Is Ed Stelmach Forgetting Something?

Alberta PC leadership vote was just a year ago. The vote was open to anyone willing to purchase a $5 membership of the Alberta PC party. And, since Alberta PC doesn't forbid members from holding membership in rival parties, this meant anyone living in Alberta for more than a few months (even if he wasn't a Canadian citizen), was eligible to purchase the membership card and to cast a vote for Alberta's next Premier.

The "instant-tories" gave Stelmach the plurality. But he owes his victory to the second choice votes from the Social Conservative supporters of Ted Morton. Without these votes Stelmach wouldn't have had the absolute majority he needed to get elected. Does he still remember that?

Looks like he's already forgot.

Chandler's Tory nomination in the Calgary-Egmont riding has been nixed by the party due to his connections as the founder of the Concerned Christian Coalition (CCC) that was specifically cited in the AHRC ruling. Stephen Boissoin's letters, published in the Red Deer Advocate, protested the indoctrination of school children "as young as five and six years" into the homosexual subculture in classrooms.
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Premier Ed Stelmach, leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, told reporters Saturday that Chandler's nomination in Calgary-Egmont was "not in the best interests of the party".

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"No wonder party officials have been resigning from the party all over the province since Stelmach took the leadership of the party a year ago", says Alberta blogger Werner Patels. It appears that during his year as Alberta Premier and as a PC party leader, Ed Stelmach has alienated many of his party's Fiscal Conservative supporters. Now he's alienating the Social Conservatives. Craig Chandler already said that he's not going to belong to a party that doesn't want him.

Craig's options are numerous. He can run as independent. Another option would be joining one of the existing right-wing parties, such as Alberta Alliance or Social Credit. He might as well contribute to the formation of a new Wildrose Party of Alberta.

Craig is not a newbie in politics. Few years ago, his efforts greatly contributed to the creation of the united Conservative party on a federal level. This time, he might help another political party in Alberta to achieve an electoral breakthrough and eventually become Alberta's new ruling party.