Horner announces intent to run for PC leadership

Deputy premier Doug Horner issued a call for party unity Friday as he became the second candidate to take a run at the leadership of Alberta's Progressive Conservatives.

Horner says he handed in his resignation from cabinet, where he also served as minister of advanced education and technology, after a lot of soul-searching with his friends and family about the "difficult decision" to run.

"I do this because I believe we need to emphasize what it means to be Progressive Conservative. We need to be, and should be, proud to be a member of our party," he said at a news conference.

Ed Stelmach said last week that he would step down as premier and party leader. He has since indicated that his official resignation will come in September.

Ted Morton resigned last week as finance minister so he could run to replace Stelmach. Names of several other possible leadership contenders have since come up, including that of former federal environment minister Jim Prentice, who quit politics last year to go into the private sector.

Political observers say it's evident that there is a rift in the party between Stelmach supporters and those of the more fiscally hawkish Morton. That's said to have led to a confrontation between the two over the budget and the political high noon of last week.

"I think we're going to have a long list of candidates," Horner said. "The reason I'm bringing my name forward is about bringing unity. It's about bringing focus. It's about aligning our vision and then getting our objectives done."

Those objectives, as Horner sees them, hearken back to Alberta's first Tory premier, Peter Lougheed, under whom Horner's father served: a passion for what the province can be, compassion for people in need and a sense of fiscal responsibility.

Horner, 50, will remain MLA for Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert.

The announcements by Stelmach and Morton were followed this week by word from Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann that he will step down after the spring sitting of the legislature.

All of this comes against the backdrop of a surging alternative on the right, Danielle Smith's Wildrose Party, and attempts by moderates to form a viable contender under the Alberta Party banner.

Horner acknowledged that the province's political yard is being re-landscaped

"Alberta is changing and we as a party need to recognize that change," Horner said. "We need to stake our ground ... as leaders in research, in education, in health care, in the environment and innovation.

"It's time to turn the headlines about internal party issues into headlines about Alberta leading the way."

Horner dismissed any suggestion that the Tories are losing their ability to bring people together under one banner.

"Of course it's a big-tent party. Alberta is a big-tent place. We have to be open and welcoming to all cultures and to all ... people coming into our party because we're going to need a lot more."

He also said he doesn't think it will matter that he is from the Edmonton area, which was always cited as a disadvantage for Stelmach, who never appeared to gain the full support of Tory blue-bloods in Calgary.

"This is the Alberta Progressive Conservative party," said Horner, who pointed out that he and his wife have lived, worked and been educated in many different parts of the province.

"Where I lay my head down to sleep is probably not as big an issue as what I do as the leader of the party."

Horner was first elected to the Alberta legislature in 2001 when Ralph Klein was premier. He has served on various committees and was the minister of agriculture during the province's mad cow crisis.

Politics runs in the family. His grandfather Ralph was a Senator for Saskatchewan; his father Hugh was a federal MP under John Diefenbaker before becoming Alberta agriculture minister and deputy premier in the 1970s; and uncles Jack, Albert and Norval were also federal MPs.