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MacIntyre: Now united, it’s time to get to work

MLA Don MacIntyre’s thoughts on a unified conservative party
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July 22, 2017 – this will be a day that goes down in the history books of our great province.

Conservatives of various stripes put their differences aside, and united for the greater good of Albertans. A victory for the people of this province and the democratic process.

Combined, more than 50,000 Albertans bought memberships and voted to ratify an agreement bringing the Wildrose and PC parties together. On both sides, 95 per cent of members said yes to unity, a massive mandate to move forward.

Now that the vote is behind us, our thirty-person-strong United Conservative caucus is turning its attention to the next steps in the unity process.

As you may know, July 24 triggered the unofficial start of a leadership race for the United Conservative Party.

We wish Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and PC Leader Jason Kenney, two strong conservative leaders the very best in their upcoming campaigns.

The United Conservative Party entity will be registered with Election Alberta very soon. Registering the name should take less than a month. Once this is done, our caucus will inform the Speaker of the House, making it official.

Even as the leadership campaigns become a larger focus for Albertans, it’s important to remember the work of the Legislature is of utmost importance.

On July 24, our caucus met for the first time and elected Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper as our interim leader to steer us through the following months.

Mr. Cooper will be at the helm of the United Conservative caucus for around three months, holding the NDP government to account and managing operations at the Legislature.

An interim leader is a very important role and we wish Mr. Cooper the best in his duties. Mr. Cooper will also sit on a joint board, along with two MLAs of his choosing (but one from each of the soon-to-be former Wildrose and PC parties).

While the priorities of the new United Conservative Party are being decided on, it’s important to remember our MLAs remain dedicated first and foremost to their constituents.

As the NDP government continues to fail Alberta families by imposing risky ideas causing job losses, our caucus is united in its goals of creating strong, common sense policies that create jobs for Albertans and opposing NDP policies that scare investment away.

More than forming power, the unity process has always been about bringing new, common sense ideas back into force.

Every member of our caucus will make his or her decisions based on what’s best for the families of this province.

We promise to make the next chapter of Alberta’s history the greatest chapter yet.

Don MacIntyre, MLA

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake

#2, 160 Hewlett Park Landing

Sylvan Lake, AB T4S 2J3

P: 403.887.9575

E: Innisfail.SylvanLake@assembly.ab.ca