Carstairs senior Don James was so upset with Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Bruce Rowe's defection to the PCs on Dec. 17 that he protested outside Rowe's Olds constituency office on 50th Street on Dec. 22.
Carrying a placard reading “Betrayal = Resign”, James called Rowe's defection a breach of voter confidence.
“I'm a senior citizen, I've been voting in this province for many years, and I simply can't believe what took place and that's why I'm out here today,” said James, 68.
“For a sitting MLA to take my vote on a platform and then to simply cross over to the reigning government and party on a whim is just a betrayal. It is a betrayal of the electorate and the party.
“I could have just as easily let it go and exercised my vote in a year or so, but not this time. This is just too much. I've simply had enough.”
Rowe and eight other Wildrose MLAs, including former leader Danielle Smith, defected to the PCs on Dec. 17.
In a Dec. 19 Gazette interview, Rowe said he crossed the floor to the Tories in an effort to unite the conservative forces in Alberta under Premier Jim Prentice's leadership.
Rowe did not immediately return a call to his office seeking comment on James' protect.
For his part, James says he was shocked to hear of the defections, and after mulling things over for a few days, decided to picket Rowe's office.
“I couldn't believe it when I first heard it,” he said. “When I saw the list of the MLAs and saw Bruce Rowe's name on the list, that was it for me.
“I'm sufficiently jaundiced to think that the crossover was done near Christmas to ensure that most people who may be upset are preoccupied with Christmas, and by the time they come back it will be on the back burner. In this case it isn't going to work for me.”
James is calling on Rowe to resign from the PC caucus and sit as an Independent until the next election.
