Drumheller-Stettler MLA Rick Strankman is the Wildrose Official Opposition candidate for the 2015 provincial election.
With a provincial election looming possibly as soon as April, Drumheller-Stettler MLA Rick Strankman is comfortable with the decision he made in December to stay with the Wildrose Party.
The rest is up to the voters.
“I am uncertain, we get positive results from our columns, we get positive e-mails within and outside the constituency. There isn’t a place that I don’t go and travel where people give me personal comments,” he tells inSide Drumheller. “What that will exactly translate into in our constituency who’s to know?”
In his first interview with inSide Drumheller since that fateful day when the bulk of his party’s MLAs crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives, he details the events that led up to that day.
On December 10 he went to his caucus meeting on the last day of session dressed ready to get on an airplane for a vacation to Hawaii.
“I knew Danielle Smith and Rob Anderson had met with Preston Manning, once for sure, possibly twice, but I didn’t know the subject matter or what they talked about,” he said.
On December 12, while Strankman was on holidays, the Wildrose caucus held a meeting to discuss the crossing. What he heard from his current colleagues was there was no definitive plan of how this could take place. He says he was not told at the time there was any urgency to be at this meeting.
On December 15, he was emailed what is now known as the reunification document, laying out terms of what became of the floor crossing. He was asked to call Rob Anderson within a couple hours after receiving the message.
He shared the document with his family, and their feeling was that he was elected as a Wildrose, and he should stay as that.
He called Anderson at the determined time, who was with Smith, Jason Hale and Bruce McAlister.
“I said ‘I don’t understand how this is going to work, when are the people going to be involved here?’”, he said.
He told the group he would have to think about it, knowing there was a caucus meeting the next day. By then, he had already made up his mind.
“I saw an e-mail from (MLA) Drew Barnes… saying ‘I am 100 per cent Wildrose, I was elected Wildrose and I am staying Wildrose.’ It was that Monday night, I sent out an e-mail saying, ‘I am going to stand with Barnes.’”
Since the floor crossing, Strankman’s portfolio, and time commitment to it has increased. He says he has remained responsive to the constituents through his satellite offices.
“People are talking about ‘where do we see this guy?’ But generally, I am in contact and fortunately, I have these office staff. That is partially why we did what we did, to have people on the ground in the community.” He said.
Going into the election his focus has not changed, property rights and health care.
He said it wouldn’t cost anything to change bills on the table to reflect respecting property rights. Similarly, he says there could be changes to health care that could realize some savings.
This is his focus, even in light of current oil prices and job cuts in the energy sector.
“Obviously people are concerned about job security and things, but those people need to know that is part and parcel with an economic cycle of downturn. They have insurance programs, which in my mind are a poor substitute for a real job, but it is cyclical to the nature of the energy sector,” he said.
He adds that if the province’s finances were managed better during the good times, they could have planned better.
“If they had some of that money saved, put away, there may be some small construction projects, for example, road maintenance - there could be some sort of things that could be done. Now that the contract prices are coming down… there are things that could be done,” he said.
He has no aspirations to be leader.
“I am just happy to be on a team,” he said.
“We’ll see what the people say, I am comfortable with the policies and if there is something else people want to bring forward, then I’ll be happy to debate it,” said Strankman.
