With his own finance critic forming a new organization that could potentially fund a leadership run, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean says he’s putting the party over any one person’s aspirations.
“I’m not going to comment specifically on this, I’m focused on unity right now,” Jean said Friday in Calgary.
On Thursday, Derek Fildebrandt announced the launch of United Liberty, an organization that will support libertarian candidates for leadership and MLAs, while also promoting more conservative policies.
“I’m fully aware that Derek Fildebrandt is a very passionate and ambitious young man, but as I said from the beginning, this is not about any one person, this is not about Brian Jean or any single individual in Alberta, it’s about unity,” Jean said.
Fildebrandt told 660 NEWS the first step is also getting unity.
“In particular, concentrating on winning over skeptical Wildrosers and winning millennials into the new party,” he said, adding if another leadership candidate doesn’t reflect those values, then he will run himself. “Are we just going to become a pale reflection of either of the two legacy parties or are we going to be something new, bold, brash and principled?”
He said many PCs and Wildrosers have already asked him to run.
“I’m not a traditional, vanilla Conservative,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but what United Liberty is going to do is help me to organize a team so that after the unification vote on July 22, if things are right for me, both in my family and politically, then I’ll have ability to seek the leadership.”
The blowback from a Fildebrandt run could mean pulling support away from Jean and give Jason Kenney a better chance of winning, but the Wildrose Leader said the focus has to stay uniting the parties.
“On the 23rd after that vote is passed, we can have those other races and other decisions made, but until that time, we really need to focus on unity,” he said.
Jean was also asked if he considers himself ‘vanilla’.
“I see myself as a very practical, common sense decision-maker that will always put Albertans first in all my decisions, that’s what I see myself as,” he said.
The unity agreement requires 50 per cent of PCs to vote yes, but 75 per cent on the Wildrose side and Jean said he’s optimistic they’ll meet the threshold.
“Conservatives are never going to break out of the low 20 per cent with millennials if we cannot learn to present Conservatism in a way that speaks to people’s hearts, not just their brains,” Fildebrandt said.
