Forget about the right, former Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk says, it’s time to unite the centre.
The former PC leadership candidate and St. Albert resident wants to create a new party that is in line with Albertans’ views and actually has a chance at winning the next election.
Now that Albertans have had almost four months to cool their heels since the last provincial election, Lukaszuk said many are finding themselves without a political home.
“The problem right now is that we have created a situation where Albertans have very few choices,” Lukaszuk said. “If things were to stay the way they were right now, with PC virtually non-existent, Alberta Party really not a player, Liberals non-existent, fast-forward to 2019, Albertans will have to choose which two of the evils they want more.
“That’s frankly not healthy for our democratic system.”
According to Lukaszuk none of the parties today can offer Albertans what they want: a government that is socially moderate, but understands the language of business.
He said that no matter how hard the NDP government or the Wildrose Opposition try to shift towards the centre, pressures from unions and corporations won’t allow for it. And thanks to overspending during the last campaign, it will likely take the PCs until the next election to rebuild, he added.
The Liberal and Alberta parties are also non-contenders for the average Albertan voter, said Lukaszuk. The Alberta Party’s momentum has dwindled as a result of too many thinkers and not enough doers and the Liberals haven’t had much luck forming government in almost a century.
He points to the upcoming byelection in Calgary Foothills as a political thermometer.
“The best test of whether I’m out to lunch or not will be this upcoming byelection in Calgary. Never mind who wins, I think it will be either Wildrose or NDP because people have no choices, but watch where the other parties fall,” said Lukaszuk, pointing to the Alberta Party’s pooling of resources on a single candidate.
“If there was something there, they would do better than coming in third or fourth.”
While neither party has been able to go it alone, Lukaszuk believes that a new party that merges the Alberta Party and Liberals could be a winnable contender in the next election.
