One-on-one with PC leader Alison Redford

PC leader Alison Redford appeared on Global Edmonton’s Morning News Thursday, addressing how the party has changed over the past several decades, and her reaction to controversial comments made by other candidates running in this election.

Redford asked for her response to Wildrose candidate Allan Hunsperger’s blog in which he says homosexuals will “suffer the rest of eternity in the lake of fire, hell.” She said “This whole idea that this issue came up troubles me mostly because it was a political party that brought it up. This was part of a Wildrose platform, and I’m not clear on what direction a government would take with respect to those issues.” Hunsperger told reporters these comments reflected his personal views, not his party’s, and Wildrose leader Danielle Smith has said her government wouldn’t legislate on “contentious social issues.” Redford clarified where her party stands.

“A Progressive Conservative government very clearly believes that these are not appropriate comments, that our candidates do not have these views, and would not subscribe to anything that would advance these views in Alberta today.”

The PC leader also spoke about the recent ‘I never thought I’d vote PC” viral video, and the debate surround strategic voting.

“We’re not saying to someone ‘look, if you’ve never voted PC, please vote PC.’ We’re saying ‘this is our platform, this is our plan, these are values, these are our candidates, and we’d like you to choose to vote Progressive Conservative for positive reasons.’”

She believes Albertans are seeing that her party is a “different PC party,” and that much has changed since the PCs thirty years ago. “As a progressive conservative party, we have a lot of members who very much represent how Albertans are feeling. But the job of a premier is to make sure you’re representing the views of all Albertans. So what we’ve tried to do in the past seven months is to demonstrate what a new party looks like, what a new government looks like.”

So, what about vote splitting due to what some are calling a ‘family fight’ on the political right? Redford says the PCs and the Wildrose are offering very different futures for Alberta. “We’ve put a tremendous emphasis in our party in the last seven months and in our policies, with respect to developing social policy framework, making sure people know we’re committed to public health care, and understanding that as we grow our communities, and define the future of this province, that we have to think long-term. To me, that’s a real contrast to what we’re seeing from Wildrose, which is talking about pulling back on social services, cutting the budget, delaying infrastructure, shutting down the construction of the Royal Alberta Museum, these are not long-term visions for Alberta, and I think that’s a pretty distinct difference.”

In an election that’s being touted as “too close to call”, Redford is hoping her vision resonates with all Albertans. “I think what we’re seeing in Alberta is a fundamental change in the way that Albertans think of themselves and think of their political parties.” She adds, “you’ve got to be ready to embrace change, and really think about what opportunities you have in place to lead that growth so the economy can keep growing.”