We’ll issue our pass to PC Nation
Wildrose party members, the refugees of Alberta politics, are now welcome to join the Progressive Conservative party free of charge.
Just turn over your Wildrose membership card, say the border guards, and we’ll issue our pass to PC Nation, no strip search required.
That was only the most original move on a post-holiday Monday that showed Premier Jim Prentice and company driving hard toward a spring election this year.
First, the party wants 35 nominations done Feb. 21 in a kind of grab-a-riding blowout.
Second, it appears that all 87 PCs are to be nominated very soon afterward, perfect timing for an election campaign built around a new budget.
Third, there will probably be a small cabinet shuffle by the end of January, likely to include one Danielle Smith.
The rumour mill even has her getting a new revenue portfolio. That would truly be a laff riot if Prentice decides to raise taxes.
A cabinet job could increase the ex-Wildrose leader’s chances of winning a PC nomination in her Highwood riding. Local riding boards do love to keep pet ministers. If she gets a significant post, the Highwood PCs might just swallow their anger and accept her at a meeting proposed for March 7.