pollsters in the room touched on a variety subjects but the key messaging was clear, they are the province’s only viable alternative and they will be ready in the event of a snap election.

“For the second time in about a three-year period, the governing party has forced out a leader who had led their party to re-election with a strong majority. In the case of both Premier Stelmach and Premier Redford, their own parties judged that they had failed to achieve the kind of results demanded of them. What followed Premier Stelmach’s resignation was a lengthy leadership race which effectively stopped the business of governing Alberta while leadership contestants campaigned,” Smith said. “I believe we will experience the same wait-and-see period while our opponents begin yet another leadership race.”

Smith says the party will continue to raise the issues in the Assembly , travelling the province and meeting with Albertans in community centres, auditoriums and service clubs.

The long-time politician and former columnist also spoke about where the province now stands and cited Donna Kennedy-Glans, the former PC MLA from Calgary Varsity who crossed the aisle to sit as an independent.

“Earlier this week, a cabinet minister resigned her post and left the government caucus. When asked to explain why, she said this: ‘I am increasingly convinced that elements of this 43-year old government are simply unable to make the changes needed to achieve that dream of a better Alberta,” Smith said. ” Many in this room here tonight have already come to this conclusion. Many more are stopping to consider that possibly the problems cannot be fixed from within, or with a change of leadership.”

The Highwood MLA also referenced several members of her team, fellow MLAs thanking them for their work in the Legislature.

The evening though took an emotional turn when she touched on the flood, what it had done to Calgary and specifically her hometown of High River.

Smith wrapped up her speech in what sounded like to many in the room as an “unofficial start” to her election campaign.

“We commit to you that if you put your trust in us, we will be a government for each and every Albertan from every walk of life and from every corner of the province,” she said.

The Wildrose Leader didn’t address the media but in a public Q&A with MLA Bruce McAllister, she tackled several issues and once again the issue of being ready for a snap election was brought up.

Smith and her team had been anticipating an election in February or March of 2016 but upon closer inspection of the Fixed Election Window Law, discovered one can be called any day now.

“They can’t go any later than May of 2016, our prediction is that they are going to choose a new leader and we will be looking at an election in probably March of next year,” she said.

That in turn she adds means they’ll have to speed up their candidate selection process.

The long-time Conservative also highlighted the difference between a Wildrose and a Progressive Conservative, saying it’s a complex and personal choice.

“For me, the issue came down to the fact that I saw a government that wasn’t able to balance the budget and still isn’t ready to balance the budget despite the fact we’ve run seven record deficits,” Smith said.

The fundraiser is being hailed as a success with 1,000 in attendance at $400 a plate.