Premier Jason Kenney, in a speech to party members deciding his fate, told them he is an unblemished election winner who saved Alberta from servitude in a dystopian socialist hellscape.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 12-0!B次元官网网址� Kenney said Saturday in a speech before cheering, applauding, whooping, placard-waving supporters in Red Deer.

B次元官网网址淚 know a thing or two about winning elections.B次元官网网址�

The speech to the party formally launched what has become a fractious, acrimonious intraparty fight to determine whether Kenney should remain in charge of the United Conservatives.

Kenney has faced open dissent from some party and caucus members for more than a year, and he made it clear in his speech this vote must end the feuding one way or another.

B次元官网网址淚f the members decide they want to have a leadership election, I will step aside,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淏ut if the members decide that they want to choose the path of unity and stability B次元官网网址� then I, and I believe all of our members, will expect every member of our caucus and our team also to respect the decision.B次元官网网址�

Ballots will be mailed out this weekend to almost 60,000 party members. They must be returned by May 11, with results announced May 18.

If Kenney gets less then 50 per cent plus one of the votes, a leadership race must be called.

KenneyB次元官网网址檚 critics say his policies coupled with an imperious, controlling management style have alienated supporters and sent popularity numbers plunging to the point the party could lose the next election to Rachel NotleyB次元官网网址檚 Opposition NDP.

Kenney has labelled his opponents racial and religious bigots bent on dismantling his big-tent conservative coalition.

In his speech, he said decisions he had to make during COVID-19, particularly restrictions on personal freedoms, lit the powder keg of anger against him.

B次元官网网址淚 ask for your forgiveness if there were decisions that we made which you think were wrong or which offended you,B次元官网网址� he said.

But he said now is not the time to fight past battles with the next provincial election just around the corner in May 2023.

Kenney reminded them he left his job as a Conservative MP to unite feuding conservatives under the new UCP in 2017 and then defeat the NDP in the 2019 election.

He characterized that 2019 campaign as a mission to stop B次元官网网址渓eft wing ideologues who want to turn Alberta into some kind of socialist lab experimentB次元官网网址� with an agenda he said had pulverized the economy, atomized jobs and sent thousands fleeing.

B次元官网网址淚 decided something had to be done,B次元官网网址� said Kenney.

B次元官网网址淚 knew if (the NDP) got a second consecutive term they would fundamentally change this province forever.

B次元官网网址淲e would lose this province as a beacon of hope.

B次元官网网址淭hey would drive their toxic ideas into our schools, they would regulate and unionize everything that moves, theyB次元官网网址檇 crush businesses with their class warfare politics of resentment, and theyB次元官网网址檇 turn Alberta into a vassal state for (Prime Minister) Justin TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 Ottawa.B次元官网网址�

The ballot question is simple: B次元官网网址淒o you approve of the current leader? Yes or No.B次元官网网址�

But the process has been tortuous as unhappy party members battled to mark a ballot and have their say.

It was supposed to be before 2022. Then it was supposed to be late in 2022 before it became a one-day, in-person vote Saturday in Red Deer.

But less than three weeks ago, after the membership cutoff date, the UCP board changed it to a provincewide mail-in contest.

The board said widespread interest B次元官网网址� with 15,000 party members expected to make the trip to cast a ballot B次元官网网址� made the one-day in-person option impossible.

Opponents, including UCP caucus member and Kenney opponent Brian Jean, said they worry the goalposts were moved to broaden the voting base because it had become clear Kenney would lose the in-person contest in Red Deer.

Jean, in statement, said, B次元官网网址淜enneyB次元官网网址檚 rhetoric and approach have divided our party. The premier gave a speech that said the choice is between more of the same or Rachel NotleyB次元官网网址檚 NDP.

B次元官网网址淵ou know someone is losing when they resort to fear.B次元官网网址�

Political scientist Duane Bratt, with Mount Royal University in Calgary, said KenneyB次元官网网址檚 demand of unity if he wins is easier said than done, especially if he gets a slim majority.

B次元官网网址淒o you expect (no-voters) to say, B次元官网网址榊ou won, we lost, therefore we will work really hard for you and we will volunteer for you and we will donate money to you, and we will run as candidates for you?B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淥r do they just say, B次元官网网址榃eB次元官网网址檙e walking away.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淣o matter what the result is, I donB次元官网网址檛 know how this party stays unified.B次元官网网址�