Dapp-area farmer Glenn van Dijken has been selected as the new Wildrose Party candidate for the Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock constituency in the yet-to-be-set provincial election.
Wildrose Party members voted in van Dijken over Joe Gosselin, a former Town of Morinville councillor, during an all-day March 14 meeting at Memorial Hall.
After the votes were tallied, van Dijken thanked his supporters, adding, “Now, the real work begins.”
He noted that the Progressive Conservative government is expected to call a new election within the next two weeks.
“(There are) 87 ridings in this province. We have 87 elections coming up, like 87 games of hockey. We just have to win one here,” he said.
“We need a team ready to win Barrhead-Morivnille-Westlock ... We need volunteers, we need donations, we need people to commit time and money.”
van Dijken urged his fellow party members to get the word out there that the Wildrose party is ready to “make this government accountable.
“We saw what we could do in three years of effective Opposition, and how we brought a lot of corruption to light.
“We’ve got a lot of work in front of us. But don’t stop now.
“Get the word out: Wildrose is not dead. We are going to go to work. We are going to bring integrity, honesty and a government that we can all be proud of ... that will protect the future of families and protect the future of Alberta.”
Wildrose Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock riding president Jim Turnbull said he was extremely happy with the turnout at Saturday’s meeting, adding that 35 per cent of their membership cast votes in this election.
“It was a long day, but it was a great day,” he said.
Turnbull declined to state what the total number of votes were, or how many votes were cast in favour of either candidate.
However, he noted that they have 465 members within this constituency, which has the second-largest number of paid members in a northern Alberta riding.
Saturday’s meeting was the only venue for Wildrose Party members within the Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock election to cast votes for their preferred candidate.
The voting was open to any local Wildrose Party member who had joined the party before Feb. 16.
Turnbull said donations are starting to come in and they have a long list of people who wish to attend a fundraiser in Legal this April, which will feature an appearance by the current Wildrose Party leader, who is being selected by March 28.
All three leadership candidates for the Wildrose Party — Brian Jean, Drew Barnes and Linda Osinchuk — were originally supposed to make an appearance at Saturday’s meeting.
However, due to scheduling conflicts, only Jean was able to appear at the meeting, and had to leave early to attend another event.
Barnes had previously made an appearance at the Jarvie Community Drop-in Centre early Wednesday morning alongside Gosselin — for more coverage, see Page 1 of this week’s Town & Country.
Both Gosselin and van Dijken did make formal presentations and answered questions.
In his speech, Gosselin said the Wildrose was the best alternative.
“As I look at how this province is being run, I find myself increasingly frustrated by the actions and the decisions by the PC government,” he said.
Rather than simply complain about it, he decided to seek the candidacy for this riding.
Gosselin highlighted his political experience, including his six years a town councillor.
“Of the two candidates you have to choose from, I am the only one ... the one who has been behind closed doors negotiating with ministers to get things done.”
He also mentioned his integrity and unwillingness to break his word while referencing the defection of former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith and eight other MLAs to the Progressive Conservatives.
“My word and my handshake mean something. And yes, I know that you’ve all heard that before. So I ask every one of you to look me in the eye and I can tell you right now that I will not cross the floor. And I do not break promises.”
van Dijken said he decided in 2006 to get involved in politics, noting that is when his “eyes were opened” to a lot of malpractice occurring in the system.
van Dijken said premier Jim Prentice had “lured” nine Wildrose MLAs into the Conservatives on Dec. 17 in an effort to cripple the Opposition.
“The battle is not over ... it is a battle against the aura of power that is corrupting our Legislature.”
He said the PCs would have voters believe former premier Alison Redford was the problem, but it goes much deeper than that, noting that there are many municipal leaders afraid to speak out.
He stated his desire as an MLA will be to fight for more equitable equalization payments and to reduce the size of the bureaucracy.
Emcee Travis Olson, who is the Wildrose candidate for the Athabasca-Redwater constituency, reminded the crowd that the leadership race will be decided via phone-in votes. Each Wildrose member will receive a letter via the mail containing a 1-800 number and a special pin that they can use to cast their votes.
