‘We want our Alberta back,’ Jason Kenney tells crowd at Edmonton town hall

The man who wants to unite Canada’s conservatives and crush the NDP held a town hall Thursday night to drum up more support in Edmonton.

When Jason Kenney was touring the province in the summer, his blue truck plastered with Unite Canada signs, the gatherings were small — barbecues, pub tables pushed together, meeting rooms in small-town hotels.

Eight months later, a good chunk of Canada conservatives have heard Kenney’s plan to become Progressive Conservative leader, nix the party and get Wildrose onboard with a merger.

Kenney’s first hurdle is winning the PC leadership vote in March.

He’s up against three men opposed to the very idea of a merger: former St. Albert MLA Stephen Khan, Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson and Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, who all want to rebuild the party from the shattered remains of the post-2015 election PCs.

But three current Tory MLAs have thrown their support behind Kenney, and it seemed in Edmonton on Thursday his idea has picked up some steam.

The night before, in Calgary, space booked at the Blackfoot Hotel was overwhelmed by the 800 or so people who showed up, leaving standing room only.

In Edmonton, the 500 or so people didn’t quite fill the Wildrose Ballroom at the Ramada; Kenney joked afterwards he was competing with an Oilers game at Rogers Place.

Also in attendance were a couple of suited security guards, wearing earpieces as they checked people’s bags and kept an eye on the crowd, though Kenney wouldn’t comment on whether he’s received any specific threats.

In a speech attacking the policies of what he called “an accidental NDP government,” Kenney declared, “We want our Canada back.”

Peppered with questions from the audience, Kenney was light on policy commitments, but vowed that a united party, if elected with him as leader, would repeal the carbon tax.

Speaking with media afterwards, Kenney acknowledged he’s talking less about his experience in Ottawa these days.

“The focus is more on the meat of the plan for unity — if people aren’t familiar with my background now, they’re probably never going to be,” he said.

Kenney is convinced his plan is gaining momentum, and with 54 delegate selection meetings between now and Feb. 12, he called the next month “a sprint” before doubling down to shore up support for the March 18 leadership vote.

Kenney, Khan, Nelson and Starke will go head-to-head Sunday afternoon in a leadership debate.

egranye@postmedia.com

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