'It's game on now:' Jean takes Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche byelection, narrowing options for Kenney
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Former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, who promised to topple Premier Jason Kenney, could be sworn in under the UCP banner just days before the premier faces a party leadership review.
Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche voters sent Jean back to the legislature with 63.6 per cent of a byelection vote Tuesday night, raising questions about Kenney’s ability to hold support among UCP members.
Jean won’t be sworn in at the legislature until April 5 at the earliest to allow for appeals after the election, and Jean has urged his supporters to oust Kenney in a review scheduled for April 9 in Red Deer.
Blaise Boehmer, a former senior staffer in Alberta’s UCP government, told Postmedia following Tuesday night’s preliminary results the premier has options, but none of them are good. Kenney could resign or call a snap election, but Jean’s win puts “wind in the sails of the anti-Kenney vote” at the Red Deer meeting that could see as many as 9,000 people attend.
“It means it’s game on now,” he said, adding it’s difficult to predict what Kenney will do in the chaotic scenario, but it’s likely the premier will want to decide his own fate.
“I never would have thought that within three years of his first term, he would be facing an outright revolt of his leadership. So anything’s possible,” said Boehmer.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said Tuesday evening Jean’s win means either Kenney or Jean will soon be out of the UCP caucus.
“If Kenney pulls off what I think is now becoming a miracle on April 9, he then starts to make moves to remove Jean. If on the other hand, he doesn’t win, then he’s gonna have to leave and Jean’s there. I don’t think there’s anything he can do between now and then,” said Bratt.
“But how do you get rid of someone who’s just won a byelection? It’s all unprecedented territory,” said Bratt, adding that it’s not out of the question that the April 9 meeting gets pre-empted by a snap election call, or delayed because of capacity issues.
Late Tuesday night following the unofficial results, Kenney offered his congratulations to Jean and his UCP team on Twitter. “Thank you to all of the candidates and their volunteers for their commitment to democracy, and to local voters for participating in the electoral process,” Kenney stated.
On Wednesday, NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the government’s failures should be worn by the whole party no matter who leads the UCP.
“Last night was yet another chapter in what appears to be an unending drama about the UCP’s focus on itself, its own navel-gazing, its own palace intrigue, its own fighting,” said Notley, accusing the UCP of not addressing the urgent needs of Albertans, including affordability and health care.
The byelection came after former UCP MLA Laila Goodridge resigned her provincial post last year, going on to win the local federal riding for the Conservative Party of Canada.
NDP rival Ariana Mancini came in second with just over 18 per cent of the vote. In the 2015 election, Mancini took just over 30 per cent of the vote.
— With files from Vincent McDermott and Laura Beamish
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