On a recent broadcast of CBC Radio’s “The House”, Chris Hall asked interim federal Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose if she was in favour of uniting the right in Alberta — and if she was personally interested in coming home to lead the provincial Progressive Conservatives.

She answered the second question in the negative but said she would do whatever she could to help the factions unite, adding that she has friends in both the PC and Wildrose parties. She said that Alberta’s conservatives ought to come together and a “majority of Albertans feel that way also.” Finally, she went on to say it was her understanding that, both at the leadership and at the grassroots level, the disparate factions were talking to each other and that there was “hope.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if Hall had asked the wrong the question, or missed the obvious follow-up. Ms. Ambrose indicated she was not interested in returning to Alberta to lead the PCs. She didn’t say — nor was she asked about — whether she was interested in leading Wildrose, or (more likely) a united conservative party with a different name altogether.

She’s right when she says party operatives are at least talking across the divide. Before Christmas, MLAs Derek Fildebrandt (Wildrose) and Mike Ellis (PC) jointly hosted a pub night in Calgary. No punches were thrown.

Three times in the last month, I’ve received e-mails from local volunteer organizers (either a current or past president of either a local PC or Wildrose constituency association) telling me how critical it is that the right be united in Alberta. These people all agree they want to rid the province of the current government, of course. But they’re silent on what their plan is (or why they think I can help).

But yes, they are talking. That’s an accomplishment, I suppose. I can’t speak to the personal feelings of Wildrose Leader Brian Jean regarding PC Leader Ric McIver, or vice versa. But I do know there is still a lot of animosity between the troops on the ground.

Ambrose really does have friends on both sides of the conservative divide — more so than the ultra-conservative Kenney, who once called then-PC cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk a ‘complete asshole’. Ambrose really does have friends on both sides of the conservative divide — more so than the ultra-conservative Kenney, who once called then-PC cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk a ‘complete asshole’.

Wildrose purists regard PCs as more ‘progressive’ than ‘conservative’; that’s why they left the PCs in the first place. The PCs regard the Wildrose as malcontents and splitters. Both sides retain feelings of hostility and suspicion over the strange, failed attempt at a merger negotiated in 2014 between then-leaders Jim Prentice and Danielle Smith.

So Ambrose is also correct when she says that, if any merger is going to be even attempted, a few egos will need puncturing.

There’s an obvious precedent, of course. But the 2003 union of the federal PCs and the Canadian Alliance was always internally strained by the fact that it was more an Alliance takeover than a merger. The Alliance was clearly the stronger partner, with 66 seats to the PCs’ 12. A third party outsider might have been more successful in resolving that internal divide, but nobody could question Stephen Harper’s ultimate electoral success.

There’s more parity between the Alberta PCs and Wildrose. In the last election Wildrose won 21 seats; the PCs took 10, even though they won a greater share of votes.

Easing the tension between the two parties might require the efforts of an outsider, someone able to calm the waters and form an actual partnership, rather than a takeover. The surprise name that emerged in speculation over the holidays was Jason Kenney, who might be seeing his dream of occupying 24 Sussex slipping away.

Ambrose might be a better fit, however. She worked for the province as a policy analyst before running federally, so presumably she’s more familiar with provincial issues than her former cabinet colleague.

And she has a softer image than the hard-core, socially conservative Kenney, something which I believe would be an advantage in a province that is getting younger, more urban and diverse. As interim leader, she is ineligible to run for the federal leadership — unlike Kenney. She’s gaining leadership experience and is doing a pretty fair job in opposition. How comfortable would she be taking a backseat to the next permanent leader of the federal Conservatives?

And she really does have friends on both sides of the conservative divide — more so than the ultra-conservative Kenney, who once called then-PC cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk a “complete asshole”.

She can’t answer it now, as she has an important job to do as leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. But in due course, somebody ought to ask Rona Ambrose the right question.

Brent Rathgeber was the Conservative MP for the riding of Edmonton—St. Albert from 2008 to 2013, when he resigned from the Conservative caucus to protest the Harper government’s lack of commitment to transparency and open government. He ran and lost in the 2015 federal election to a Conservative candidate. He is the author of Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada.

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