People Who Left the PC Party 2008-2012

I thought I would make a separate post about the people who left the PC Party--or got kicked out--since the last election in 2008. The numbers represent the seats before this election:

  • First to leave was Ron Stevens who resigned because of a judicial appointment. A by-election was held and Wildrose Paul Hinman won that seat. PC caucus count down to 71. Wildrose 1.
  • Guy Boutilier was kicked out of the PC caucus in July 2009 for publicly criticizing the government. (Please keep in mind one of the criticisms of the PC party of Alberta is that all MLAs are to "be the same"--there is no free vote and Premier Redford was quoted just the other day as having said that all her members thought the same way. Frankly, I find this to be a red flag: no diversity nor free speech allowed? all are supposed to be little clones when it comes to government affairs? All right, enough of my interjected opinion.) He eventually joined the Wildrose Party. PC caucus down to 70. Wildrose 2.
  • January 4, 2010, Rob Anderson defected to join the Wildrose. PC 69, Wildrose 3.
  • Same day, Heather Forsyth defected to the Wildrose. PC 68, Wildrose 4.
  • November 22, 2010, Raj Sherman was suspended from the PC Caucus for criticizing emergency room waiting times. Again, criticism is not allowed! He remained an independent for a while, then joined the Liberals. PC 67, Liberal back to 9 (Dave Taylor had left, became Independent, then joined Alberta Party).
  • January 27, 2012, Lloyd Snelgrove left the PC Caucus for reasons I can not find, other than an issue with Premier Redford. This article had the most information.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/01/27/edmonton-snelgrove-conservative-caucus.html He became an independent, although did seem to have ties with the Wildrose. He did not seek re-election in 2012. PC back to 67 (Bridget Pastoor defected from Liberal to PC in Nov. 2011).
  • March 2012, Richard Marz resigned. At this point, I have not found any explanation as to why, only speculation. (Incidentally, a Wildrose candidate won his empty seat this election.) PC 66.
So, from 2008 to 2012, PCs lost 6 people due to defection or removal, 1 left for a judicial job and another left for as yet unknown reasons. That's 8 people, with a net loss of 6 seats. One can only think of the possibility of this perhaps happening again, given that these changes have occurred at a faster rate than in the past since Stelmach became Premier and Redford has made it clear she won't accept varied opinion among her MLAs on legislative issues. Stats on Wikipedia only go back so far, but as far as I can tell, never before have that many PCs defected during a term. If they lose another 6 seats in the next 4 years, they'll be down to 55 before the next election. And we know people tend to elect incumbents, even if the incumbents have switched parties. It can actually be something to inspire voting for the incumbent because it shows somebody who is willing to stand up for what they believe in. Which all means if the PCs do not smarten up over the next 4 years, they will go into the election with fewer seats than they have now and are likely to lose even more during the election. They need to change--or the people will decide next time to change things even more.

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