The Alberta Advantage? Maybe…maybe not.

By Kati Whilyer

The United Conservative Party was formed from a merger with the PC and the divided Wildrose, but what happened to the other Wildrose party members? Some formed the Alberta Advantage Party. Where will they go from here?

The Alberta Advantage party was formed by former founder of the Wildrose Party, Marilyn Burns, alongside David Inscho and Eli Weisberg. The party believes that Alberta is in dire need of strong leadership and civilian engagement.

As Marilyn Burn states, “We, and our children, cannot remain free or civilized in Alberta if we do not choose to participate in how our Province will be governed. The Wildrose and Alberta Advantage way is the only political party that I know of, on the entire planet that allows every member to maximize participation and free expression within a political sphere.”

Burns makes a compelling point. Canadians have long been criticized for their political apathy, and voter turn-out rates continue to be lackluster, especially for civic or provincial elections. Ask any Canadian their opinion on President Donald Trump, and they’ll have one. Ask any Canadian about Canadian politics, and chances are they’ll either know a lot or absolutely nothing at all. Still, she’s a bit ambitious to call the Alberta Advantage party the “only political Party…on the entire planet” that promotes self-reliant citizenry and free expression, especially given that the Alberta Advantage Party isn’t quite a party yet.

In order for the party to be officially recognized in Alberta, it must legitimize itself in one of three ways. First, the party needs to collect the signatures of one-third of eligible voters in Alberta. Second, the party has to have three MLAs cross the floor to represent it. Finally, the party must endorse candidates in at least half the ridings in the province.

The Alberta Advantage party has stated that it plans to be up and running by 2019. In the meantime, the party has made available online their mission and values. In essence, the Alberta Advantage party wants Alberta to become a formidable political and economic voice in Canada.

Reading their mission statement, the words “Make Alberta Great Again” come to mind. Like Trump’s presidential campaign, the Alberta Advantage party will no likely appeal to Albertans who feel economically disenfranchised (whether or not they actually are) and undervalued by the bigwigs in Ontario and Quebec. Remember Ralph bucks? Those, for some Albertans, were the glory days, where jobs and oil and money overfloweth. While the Alberta Advantage party emphasizes that it plans to lead Albertans back to the promised land in socially and economically responsible ways, the party’s rhetoric of individual freedom, anti-socialism and libertarianism, may give some people pause, as it bears striking – though much tamer (no one is getting grabbed by their genitalia) – resemblance to the same kind of language Trump used during his presidential campaign.