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What makes the Wildrose defections stand out, however, is the naked careerism of people who purportedly ran on principle. Wildrose was created as an indictment of the provincial Progressive Conservatives — not of their recent leader, the rapacious Alison Redford; not even of their previous leader, the hapless Ed Stelmach; but of the rot that had set in after 40 years of dynastic rule. Overspending, deals with unions, a betrayal of the legacy of former Premier Ralph Klein — these were but a few of the beefs Wildrose had with the PCs.

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Pizza, pretzels and “beverages” were served as the “Wildrose Nine” — the collection of MLAs who crossed the floor on Wednesday to join Alberta’s long-governing Progressive Conservatives — held an emotional meeting with Premier Jim Prentice.

Mr. Prentice spelled out his plan to improve the Alberta government, everything from the pending oil bust, to the fiscal crisis, to a creeping culture of entitlement.

“He talked it through, top-to-bottom,” said Rob Anderson, a key Wildrose MLA who spearheaded the union. “He talked about how he was going to fix it.”

By the end, Mr. Anderson said, he was convinced that the group had made a correct and principled decision — although he knew he and his party’s leader, Danielle Smith, would be subject to outrage and scorn in the days and weeks to come.

The episode will go down as not only entirely unexpected and bizarre, but also as unprecedented. Opposition parties exist to challenge the ruling order, not to join it: there has simply never been an example of a floor crossing quite like it.