One day after decisive victory, new PC Leader Jason Kenney gets to work

Jason Kenney will hold his first news conference as Alberta Progressive Conservative leader Sunday, one day after he captured 75 per cent of the votes cast at the party’s leadership convention in Calgary.

CBC will be live streaming the event, which is scheduled to get underway at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Kenney, who was elected on a platform of uniting PC and Wildrose supporters under a single conservative party, was expected to meet with the PC board of directors Sunday morning to talk about next steps. 

• ANALYSIS: For Jason Kenney, now the real work begins
• Jason Kenney wins Alberta PC leadership on first ballot

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean has invited Kenney to meet with him in Edmonton on Monday.

Kenney’s goal of uniting the right may not be easy.

Divisive battle

The leadership race became a divisive battle between Kenney supporters, who tended to skew more towards the views of the federal Conservative Party, and the traditional PCs, who wanted the party to continue in its current form.

The Wildrose Party Alberta’s official opposition party, was started by former Progressive Conservatives who felt the party wasn’t right-wing enough, particularly on property rights. Kenney spent 17 years as member federal Conservative Party, which is more in line with the Wildrose Party’s values. 

That makes him a controversial choice as leader of the PCs.

People who supported other candidates were bitter over Kenney’s victory, which was thought to be due to his successful effort to recruit supporters and get them out to the delegate selection meetings in each of the 87 constituency associations.

Former deputy premier Doug Horner, whose father Dr. Hugh Horner served as a cabinet minister under Peter Lougheed, walked out of the convention hall when Kenney’s win was announced Saturday afternoon.

In his victory speech, Kenney said he wanted people who didn’t vote for him to tell him what they wanted from a new united conservative party.

“We need all of you,” he said.

Kenney’s transition team includes former PC MLA and associate cabinet minister Donna Kennedy-Glans, who briefly ran for the leadership before dropping out in November.

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/jason-kenney-alberta-pc-leader-first-day-1.4031916?cmp=rss