Wildrose riding calls for Jean review

A Wildrose constituency association is calling for a review of Brian Jean’s party leadership at the fall convention.

The Wildrose board in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills passed a resolution Tuesday night asking for the party’s constitution to be amended to allow for annual leadership reviews and for the party’s executive committee to call a leadership review at the party’s Oct. 28-29 annual general meeting.

Carl Christensen, president of the local constituency association, said the board believes in principle there should be regular reviews of the party’s leader.

But there is also dissatisfaction with Jean’s leadership among some board members, he said.

“There’s been some issues in the news that maybe haven’t put Wildrose in a positive light,” said Christensen Thursday.

“Even more than that, I would say part of it has to do with talk about uniting the right and so on. And some people say that our party shouldn’t have been talking along those lines.”

The Wildrose constitution says that the executive committee must ask members “at least once in every three general meetings” whether they approve of the current leader.

At last year’s AGM, Jean received 78% support.

Jean could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

Jean won the party’s leadership in spring of 2015 shortly after Wildrose had been decimated by the mass floor-crossing of MLAs, including leader Danielle Smith.

Taking the party into a snap election, Wildrose under Jean gained seats to again form official Opposition as the NDP surged to power.

The last few weeks have been tumultuous for Wildrose however.

The party was widely criticized for finance critic Derek Fildebrandt’s roasting of Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne as she sat in the legislature gallery as a guest.

Fildebrandt was suspended from the Wildrose caucus a day later after endorsing a homophobic Facebook post aimed at Wynne, which he had apologized for and said was inadvertent.

With Jean facing criticism from within Wildrose ranks, Fildebrandt was then quickly reinstated under conditions that remain unclear.

Jean had called last year for grassroots discussions between Wildrose members and Progressive Conservatives in an effort to create a new “consolidated conservative coalition.”

He recently said there was no path forward for that idea and that Wildrose would attempt to become a broader conservative party, possibly under a new name.

The Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills riding is represented by Wildrose MLA Dave Hanson.

Hanson was present at the board meeting Tuesday but did not speak to the resolution or vote on it, said Christensen.

Hanson could not be immediately reached for comment.

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