EDMONTON—During a farewell in the media room of the Alberta Legislature, the last Progressive Conservative MLA, Richard Starke, announced he wouldn’t run again and had some choice words for Alberta politicians.

On Wednesday, the MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster thanked his family and constituents for their support during his time representing them. However, he took a few shots at the United Conservatives on his way out.

“Absolutely zero regrets,” Starke said of his decision not to join the United Conservative Party after the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives merged in 2017.

Starke said he wasn’t welcome either way, but if he had joined he would be “very, very uncomfortable with a lot of what they are pursuing.”

He said one of the reasons he didn’t like the UCP was the way the party dealt with LGBTQ issues.

“The new party, which was supposed to be a combination of two legacy parties, has in fact combined, I think, the worst features of both of the legacy parties,” he said.

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But Starke didn’t stop at the UCP. He said Albertans would be “dismayed if they knew just, in some ways, how dysfunctional this place is.”

He said parties wanting to win the next election “supersedes the need to provide good governance.”

Starke served his first term as an MLA in 2012 with the Progressive Conservatives. In 2015, he managed to keep his seat despite the New Democrat wave that swept Alberta, toppling the PC dynasty which had ruled the province for 44 years.

He always maintained his PC stripe even as the party was dissolved in 2017 and he became an independent.

Dr. Richard Starke, MLA Vermilion-Lloydminster, announces his intentions for the 2019 Alberta provincial election.

Starke said that the UCP didn’t approach him to join the new party, but all the other parties, including the NDP and Derek Fildebrandt’s newly formed Freedom Conservative Party, did. He said he gave all the discussions consideration, but maintained his belief that he was a Progressive Conservative.

Starke said he wanted to write a book but was mum about details. He said he offered a certain perspective, though, given his experience in the Alberta legislature.

“There are things that I’d like to say,” he said.

He said that the system of politics in the province has issues, but he believed that there were some immediate remedies like putting more things to committee instead of rushing bills through the house. He said committees have a chance to look more closely at bills rather than in the house where MLAs aren’t awarded as much time.

“It’s not good enough to just point out the problems, you have to offer concrete solutions,” Starke said.

But he’s done with politics.

“This is the time for me to move on to new challenges and new opportunities,” Starke said. He called serving his constituents “one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

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Starke said with other things he wants to do in life — writing a book, learning Italian and getting a puppy — he couldn’t continue to serve his constituents with the diligence he felt the job required.

Trained as a veterinarian, Starke was asked if he would return to that line of work.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be the first cat that I spayed after a seven-year hiatus,” he joked.

“I will say that I’ve kept my licence up.”

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