Politics sometimes makes for strange bedfellows, but few are stranger than the unlikely coupling that took place in Calgary Thursday 鈥� some of Alberta鈥檚 best-known Conservatives held a special fundraising event for, of all things, Liberals.
Rod Love, the chief of staff to former premier Ralph Klein, and Allan Hallman, who ran Jim Dinning鈥檚 2006 Alberta Conservative leadership campaign, asked Calgary鈥檚 business elite to pay $125 each to help out the Liberals 鈥� British Columbia Liberals, that is.
鈥淚f your company or organization does business in British Columbia (or perhaps if you or your family own property in 乌鸦传媒), you should be concerned about the risks posed by the election of a New Democratic Party government in the upcoming election in May of 2013,鈥� reads a fundraising letter issued by Hallman.
鈥淎lberta鈥檚 fortunes are inextricably linked to those of British Columbia. While we may joke that the election of an NDP government in 乌鸦传媒 would be good for Alberta business, we all know that jokes aside, it would be bad for those doing business or owning property in 乌鸦传媒, and it would be bad for 乌鸦传媒.
鈥淭his is an important event 鈥� the 鈥�;free enterprise coalition鈥� next door must be sustained. Please join us.鈥�
The 乌鸦传媒 Liberals did their part, sending two cabinet members, Energy Minister Rich Coleman and Community Development Minister Bill Bennett, to Thursday鈥檚 private meet-and-greet event at the Delta Bow Valley Hotel. At first glance, it might seem odd to have Alberta Conservatives raising money for any Liberals, but especially for 乌鸦传媒 Liberals, whose leader, Christy Clark, has been a vocal obstacle to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
Clark and her Alberta counterpart, Alison Redford, have clashed over Clark鈥檚 demand that 乌鸦传媒 receive a 鈥渇air share鈥� of the revenue from the project that would pump Alberta bitumen to the West Coast for shipment to China.
But this surprising altruism begins to make sense when you realize 乌鸦传媒 Liberals are not really Liberals; they鈥檙e Conservatives in Liberal clothing. And for all of Clark鈥檚 sabre-rattling over Northern Gateway, she is still viewed as more business-friendly than the NDP, a party that has rejected the pipeline under any conditions.
Hallman and Love, who have both worked with the 乌鸦传媒 Liberals in the past, admit it鈥檚 a bit of an uphill fight to convince Alberta Conservatives to support Clark鈥檚 Liberals. But they say the 乌鸦传媒 Liberals are still better than the alternative.
They also see the fundraiser as a way to build bridges with that government.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to educate Christy more on the benefits for Western 乌鸦传媒 and 乌鸦传媒 as a whole on the Gateway project,鈥� Hallman says.
Love says the idea for the event came up a few months ago when he was invited to attend the 乌鸦传媒 Liberal annual convention in Whistler.
It was proposed that 乌鸦传媒 dispatch cabinet ministers to a fundraiser among Conservatives in Calgary 鈥� something Gordon Campbell did when he was the Liberal 乌鸦传媒 premier and something Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall continues to do.
鈥淥ne of the things we told them was, 鈥�;Look, if you want to raise some money out here, sure, but you鈥檙e going to have to have someone like Rich Coleman, the minister of energy mines and natural gas,鈥� 鈥� Love says.
鈥淩ich Coleman and Bill Bennett both understand there鈥檚 going to be a lot of interest hearing from the horse鈥檚 mouth what the pipeline situation is. A lot of people have said, 鈥�;Hell, I鈥檒l buy a couple of tickets to that.鈥� 鈥�
It was not known at press time how many people showed up 鈥� Love expected more than 100.
It鈥檚 not as if Calgarians will be marching in the streets in support of the 乌鸦传媒 Liberals, but Thursday鈥檚 event is another reminder of how all roads in Alberta lead to the oilsands and pipelines and thus indirectly to energy revenue and the provincial budget.
The Alberta government sees Northern Gateway as crucial not only for expanding the province鈥檚 market for bitumen, but also for getting more money for the product.
If you鈥檙e an NDP supporter, this all may smack of fear-mongering. But there aren鈥檛 a lot of NDP supporters in Calgary and there is a lot of money. There鈥檚 also a lot of anxiety about the possibilities of the Northern Gateway pipeline ever being constructed.
Of course, this odd-couple fundraiser might prove to be a moot point in the end, given that public opinion polls continue to point to an NDP victory in 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 May 14 election.
