{"id":39612,"date":"2017-10-31T17:54:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T23:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=39612"},"modified":"2021-02-07T22:47:19","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T05:47:19","slug":"newly-unified-alberta-conservatives-choose-kenney-as-their-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/10\/31\/newly-unified-alberta-conservatives-choose-kenney-as-their-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly-unified Alberta conservatives choose Kenney as their leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

J<\/span>ason Kenney won the leadership race for Alberta\u2019s United Conservative Party<\/a> on Oct. 28.<\/p>\n

K<\/span>enney was the clear winner, taking 61.1 per cent of the\u00a0vote over opponents Brian Jean (31.5 per cent) and Doug Schweitzer (7.3 per cent).<\/p>\n

In July, Wild Rose members and Progressive Conservative members voted to merge the two right-of-centre Alberta parties in an effort to defeat Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP in the next provincial election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we work hard, stay humble and earn every vote, we will ensure that this deceptive, divisive, debt-quadrupling, tax-hiking, job-killing, accidental socialist government is one and done,\u201d Kenney said in his victory speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one step closer to a government based on common sense and mainstream values of ordinary Albertans, instead of the failed and divisive ideology of the NDP.\u201d<\/p>\n

An MP of 19 years for Calgary Midnapore, Kenney resigned his seat from the House of Commons in 2016 in order to run for the leadership of the\u00a0Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.<\/p>\n

Jean, the leader of the old Wild Rose party, was Kenney\u2019s main rival in the leadership race. Kenney invited both Jean and Schweitzer on stage on Saturday, in a show of solidarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us owe a debt of gratitude to this gentleman, who at a time of great personal adversity and political adversity, stepped up when others wouldn\u2019t,\u201d Kenney said of Jean.<\/p>\n

\"\"
KENNEY THANKS OPPONENTS: <\/strong>Jason Kenney wins the United Conservative Party election in Calgary on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Kenney invited his opponents, Doug Schweitzer (left) and Brian Jean (right) on stage after the announcement. (Photo by Stephanie Ball\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBrian Jean has been a true champion of ordinary Albertans, of grassroots democracy, and of conservative values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can never thank him enough,\u201d said Kenney.<\/p>\n

Following Kenney\u2019s acknowledgement, Jean left the stage quickly and did not speak to media.<\/p>\n

Kenney also thanked Schweitzer, whose campaign argued that the party should be more \u201csocially moderate.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for bringing to this race a fresh young voice that represents in so many ways the future of Alberta,\u201d Kenney said.<\/p>\n

Schweitzer remained positive following the announcement of Kenney\u2019s win and told media that he plans to run for a seat in the 2019 provincial election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve travelled far and wide in this province in the last four or five months and everywhere I go Albertans are looking for the UCP to lead going forward,\u201d Schweitzer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is the party of the future and I\u2019m excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t care in this party what god you worship or who you love. \u2013 Jason Kenney<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite being widely criticized for his views on gay-straight alliances (GSA) in schools, Kenney\u2019s closing remarks included a nod to Schweitzer\u2019s \u201csocially moderate\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t care in this party what god you worship or who you love,” said Kenney.<\/p>\n

“What we care about as Albertans is how hard you work and how you will contribute to renewing this as a place of opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Kenney won the leadership race for Alberta\u2019s United Conservative Party on Saturday evening, defeating opponents Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":39622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S2 UCP Election","footnotes":""},"categories":[711,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-news","9":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39612"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39710,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39612\/revisions\/39710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}