EDMONTON—After a heated exchange with journalists, Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark criticized the United Conservative Party leader for bringing U.S.-style politics to the province through picking fights with reporters.

At a Thursday news conference, Graham Thomson, a freelance journalist who works out of the Alberta legislature, asked Jason Kenney when his party would be coming out with its platform leading up to the 2019 election.

“I don’t recall you being quite so excited about this when the NDP released their platform 17 days into the last election, Graham,” Kenney said.

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Reporters in the room pushed back saying that wasn’t relevant to the question Thomson had posed.

The veteran legislature reporter then said that in 2015, “no one thought the NDP was going to win the election.”

“This time around, we’re expecting you to win the election. It’s a bit of a difference between them back in 2015 and you,” Thomson said.

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Kenney shot back, “Oh, I see, so there’s a double standard. Interesting.”

Kenney had previously called on the government to announce the election Feb. 1, saying Albertans were ready to go. He said that he and his party would be developing their platform leading up to the spring, which got reporters to ask when he would release it.

The ensuing back-and-forth started.

“You’re attacking us. You’re saying, ‘Nobody asked them last time around,’” Thomson told Kenney. “We asked them about their environmental campaign in the very first week. They didn’t have one.”

Kenney said his party would release its platform before 17 days into the election. He said some would be released before the campaign and some during.

Clark spoke to the media after hearing Kenney’s exchange with reporters in the room.

“I think what we see from the UCP and the NDP, but primarily the UCP, they’re trying to suck all the oxygen from the room,” Clark said.

“They’re trying to create and bring U.S.-style politics to Alberta. Some of the tactics that they’re going to use include picking fights with the media.”

Clark also called out the Unite Alberta Twitter account, the official account for Kenney’s office, for “trolling the media.”

“I won’t always agree with everything that you do or write or say, but you have a job to do and I have a job to do,” said Clark.

When StarMetro reached out to the UCP for further comment, a spokesperson responded: “The former leader of the third party is welcome to his opinions.”