When MLAs convene for the start of the fall session Monday, the floor of the legislative assembly will be different from how it looked when the spring session ended June 6.
The United Conservative Party is Alberta’s new Official Opposition with 27 MLAs from the former Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties united as one.
Rick Fraser, MLA for Calgary-South East, and Derek Fildebrandt, MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, will sit as independents and the Alberta Party caucus doubled its size after former NDP MLA Karen McPherson — who had earlier left to sit as an independent — decided to join forces with leader Greg Clark.
On the government side, Sandra Jansen, the former PC MLA who crossed to the NDP 11 months ago, is the new minister of infrastructure.
The creation of the United Conservative Party is the biggest change of the last four months. The merger of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties was approved by party members on July 22.
On Saturday, UCP members chose Jason Kenney as their first official leader.
Kenney is not an MLA. On Sunday, Calgary-Lougheed UCP MLA Dave Rodney said he is stepping down Nov. 1 so Kenney can run for his seat.
Until Kenney is elected, the party will need someone to lead the caucus in the legislature. That announcement will be made on Monday.
It’s not clear what role former Wildrose Leader and leadership contender Brian Jean will serve. Kenney said he intended the Fort McMurray-Conklin MLA to play an important role within caucus. He said he would talk to Jean about a critic role and a future cabinet position if the UCP forms government in 2019.
Kenney said he intends not to micro-manage and to let the caucus do its work in the house.
“Frankly, I think the bigger task for me right now is building our party outside the legislature,” he said.
New Alberta Party MLA
Not every former Wildrose and PC MLA is part of the UCP caucus. Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke decided to remain a PC MLA.
Fraser was briefly part of the UCP before deciding to sit as an independent.
Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt left in August after it was revealed he listed his government-subsidized Edmonton apartment on Airbnb.
Fildebrandt also faces two charges in connection with a hit-and-run in an Edmonton parking lot in June 2016. A judge will deliver a decision in the case in December.
Kenney said Fildebrandt can ask to come back once he resolves his legal issues.
Karen McPherson, the MLA for Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill, left the NDP caucus earlier this month to sit as an independent. On Sunday, she revealed she was joining the Alberta Party.
McPherson’s decision doubles the Alberta Party caucus in the legislature. Leader Greg Clark, the MLA for Calgary-Elbow, has been the party’s only MLA since he was elected in 2015.
“I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to help build the party and I think that there is a lot of possibility,” McPherson said. “And I can hardly wait to get started.”
Fraser, who was first elected in 2012, says becoming an independent means he can represent his constituents’ concerns without politics getting in the way.
Fraser acknowledges working outside a caucus means more work.
“As an independent, you are your own government house leader,” he said. So there is some extra time involved.
“We’re not afraid of hard work. We’re going to do our very best.”
Fraser says he doesn’t expect to be an independent forever. He said he is open to joining the Alberta Party but right now, he wants to focus on doing his job as the MLA for Calgary-South East.
GSA and gas-and-dash bills
Personnel changes aside, the session is shaping up to be busy on the legislative front.
On Friday, government House Leader Brian Mason said the government plans to introduce a bill preventing schools from notifying parents if a child joins a gay-straight alliance.
Another proposed law will compel customers to pay before gassing up their vehicles. The bill is intended to stop gas-and-dash thefts which have killed two Albertan workers over the last two years.
The legislature will also debate the findings of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, which recommended Alberta consolidate rural constituencies in order to create three new urban ridings.
MLAs will sit for three weeks then have a constituency break in mid-November. They will return for another two weeks. The session is scheduled to end Dec. 7.