Reform referendum results may create questions by Tavis Newman

Saskatchewan was the only province whose Reform members voted against continuing the process of the United Alternative when the results of a mail-in referendum of the party’s 70,000 members was announced Thursday.

Party members were asked to answer the question, yes or no: “Do you want the Reform party of Canada to continue with the United Alternative process?”

Although members across the country voted 60.5 per cent in favour of pursuing a United Alternative, this province’s members voted 62.9 per cent against it.

Reform Member of Parliament Derrek Konrad said members in his Prince Albert riding are concerned that certain party principles may be lost with a United Alternative, but he expects their concerns will be addressed through future information sessions with people such as party leaders Preston Manning and Alberta Reform MP Deborah Grey.

“I think they were divided on it,” Konrad said of party members in his riding. “They can expect to see some of the people who are in leadership of the party to come here and to face questions that people in my riding have.

“I’ve basically told some of the senior people, like Preston and Deborah, that the only answer I was accepting was yes, and the only question I was accepting was when.”

The referendum last week came as another step in the Reform party’s long process of attempting to unite the right. The process began in March 1998 when Manning announced plans for a United Alternative in an effort to put a stop to vote-splitting between the Reform and Conservative parties in crucial provinces like Ontario, which plagued Reform in the last federal election.

In February, Reform, Progressive Conservative and other non-Liberal delegates voted to cooperate in launching a new right-wing party to fight the governing Liberals, and to consider running joint candidates in the next federal election.

But before the process could continue, the Reform party required that a majority of its party members approved of it.

Although Saskatchewan voted against the process, eight provinces voted in favour of it, though Manitoba had only 50.5 per cent approval. There was no recorded vote from Prince Edward Island. The Northwest Territories voted against the United Alternative.

Konrad said the vote gave the party the approval it needed to continue developing the process.

“Now there’s a mandate to explore the United Alternative process,” he said. “Had the vote failed, we would simply have shelved it and gone on as before as the Reform party.”

Instead, committees will start work over the summer on exploring which options are best for a United Alternative.

“We have to go out, we have to talk to people, we have to hold information sessions, we need to involve the public and we need to extend the invitation,” Konrad said.

The committees will develop reports and policies outlining what is determined to be the best option for a United Alternative. Ultimately, though, the structure decided on will be voted on in another Reform referendum sometime in the next year.

“It’s going to have to be good enough to get the support of the people in another vote,” Konrad said. “The bar is much higher for the next level, so they’re going to have to get it right,” he said, noting that the next referendum will require a two-thirds majority approval.

“We want this to be what we have been up till now – a grassroots driven party.”

Konrad encouraged people who want to have a say in the direction of the United Alternative to get involved now and give their input to the committees this summer.

“The results will be worth the effort because we’ll have a government in this country that’s committed to democratic and parliamentary reform and tax relief, better health care – the things Canadians care about.”

Federal Tory leader, Joe Clark, however, refuses to have anything to do with the United Alternative and said the referendum brought division in the Reform party.

Before the referendum, opinions were varied among Reform MPs. In fact, 14 MPs and other party members formed a group called Grassroots United Against Reform’s Demise (GUARD) that campaigned against the United Alternative.

Since the vote, though, Konrad said Reform MPs have been united.

“Those people who were opposed to it have thrown their support behind it,” he said. “We had a caucus meeting after the numbers came out, and there wasn’t one person who wasn’t willing to abide by the expressed will of the membership of the party.”

Konrad is not concerned about Clark’s rejection of the United Alternative, remarking that Clark is only one person.

“Joe Clark is standing in the way of his people involving themselves in a democratic process,” he said. “He presumes to be speaking for his entire party. I hope there’s enough people that are democratically inclined in the Conservative party to take a second look.”