Wildrose plan to fine floor crossers $100,000 dismissed as a 'gimmick'
Every Wildrose election candidate has signed a code of honour leaving them on the hook for $100,000 if they cross the floor, but some say the contract is little more than a political stunt.
Article content
EDMONTON – Every Wildrose election candidate has signed a code of honour leaving them on the hook for $100,000 if they cross the floor, but some say the contract is little more than a political stunt.
Party Leader Brian Jean said he brought the idea forward to restore Albertans’ confidence in politics after the majority of Wildrose MLAs, including former leader Danielle Smith, fled to the governing Progressive Conservatives late last year. The unprecedented defection stunned Albertans and the ramifications are still being felt on the campaign trail, Jean said in an interview.
“I want the voters to know that Wildrose will reject cynical politics and we will try everything we possibly can to restore voters’ confidence … in politicians and politics in Alberta.”
He wouldn’t release the contract, but said any Wildrose MLA that crosses the floor to join another party will be hit with a $100,000 fine, payable to the party. He said an MLA who disagrees with the party can sit as an Independent without penalty.
Jean raised eyebrows when he accepted Buck Buchanan, who ran unsuccessfully in a Tory nomination race, as the Wildrose candidate in Red Deer-North. Jean said a nomination race is “much different” than winning a legislature seat. Buchanan lost the Conservative nomination before the government tabled its budget, which raised income taxes and a slew of user fees, and introduced a health levy.
“The people I want running for the Wildrose have to be committed to our ideas and Buck is committed to fiscal conservatism,” Jean said.
Buchanan has signed the $100,000 contract, he added.
Sherwood Park Wildrose candidate Linda Osinchuk said having a slate of candidates who have signed the agreement sends a unified message to voters. “Not only does it give us solidarity for the party, but also, it tells Albertans we mean what we say.”
Peter Carver, a law professor at the University of Alberta said the contract is likely unprecedented. While he said it doesn’t seem unconstitutional, the party could run into trouble enforcing it.
“Generally in our system, we view elected members of Parliament and of the legislature as having duties and responsibilities that are not solely owed to the party that they belong to,” Carver said.
One political observer said the contract is nothing more than a reaction to last year’s mass exodus of Wildrose MLAs to the Conservatives.
“No one would have come up with this before last December. It’s a gimmick,” said Duane Bratt, a professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University.
“There are multiple ways around it.”
For example, an MLA could stay within the Wildrose while voting with the government. The political system even allows the premier to appoint a member of an opposition party to the government cabinet, Bratt added.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.