Thread by @Mitchell_AB

And we’re off - right on time for the Wildrose Independence inaugural AGM.
President Rick Northey notes they do not have availability to hear from the “floor” today but next time maybe.
#WIPAGM2021
#ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli

The morning events will consist of speakers and the new board election.
Dwayne Hill is the first speaker.
Says he’s been involved in the separatist movement for many years but ramped up in 2015 after Trudeau’s election.

DHill thanks those who came before him, Alberta First, and others.
Says after the NEP was brought in, people started paying attention.
2019 showed Albertans are powerless to stop liberalism even as the province fully rejects it.

DHill says we’ve yet to come to our own but there is a perfect storm to allow us to become master of our own lives.
Says the country ignores and abuses Alberta and our contributions. “Based on past behaviours this (federal) govt has lost all credibility”

Instead of reducing emissions, had forced more emissions with a carbon tax, DHill says. Adds Kenney is either complicit in this or doesn’t care. Says abandonment of rail in rural AB forced trucks on the road and increased fossil fuel use and emissions.

Says devalued currency assists the east and hurts the west. An entire generation has now watched as friends and family have lost all.
Equalization: all provinces were forced to support Ontario and Quebec. Alberta deserves to take back control.

Dwayne Hill Says equalization forced everyone to buy Canadian. Says we should be able to buy from whomever we choose, and import from wherever we choose. Do we transfer wealth to the east, he asks, let me count the ways.

The government should protect your rights, security from foreign invasion and do what is best for us as a province.

Back to Rick Northey who says WIP is not necessarily a separatist party but has its roots in separation.

Northey says December was their best fundraising month to date and membership is up (have to confirm that number, will get back).

RN: a year ago we were just 8 people sitting around a table. We decided to merge with provincial Wexit, the Derek Fildebrandt came around

FCP had party status, WexitAB had members, hence the merge. Then they needed a leader and Paul Hinman came in.

Says pandemic has caused some hiccups but thankful to everyone who is willing to put up with it for now.

RN: we hope to have a proper AGM and policy convention in the next year, as well as a leadership race.
Says whether you’re for independence of separation, WIP is an anti-establishment party - both in Edmonton and Ottawa.
Also, vote-splitting doesn’t exist, he says.

RN: if you stand with Alberta, you can find a place in WIP.

Off to Kathy Flett (former Wexit AB) for CFO report.

KF: most of us don’t know how parties all work which is why we’re in the mess we’re in today.

KF: parties operate like a society. CFO is accountable to membership and Elections AB, the latter acts as CRA for the party.

CA’s also accountable to members and Elections AB.

No tax dollars support political parties. Money comes from membership and donations.

KF: money raised is public knowledge

(Unless your party has access to PACs and can choose what is public knowledge, I have to add).

KF: you can go onto Elections AB site and get (most of) that information on any party*
*caveat above

KF: income; had around $10k at the beginning of the year, ended with over $30k.

June 29, 2020 was the day that Wexit and Freedom conservatives joined together. They have an agreement and brought in a name change and now we’re here.

KF: expenses are small mostly, majority of expenses going to the interim leader but still leaves previously noted end of year balance.

Interesting aside, some Elections AB fines from 2019 had to be taken care of ... 🤔

KF: expenses are incredibly low which tells you how much volunteer work is going on in the background. No leases, bricks and mortar, no staff. Which is okay, but not for long she says.

KF: we re a busy little party and we’re going to keep growing.

KF: on the quest to #WIPA2023 there’s a very bright future. Though we operate as a society we are not a charity. “Our province, our people, are worth the investment”.

Lloyd Snelgrove is up next.

Says he agrees with everything Dwayne Hill said, it’s the history.

LS: Background in farming and hospitality. Political experience: was on council and is a former MLA (PCs 2001-12).

We can offer Albertans something better under confederation. I don’t think Albertans are ready for separation he says, but we can offer hope.

LS: Alberta has everything a small country would die for. It’s more prudent to let Notley and Kenney beat each other up. We don’t need to bring the govt down, we need to be a party that’s there when it all comes down.

LS: “we don’t need to be a party that’s left or right, we need to be a party that’s right, not wrong”.

Says they don’t need to comment on everything, just build.

First should be to start Alberta Pension Plan, should come as a benefit to AB.

LS: need a provincial police force. Doesn’t matter who enforces it, just that is enforced properly. Says Justice system is broken, treats everyone as criminals. Property rights includes gun rights.

We tend to think politics is all about money. You’d think a budget that affects

LS: ... all our lives would be important. But people don’t pay attention. We cannot stop equalization but we need to control it. We are not anti-environment but who should make the decision? Paris Accord? UN? Ottawa? No, Alberta should be doing it.

LS: while we have some talented people in Ottawa we have very few people advocating for us. For example Canada 150 should have let us highlight our environmental record. Says he talked to Rona Ambrose at the time who said it wasn’t a great idea. (May be a date overlap there)..

LS: we will put a referendum to Albertans for a vote for separation but we have to put a timeline on it. If our party continues to grow, there will be huge blowback from the provincial govt. let it happen. Reach out to supporters in all provinces.

LS: I want you to think back to your first thoughts on Quebec separation - if you’re like me, we didn’t like them, they were greedy and just wanted more. That’s not us in Alberta, we’re givers

LS: if we called an election today, Trudeau would probably be re-elected, it’s a very bleak future for our kids and grandkids. But if we show something better, we can be successful.

(Seems I broke the thread up somewhere hope I fixed it ...)

Doing a round table with Lloyd, Kathy, Dr. Mobry (director of policy) and one more (will catch up).

Mobry: we don’t want to alienate the base of this party. The base realizes there’s no way to fix our role in Canada. Had it been possible, Harper would have done it.

Dennis Mobry: the only way to win in 2023 is with a fully separatist platform.

James (will figure out): we should stick with independence. I avoid the term separatist because you can’t separate from something you were never part of. British gave us to Canada.

James: while our mission is independence, we really want to push authority down to the individual. We’re very much small government. I don’t believe federation is fixable and AB needs to see that. I believe we’ll see Ottawa dig in their heels and we’ll see we aren’t going anywher

James: need to ensure Albertans have the final say.

Kathy Flett: when I joined, I was done, I was leaving. What I appreciate most is that this party is going to lay the groundwork for independence. As we move forward those pieces are coming together.

KF: this won’t be our decision as a party, it’s about you as members and what you decide, as it should be.

Lloyd Snelgrove: you can have a difference of opinion, but what’s in the constitution won’t drive Alberta (froze) of Albertans support (independence I think)

LS: I want to get where we need to be, most Albertans support independence but the majority of Albertans want a fair deal. You can sell all the memberships you want but if you can’t win you don’t get to make the decisions.

LS: i don’t think the feds will let Alberta vote on separation, says if the rest of Canada was able to vote on QC separation they’d have been gone.

Mobry: our task is to inform, educate and inspire Albertans on the rationale of independence

Mobry: addressing concerns, CPP, landlocked, etc. We know how to do that. We have two years to the next election. I don’t believe there’s any prospect that will allow Alberta independence aside from changing the constitution and that’s impossible. We can do it.

Mobry: we have the Maverick party, the Buffalo party in SK, the mainland of Bc is unhappy with the lower mainland. There’s opportunity unlike the 1980’s.

KF: we could have a party that is not connected to Ottawa and that will be a position of strength

KF: at the end of the day, you’re either voting for Alberta or you’re not. We don’t care about Ottawa. A friend asked if I’d turn off the taps to Bc and absolutely I would, it’s our time.

James: you can either have a govt that tells people what to do or not

James: we’re tired of a govt in Ottawa that isn’t giving us any say. Won’t allow us our dignity. You either believe in government or in the people.

Aaaand I’m trying to find James’ last name as we await on technical difficulties.

James Albers.

We still have 6 minutes left of our coffee break

Okay, there are about 45 minutes of board member nominee videos, so I’ll fill in some blanks.

Running for #WIPAGM2021 directors:
North: Mitchell Visser and Paul Gullackson
#yeg capital: Gurcharan Garcha, Sonny Batra
AB central: Lawrence Hassey, Wes Caldwell, Shane Walper

Director candidates continued...
#yyc: Zuzana Janos den Boer, Robert Patterson
AB south: Brigit Frostrad, Bob Lefurgey, Michael Heier, Kelly Williamson

Board:
Rob Anders
Todd Brown
Kathy Flett
James Goransrud
Tanner Hnidey
Brandon Hoedel
Gordon Janke
Bill Jones
Kelly Lorencz
Allen MacLennan
Jeevan Mangat
Corey McFadden
Chad Miller
Paul Mitchell
Dennis Modry
Rick Northey
Sakattar Sandhu
Rucci Sharma
Todd Wayne
Nadine Wellwood

Anders: believes AB should be the lowest taxed province. “If zero taxes are good enough for God, it should be good enough for govt”.

Brown: firm believer in true freedom of speech, freedom from tyranny; Canada is irreparably broken. Has been studying firearms law and gun policy

Brown: wrote gun policy for PPC, Wexit Canada, freedom conservative, Buffalo, and WIPA

Flett: Alberta independence has really hit a nerve with people and it’s not going away. The opportunity for our kids will be stolen if we don’t do something. We’re going to be attacked

Flett: it’s not personal, it just is. We’re going to be free from equalization, independent.

Gorandsrud: I have skin in the game, want a good future for my children. Must bring all separation movements under our banner, we check our egos at the door. Losing is not an option

Hoedel: we’re all here to take a stand against Ottawa because of our economic oppression.

Dr. Janke: very few things in life that affect our daily lives than politics. AB is being treated unfairly by feds. Highest unemployment, bankruptcies, biz closure before Covid.

Janke: AB only had one choice: chart our own destiny. We have more human and natural resources in the country. Wealth is being squandered by confederation. With independence comes unleashing of potential. We can do this.

Jones: former president of freedom conservatives. Been a separatist since I was 18, we cannot control time but can control our path. AB needs a favourable govt for independence. Even if referendum was successful, must have supportive govt.

MacLennan: the original WRP was killed by UCP. BNA was breached by the feds at every turn. Repressive taxes used to support banks. Genocide of western Christian values. Truth on the right against hurt feelings on the left. Accusations of phobic, never acknowledged as Christian

Mangat: engineer, NEP forced me to leave Alberta. Returned in 1988 opened a restaurant. Ran for WRP in 2012. In 2018 ran for UCP candidate in Calgary Peigan. Diane Francis said AB would always be beholden to QC. Transfer payments keep unproductive provinces afloat.

McFadden: desire to create a better and brighter future for AB. Not afraid to seek truth. Stand up for families.

Miller: we will need to work hard to achieve independence. My commitment to my family is the same as to all Albertans. Committed to help being back freedoms, rights

Paul Mitchell: polls are looking excellent, may be able to already get seats in rural. Feds throttling our economy, Kenney govt is trampling on individual freedoms. Background in Reform, worked in Ottawa under Red Deer MP (Ellis?)

Modry: policy and governance document is backbone. Is the backbone of a future Wildrose govt. Must speak to Albertans, remove fears from ABns, biz and industry. Need to set up all CAs and bring membership from 500 to 7000 or more.

Northey: current president, from ON but lived most of life in AB. Active with WRP, former president of WR and UCP CAs, helped merge WIPA and Wexit. Wrote an article on Necessity of independence and received pushback from friends as a traitor to vision of Canada.

Wayne: “‘sparkle socks’ has driven the final nails into AB coffin”, Kenney has been pushing through all these bills, orders. AB will be picked clean. WIPA is a vehicle we can use to get to a better place “this road to ruin must be stopped now”.

Voting is up next so we have another break. I’ll start a new thread afterwards.

Me: I attend conventions and Party AGMs, and random special interest events, and tweet, write, and talk about them. Public good, yes; costly? Some days. I have a patreon: patreon.com/PoliticalRnD/p…

Trying to fix the broken thread - sorry all

https://twitter.com/Mitchell_AB/status/1353026135991283712?s=20

https://twitter.com/Mitchell_AB/status/1353026135991283712?s=20