Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre Independent MLA Joe Anglin says the decision by nine Wildrose MLAs, including Bruce Rowe, to cross to the Progressive Conservatives is wholly unjustified.
“Danielle Smith had a responsibility and those MLAs who followed her had a duty as well, and that was to the people they represented,” said Anglin, a former Wildrose MLA who left the caucus to sit as an Independent on Nov. 2.
“They had no right to destroy a party on the people who helped build that party and that's what they have done. There is a legitimate way of proposing a merger. What they did is a behaviour that is just not justifiable. They walked across the floor without telling anyone. They kept it all secret.
“If you want to unite the conservatives, then he (MLA Rowe) had an obligation and duty to inform the membership and the constituents. Not one of them stepped up and said, ‘This is our plan. We want to unite the conservatives'. Not one of them did that. How dare they now claim that this is an admirable thing? It stinks.”
On Dec. 17 nine Wildrose MLAs announced that they had crossed the floor to sit as PCs. They are Danielle Smith, Rob Anderson, Gary Bikman, Rod Fox, Jason Hale, Bruce McAllister, Blake Pedersen, Jeff Wilson and Bruce Rowe.
The defections are unlikely to have much of a negative impact, if any, on the PCs, said Anglin.
“I don't fault the PCs in this regard,” he said. “Politics is politics. If you were on Prentice's team and this offer came to you, and you were about to get rid of your staunchest opponent, you would do that. The outcome for them is a huge win.
“For the Wildrose membership, they are decimated and devastated and the party itself, particularly at a caucus level, is not functioning.”
Asked if he believes the defections are the beginning of the end of the Wildrose party, Anglin says no.
“Right now they are going to be diminished into a fringe party,” he said.
Anglin says he has no plans to return to the Wildrose caucus or cross over to the PCs.
“I'm not going anywhere,” he said. “I'm an outspoken person and that's what politicians should do.”
