The Alberta Party stakes out the middle ground on Alberta’s political map
Chris LaBossiere is a successful Edmonton tech entrepreneur co-founder of fast-growing Yardstick Software. He calls himself a realist but as president of the nascent Alberta Party he does allow himself one “audacious” dream.
Before the next election rolls around expected in 2012 he not only wants to have representatives of the Alberta Party in the legislature he wants his party to lead the opposition.
“It does sound unrealistic but my hope is to already be the leader of the opposition in the Alberta legislature” LaBossiere says in an interview.
“That’s a big audacious goal but it’s one that I have as president” he says. While admitting it “does sound unrealistic” to supplant the Liberals as the official Opposition LaBossiere says his party has had conversations with “a number” of sitting MLAs about joining the party.
“Some of them (MLAs) are just nibbling at the start of it and some of them are very well along in the process.”
He says the party could have an MLA today if it wanted to but it’s looking for just the right person.
“We don’t want to have any MLA just for the sake of having an MLA.”
Pretty big dreams for a party that hasn’t even contested an election yet but these are interesting times in Alberta politics. While the battle between the Wildrose Alliance and the ruling Progressive Conservatives has garnered most of the headlines bubbling beneath the surface is the Alberta Party a centrist group that aims to run candidates in every constituency by 2012. Its lofty goal is nothing less than doing politics differently.
The Alberta Party has existed mostly in name only since 1985. But in 2009 when the Renew Alberta movement — a non-partisan gathering of Albertans who were concerned about the state of democracy in Alberta — announced its intention to establish a new centrist party the wheels were set in motion for a revitalization of the moribund party. In February 2010 Renew Alberta’s organizing committee agreed to join the Alberta Party launching ‘The Big Listen’ process to develop a entirely new policies from the grassroots.
The party is small but fast growing and rapidly evolving. It has a new board of directors has drafted a constitution and held a policy conference. The party has about 800 members LaBossiere says and money is steadily coming in.
“We ran the party from January to September on about $4000. Everything — websites stationary travel — was all donated by our volunteer base.”
Since then they’ve raised close to $65000. LaBossiere admits it’s small potatoes compared to the money the other parties raise but he expects the numbers will grow when the party launches its leadership race which will culminate in a convention here in May. The party is raising enough to pay the bills and has hired a full-time organizer.
“We started a brand new party no policies no money in the bank and 40 or 50 members a year ago and in a month we’ll have 30 CAs (constituency associations) organized we’ll hopefully have $100000 to $150000 in the bank we have a full-time leader a leadership race underway — that’s a lot of progress.”
Sue Huff acting leader of the party is touring the province spreading the word. Last week she was in Grande Prairie for the inaugural meeting of the constituency association there and to talk to city council about municipal policy.
Huff a former public school trustee who chose not to run for re-election says she was attracted to the “people the process and the policy” of the organization.
“Everything feels new and fresh and exciting.
“There are so many amazing people who are committed to this group you can’t help but feel you’re joining a wonderful wave of energy” says Huff an actress and filmmaker.
What does the Alberta Party stand for that would separate it from the others?
“One of our main objectives is to bring Albertans’ voice back to politics and back to the legislature. Right now only 23 per cent of Albertans have chosen the current government and that is quite troubling. It’s the lowest in Canada for a ruling party” says Huff.
“There are a lot of people who feel disconnected from political life that their voice isn’t heard and that the government is going to do what it wants anyway. We really have an enormous amount of work to restore democracy here.”
She describes the party as “very moderate” which reflects how she sees Albertans as “reasonable common sense kind of people what really want a balance between the pursuit of your individual dreams and aspirations but also recognizing that we live in a society and that we’re part of a group.”
Why did Huff throw her energies into an unknown party instead of one of the existing four parties in the Legislature?
The existing parties she says are “negative and toxic.” She was approached by other parties to run but she found them “very confrontational and very aggressive. I almost feel that if one side came up with a plan for world peace the other side would have to rip it apart.”
If it sounds like redefining politics that’s because it is.
“Maybe it’s time for political makeover. We need to all grow up a little bit.”
She thinks the real potential for growth is in the 60 per cent of Albertans who didn’t vote and she’s not worried about siphoning votes away from the other left or centrist parties and splitting the anti-Tory vote even further.
“If people are willing to change their vote and come to us then whoever they’re leaving should be looking in the mirror because that clearly was not a very passionate or committed vote.
“What’s on offer isn’t really meeting the needs and more choice is a good thing.”
LaBossiere was a true blue Alberta PC who was on the executive of Dave Hancock’s Edmonton-Whitemud constituency. In October of 2009 he attended the PC annual general meeting looking for “some inspired innovation that the party might find to reinvent itself … and I saw quite the opposite.”
The PC party he says is top down in its leadership and resistant to new ideas.
“I never felt there was a culture of transparency a culture of innovation or a willingness to change … I lost faith.”
He quit the party and considered joining the Liberals but he was put off by what he saw as the arrogance of the party and their inability to win in rural Alberta.
Still looking for a place to apply his political energies he attended a Reboot Alberta event where he met a number of Alberta Party supporters.
“The people I met were consistent with what I was looking for which was reinventing the way politics was done.
“From there it happened fairly quickly. Three weeks later I was on the board.”
The newness of the party is one of its selling points he says.
“What appealed to me more than anything was that it was new a clean palate.”
LaBossiere rejects the “progressive” label; nor is the party on the left of the political spectrum.
“People say we’re left of centre because they assume we are. The truth is that most people in our party are fiscally conservative but socially progressive and they don’t feel comfortable in that traditional spectrum.”
He sees big potential for the party in rural Alberta.
“The reality is that in rural Alberta there really is no choice if you’re unhappy with the government and you can’t align yourself politically with the Wildrose Alliance.” Many rural voters won’t consider the Liberals.
He feels there is a great appetite in rural Alberta for a fiscally responsible socially progressive party and that’s not the Wildrose.
“There is a stark difference between us and them and that creates an opportunity for us in rural Alberta.”
But observers caution the party has a long way to go to make real impact on Alberta politics.
Chaldens Mensah a political science professor at Grant MacEwan University praises the party for trying to do politics differently but says it will be a challenge for them to break through in the next election. It would be a “huge boost for their future prospects” if they could land an MLA like newly-independent Raj Sherman into the fold.
It won’t be easy for the party to convince disgruntled Conservatives and Liberals to break from their long-held voting patterns.
“I don’t think they’ve created any discernable political buzz to convince people to make a wholesale switch.”
He thinks the party will have its greatest impact in more politically volatile Edmonton less so in Calgary and with little impact in the rural areas. The biggest impact will be on the Liberals if the Alberta Party gains momentum.
“The vote splitting in Edmonton will really hurt the Liberals but I do believe core Liberals are not going to be switching … the next election will come down to which party will be able to maintain the ground game of getting out the voters.”
The NDs he feels could be hurt by voters who are concerned about the environment moving their vote to the Alberta Party.
The biggest challenge for the Alberta Party along with the other parties is to engage the huge number of disengaged voters.
“If the Alberta Party plays its cards well and comes up with the right leader then they could make waves in the election. But right now I’m not very optimistic about their chances.”
Mark Lisac publisher of the nonpartisan newsletter Insight into Government sees the Alberta Party as a serious movement with potential for the future although in the short-term he believes they will just split the middle/left vote.
“I can see what they want to accomplish but I but can’t see how they have much chance of doing anything in real terms beyond getting a few more PCs elected than would otherwise be the case” writes Lisac in an email.
“As with other parties much of their success will depend on their leadership and we won’t even know who the leader is until about the end of May. They could also start to register more with the public if they can lure some MLAs into joining.”
He cites former Liberal leadership candidate Dave Taylor who quit the party over the leadership of David Swann and Calgary MLA Kent Hehr (whose former campaign manager Chima Nkemdirim was and remains a key organizational figure in the party) and possibly Sherman. Even getting an MLA on board however is not a way to become an alternative to the government.
“The main effects would be further damage to the Liberals and further marginalization of the New Democrats.”
Lisac also feels that AP policy thinking really has little to distinguish it from the Liberals or the Conservatives. In fact he sees little substantial difference between the five Alberta political parties.
“The New Democrats and Wildrose aren’t nearly as far out of line with the political centre in Alberta as people think. All five parties seem to differ more in style and personality and internal culture than in how they would change the government.”
LaBossiere however disputes the notion that the party’s appeal is strictly among disaffected Liberals and New Democrats. He believes his party will appeal to the progressive side of the Progressive Conservative party.
“We’re not progressive in that if you’re an NDP supporter or a Liberal supporter you’re going to be an Alberta Party supporter. We’re not all synonymous with each other.”
