Brian Jean Pursues UCP Nomination for Fort McMurray by Election, Says Some in Party ‘Will Want to Stop Me’ | The Canadian News

Former Alberta Wildrose Party leader, who lost the 2017 UCP leadership race to Jason Kenney, announced on social media Wednesday night that he is seeking the UCP’s nomination for the yet-to-be-scheduled election in Fort McMurray / Lac La Biche.

“I’ll need your help,” Brian Jean said in a post on Facebook. “The NDP will not want me to be in the legislature. Some in the PCU will also want to stop me.

“If you live in Fort McMurray or Lac La Biche or the communities in between, I will need your help.”

Global News approached Jean for an interview, but he declined to speak Wednesday night.

Jean suggested that if something doesn’t change, “Rachel Notley will win the next election with an overwhelming majority.”

“That will be bad for Alberta,” he said.

Watch below: Some Global News videos on Brian Jean.

The Fort McMurray seat was vacated when Laila Goodridge decided to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in this summer’s federal election.

Jean said he has filed documents with Elections Alberta seeking the nomination.

The move comes on the heels of news that the NDP continues to raise more money from its supporters than the UCP from its supporters, and as Prime Minister Kenney continues to face criticism from members of his party for his response to the COVID-pandemic. 19.

READ MORE: Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney to Face Leadership Review in Spring – PCU President

Kenney will face a leadership review in the spring. The review was announced in September as Alberta was battling a fourth wave of the pandemic, prompting Kenney to belatedly introducing new measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Watch below: Some Global News videos about Prime Minister Jason Kenney and the criticism he has faced from some UCP members.

Prior to the announcement, various constituencies had been calling for a party review and early vote on Kenney’s leadership, according to Joel Mullan, the PCU’s vice president for policy.

Jean has openly criticized Kenney’s leadership. In a column published by Postmedia earlier this year, he said the prime minister’s “fight everyone” approach is not to get the job done for Albertans on critical issues, including energy and federal relations.

READ MORE: Brian Jean Urges Alberta Prime Minister to ‘Say Goodbye’ to Intergovernmental Office

The 2017 leadership race that saw Jean lose to Kenney continues to be investigated by the RCMP after allegations of wrongdoing emerged.

The Alberta Elections Commissioner has imposed multiple fines on various individuals in connection with the contest.

Jeff Callaway, another leadership candidate, has been dogged by allegations that it was a kamikaze campaign for the sole purpose of targeting Brian Jean, Kenney’s main opponent in the race.

Callaway eventually withdrew from the race and endorsed Kenney, who later became leader and then prime minister.

Emails obtained by Global News in 2019 suggest that Kenney staff provided strategic direction, strike announcements, intervention notes, speeches, and media support to the Callaway campaign.

During the 2019 Alberta general election campaign, Kenney denied being involved in the plan.

“There were staff communicating about communication material and things like that,” Kenney told Global News Radio in March 2019 while discussing his campaign staff’s dealings with members of Callaway’s leadership campaign. “It is not unusual for campaigns to communicate.”

READ MORE: Second fine in 1 week issued in connection with Jeff Callaway’s UCP leadership offer

Kenney has also vehemently denied that he helped finance the Callaway campaign in any way.

Jean is a ‘major contender’

Chaldeans Mensah, an associate professor of political science at MacEwan University in Edmonton, called it a significant advance.

“I think Brian Jean is going to get to this by representing the old Wildrose fragments from the PCU. Definitely, if he presents his name when the position opens after a review, he will be a major contender for the leadership of the PCU, ”he said Wednesday night.

“I think I realize that Jason Kenney will not be able to lead the party into the next election… I think Mr. Jean is preparing the ground for when that position arises because it is obvious to all observers that the PCU will. I will definitely be looking a leader after the review takes place next spring. “

Jean has focused on the issue of party leadership, Mensah noted.

But the question is: will the prime minister step in and prevent Jean from winning that nomination? I think it would be problematic if you try to prevent Mr. Jean from contesting the nomination, “he said.

“It would be better for the internal unity of the party to allow the process to continue, to allow Mr. Jean to run because now it is a great party.”

Mensah explained that the party is “limping a lot.”

“What the party urgently needs is a united caucus, and any attempt to interfere with this nomination process will really compound the problems that are part of the party, fracture it even more,” he said.

–With files from Global News ‘Kaylen Small and Adam MacVicar and The Canadian Press’ Dean Bennett